Full name George William Webb Name George Webb Date of birth ca. 1888 Role Footballer | Years Team Died March 28, 1915 | |
Date of death 28 March 1915(1915-03-28) | ||
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George William Webb (ca.1888 – 28 March 1915) was an English amateur footballer who spent most of his career playing at centre-forward for West Ham United in the Southern League, as well as making seven appearances for the England national amateur football team and two for the full national side.
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Football career
Webb was born in Poplar in the East End of London and educated at Shaftesbury Road School. He was the stepson of George Hone, who was involved in the creation of Thames Ironworks and became a director of West Ham United. In August 1905, Webb had a pre-season trial with West Ham, going on to make occasional appearances for their reserve team, while playing for various amateur sides in the Ilford area.
He made his debut for West Ham's first team on 9 April 1909, when he scored the only goal in a match against local rivals, Leyton. On 5 February 1910, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Football League Second Division in the Second Round of the FA Cup. He repeated this a year later, scoring all the goals in a 3–0 victory over First Division Preston North End. Webb was described as "fast, had a great shot while a hefty physique made him even more redoubtable".
Webb made seven appearances for the England national amateur football team and also represented the Southern League in representative matches. His first appearances for the full national side came in the Home Championship match against Wales on 13 March 1911. In the match, played at Millwall's The Den ground, Webb scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory, with England's other two goals coming from fellow-amateur, Vivian Woodward. He retained his place for the next match, against Scotland at Everton's Goodison Park stadium. The match finished 1–1, but the draw was sufficient for England to claim the championship trophy. Webb's performance against Scotland was described as "a failure, largely due to the work of Low", who marked him out of the game.
During his time with West Ham, Webb remained an amateur and his appearances were restricted by his business commitments. His fellow West Ham forward Danny Shea said that Webb "led too crowded a life". Illness in December 1911 ruled him out for most of the remainder of that season, with Fred Harrison taking over from him.
In the summer of 1912, he moved to Manchester City of the Football League First Division, but after two games, both 1–0 away wins, against Notts County and Manchester United, he fell out with the club when he discovered that a transfer fee had been paid to West Ham United, which went against his principles as an amateur. Part of the transfer deal also included the playing of a friendly game between West Ham and Manchester City at Upton Park in November 1912, the first ever meeting between the two sides, which Manchester City won 4–2.
Life outside football
Webb worked in the family toy manufacturing business and was a freemason. He died of consumption in 1915.