George_Bristow_(footballer)
George Bristow (footballer)
Footballer
George Andrew Bristow (25 June 1933 – 3 January 2010) was an English professional footballer who played as a right half in the Football League for Brentford. He made over 260 appearances in all competitions and was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in May 2015.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Andrew Bristow[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1933-06-25)25 June 1933 | ||
| Place of birth | Chiswick, England | ||
| Date of death | 3 January 2010(2010-01-03) (aged 76)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Wiltshire, England[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Right half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1950–1961 | Brentford | 245 | (8) |
| → Blandford United (guest) | |||
| 1961–1962 | Queens Park Rangers | 0 | (0) |
| Yiewsley | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Brentford
A right half, Bristow joined Brentford at a young age and came through the youth ranks to make his debut at the age of 17 in a 4–0 Second Division defeat to Manchester City on 14 October 1950.[3][4] During his National Service, Bristow turned down a move to follow former teammate Peter Broadbent to First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers.[5] After completing his National Service and a period as a guest with Dorset League club Blandford United,[3] it wasn't until the 1953–54 season that Bristow was able to hold down a regular first team place and he made 27 appearances in a campaign which saw the Bees relegated to the Third Division South.[4] In February 1956, Bristow was awarded a testimonial versus an International Managers XI and was the club's youngest player to be granted the honour.[6]
Bristow's best years at Brentford came in the 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons and he made over 40 appearances in each.[4] Injuries took their toll on Bristow and he departed the club at the end of the 1960–61 season, after making 264 appearances for the club and scoring eight goals.[3] He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in May 2015.[7]
Queens Park Rangers
Bristow and Brentford teammates Jim Towers and George Francis joined Brentford's West London rivals Queens Park Rangers during the 1961 off-season.[3] He suffered an achilles injury during a pre-season match, which ended his professional career.[3] Bristow failed to appear for the first team and left the club at the end of the 1961–62 Third Division season.[3]
Yiewsley
After his release from Queens Park Rangers, Bristow dropped into non-League football and joined Southern League First Division club Yiewsley in 1962.[3]
Bristow undertook his National Service as a PT instructor at Blandford Camp and represented his battalion's football team.[5] He was married to Maureen and had two daughters.[5] After his retirement from football, Bristow worked as a driving instructor, at Heathrow Airport and as of April 1995, he had worked as a self-employed bricklayer for the previous 25 years.[5] He died in January 2010, after suffering with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.[2]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1950–51[4] | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| 1951–52[4] | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1952–53[4] | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1953–54[4] | Second Division | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | ||
| 1954–55[4] | Third Division South | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 35 | 1 | ||
| 1955–56[4] | Third Division South | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 1956–57[4] | Third Division South | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | ||
| 1957–58[4] | Third Division South | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | ||
| 1958–59[4] | Third Division | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | ||
| 1959–60[4] | Third Division | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 37 | 2 | ||
| 1960–61[4] | Third Division | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2 | |
| Career total | 245 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 264 | 8 | ||
- "George Bristow". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- "Former Bees passes away". brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 26. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 381–386. ISBN 0951526200.
- Brentford F.C. Griffin Gazette versus York City. Quay Design of Poole. 1 April 1995. p. 29.
- Haynes, Graham (1998). A-Z Of Bees: Brentford Encyclopaedia. Yore Publications. p. 22. ISBN 1-874427-57-7.
- Wickham, Chris. "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.