George O'Neill
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George O'Neill
George O'Neill
• George O'Neill, 1973 (NASJ)

born in Scotland

George O'Neill was born on Sunday, 26th July, 1942, in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire.

The 5' 8 (11st 1lbs) forward signed for Willie Thornton's Thistle circa Saturday, 29th January, 1966, having most recently been with Dunoon Athletic.

Aged 24, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 5th November, 1966, in a 0-0 draw away to Kilmarnock in the SFL First Division.

George scored his first goal for Thistle on Tuesday, 18th April, 1967, in a 4-1 friendly win away to Notts County.

He scored the last of his 8 goals on Wednesday, 2nd April, 1969, in a 1-0 win away to Clyde in the Glasgow Cup.

He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 13th September, 1969, in a 2-1 defeat at home to Dunfermline Athletic in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 97 occasions.

George's club-list included Greenock Juniors, Celtic, Coleraine, Barrow, Ayr United, Dunoon Athletic, Partick Thistle, Morton, Dunfermline Athletic and St Mirren.

Bio Extra

George was signed as a forward in late January 1966 from Dunoon Athletic. The hard-tackling player had been at a clutch of clubs including Celtic and Ayr United. His time at Celtic had been blighted by knee cartilage injury. He fractured his ankle on his return from one such injury, and the break was so severe that there were suggestions that his professional football career was over. He moved on to Thistle. His maiden 1st team outing was against Kilmarnock in an SFL 1st Division contest at Rugby Part on Guy Fawkes Day 1966, the match ending 0-0. Despite being signed as a forward, George mainly as a right-half, but did show versatility in playing in other positions. Hard-tackling George was nicknamed “Tiger”.

Season 1966-67 was the initial season where a named substitute could be used to replace an injured starter. George wasn’t the first player to be listed as the number 12, but he was the second to be used by Thistle in the modern era in the Rugby Park contest listed above (Jackie Campbell being the first six weeks earlier). The 1967-68 season saw the Jags on a Scottish Cup run with Thistle beating Kilmarnock after a replay, then Clyde at Firhill. There was a perception that this could be Thistle’s year, and a large Jags following made their way to East End Park for the Quarter-Final tie against Dunfermline. George played in the right-half position in all of the Scottish Cup matches. Sadly a 1-0 defeat ended the cup run. The Pars went on to beat Hearts in the Final.

The League Cup opponents in the 1968-69 group stage saw Celtic, Rangers and Morton in the Thistle group. Thistle beat Morton both home and away, but got nothing from the Old Firm matches. The 1st round of the Scottish Cup saw Celtic follow Thistle out of the bag, and the clubs played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Firhill. The Celtic Park replay was one for Thistle fans to forget, with an 8-1 defeat putting the club out of the Scottish Cup. George played in a handful of the opening League matches, before leaving Firhill in what was a dreadful season, with Thistle being relegated. George had just under 100 appearances and scored 8 goals. He went on to play for Morton, Dunfermline and St Mirren before going to the United States in 1973. He joined Philadelphia Atoms in the NASL. An article in “The Daily Pennsylvanian”, on 9 May 1996, explained that George moved to the States because his wife Nora’s family lived there. It goes on:

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O’Neill’s time with the Atoms was a personal and team success. Anchoring midfield, he earned all-star recognition as Philadelphia won the Soccer Bowl (the NASL title) in its inaugural season. That performance prompted Gordon Bradley, interim U.S. national team coach to call O’Neill into his squad for a European tour.

George qualified for the U.S. national team with him gaining U.S. citizenship as his wife was American. He was awarded 2 full U.S. caps, with the opponents being Haiti on both occasions. Following the tour, George quit playing, but became a coach. He was coach of Philadelphia Fever between 1978 to 1980. For the lengthy period from 1993 to 1997 he was both interim then head coach of the University of Pennsylvania men’s soccer team.

(DMAC)



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