George Andrews

Career

Andrews began his career as an apprentice with Luton Town in the late 1950s, turning professional in 1960 but leaving the following year without making a first team appearance having suffered from homesickness. He continued his career at non-league level with Lower Gornal Athletic in 1961, reaching the Football League in October 1965 after signing for Cardiff City, along with Gary Bell for a fee of £2,100, a record transfer fee for Gornal that still stands, having been spotted by manager Jimmy Scoular. He made his first team debut just a few days later in a 2–1 defeat against Portsmouth, before scoring his first goal for the club a week later in a second 2–1 defeat against Bolton Wanderers. He went on to finish his first professional season with 20 goals in all competitions and scored 6 in the opening 12 matches of the following season before being displaced by new signing Bobby Brown and was allowed to leave to join Southport for £6,000 in February 1967, a club record fee at the time.

Signed by manager Billy Bingham as a replacement for Jim Fryatt who had left to join Torquay United, He quickly established himself in the first-team and, on the final day of the 1966–67 season, he scored the only goal of the game during a 1–0 victory over Southend United which secured promotion to the Third Division for Southport. He left Southport in November 1969 after the club began suffering financial difficulties, joining Shrewsbury Town for a fee of £10,000. He spent the final four seasons of his professional career there, playing 159 league games and scoring 38 goals. He retired from professional football in 1977, though he continued at non-league level with Telford United, Dudley Town, Oldswinford, Solihull Borough and player-manager at Tipton Town.

After football

On retiring from football, he was employed by Dudley MBC as a gardener tending the parks and gardens of Dudley until his retirement in April 2007.

He was married to Janet for nearly 50 years until her death in November 2012 and has two daughters, Priscilla (born 1968) and Melissa (born 1971).