3/1 To Win
Charlie George holds a place in Derby County history as the only man to have scored two hat-tricks for the club in Europe.
Classy forward George grew up in Islington in London and played for Islington Schoolboys before turning professional in 1968, signing for Arsenal.
He made 179 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 49 goals, most notably the winner in the 1971 FA Cup Final against Liverpool to secure Arsenal’s first-ever double.
He then made the move to Dave Mackay’s Derby in 1975, and he spent two-and-a-half seasons at the Baseball Ground, scoring 34 goals in just over 100 league appearances.
George also lifted silverware whilst with the Rams on his debut in a 2-0 victory over West Ham United in the 1975 Charity Shield.
He memorably scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid in the European Cup in a 4-1 victory for Derby in October 1975, although they lost the return leg 5-1 to bow out 6-5 on aggregate the following month.
George also scored a hat-trick in the record 12-0 victory over Irish side Finn Harps at the Baseball Ground in September 1976, this time in the UEFA Cup, on a night which also saw Kevin Hector hit the back of the net five times.
He also gained his one and only England cap whilst on Derby’s books, against the Republic of Ireland in 1976.
After leaving Derby in 1978, he went on to play for the Minnesota Kicks in the North American Soccer League, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
He returned to Derby County for a second time in 1982 before moving on to Bulova in Hong Kong, Dundee United and Coventry City.
Nowadays, George can be found working in an ambassadorial role at Arsenal and his love of the game is a strong as ever.
The 69-year-old can still recall joining the Rams over 40 years on – and he admits the pull of Dave Mackay was too great to turn down.
“It’s over 40 years ago now since I joined Derby,” George told RamsTV Meets.
“It was a funny move really because the move came out of the blue as well; I had a phone call out of the blue from Dave Mackay and he asked me if I would be interested in signing for Derby.
“I met up with him in Carlton Towers in London and we did the deal within 20 minutes. Nottingham Forest were actually in for me as well, but I went with Derby and I have no regrets because I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“Derby had just won the league and I felt it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to come and play with a great team. I played with a freedom I knew I could play with.
“I don’t think you truly appreciate the players you are playing against until you play with them.
“I played against Colin Todd, Roy McFarland, Dave Mackay, Alan Hinton, Bruce Rioch and David Nish, who was a cultured left-back, and Franny Lee was one hell of a player. I thought we could do something with the players we had.”
George admits that he had a few nerves when it came to the reaction he would receive from the Derby supporters upon his arrival.
He had been involved in an incident at the Baseball Ground in the 1971/72 season, under Brian Clough, when he stuck two fingers up to the Rams’ faithful after scoring in an FA Cup tie which finished in a 2-2 draw.
“I was a bit nervous about joining after giving them the V-sign while I was at Arsenal, but I didn’t need to have worried,” he admitted.
“I got on great with the crowd from the very start, but I remember that they went crazy when I gave them the V-sign!”
George got off to a flying start on his league debut, scoring in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United in August 1975 and his first goals at the Baseball Ground came in a 2-1 success against Manchester United the following month.
In the European Cup, meanwhile, Derby’s 3-1 aggregate victory over Slovan Bratislava in Round One set up a two-legged showdown with Real Madrid in Round Two.
The first leg was a night to remember under the Baseball Ground floodlights as George helped himself to a hat-trick, with David Nish netting the other goal, in a 4-1 win for Derby.
However, a 5-1 loss at the Santiago Bernabeu after extra-time in the second leg saw Derby eliminated 6-5 on aggregate before a crowd of 120,000 fans.
George scored in that game too, with a stunning strike into the top corner from the edge of the box, but he is best remembered for that memorable treble.
He said: “I feel people make a lot of the hat-trick, but two of them were penalties weren’t they!
“I was always that confident when it came to penalties, so I always felt I should score them.
“The other goal that night was a good one; and I actually think the one I scored in Madrid was the best – but it never got a mention because we were beaten 5-1.
“The one from open play at the Baseball Ground was all about timing, I managed to come onto it and find the bottom corner. I could strike a ball well, so it was all about timing and I caught it sweetly.
“It was devastating to lose how we did in the second leg. Personally, I managed to score four goals in two games against Real Madrid and still end up on the losing side.”
He added: “I think that we could have done really well in the competition if we had got through.”
George had a brilliant first season and was named as the Rams’ Player of the Year.
Until he dislocated a shoulder against Stoke City at the Baseball Ground in March, the Rams had a chance of a league and cup double.
They lost to Manchester United in the Semi-Final of the FA Cup and went on to finish fourth in the First Division.
For George, the injury that he suffered always leaves him wondering what might have been.
He said: “Without being blasé about it, I really do believe that if I hadn’t have got injured, when I dislocated my shoulder and fractured my elbow, we would have gone on to win the double.
“I missed the FA Cup Semi Final and I think the stuffing was knocked out of us, without being cocky or anything. I was flying at that time.”
George returned for the start of the following season but an indifferent start saw Mackay sacked in November 1976 and replaced by Colin Murphy.
The season proved to be a different one in the league, finishing in mid-table, while they were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by AEK Athens in Round Two 5-2 on aggregate.
George admits that his form in a Derby shirt was never the same again after Mackay left.
He said: “I didn’t think Dave should have been sacked and I respected him so much; he brought me to Derby so I was gutted to see him leave.
“Once he left, I wasn’t the same player that’s for sure. I think we could have turned it around with the players we had.”
His brief return in the latter stages of the 1981/82 season saw George help Derby avoid relegation to the Third Division.
He recalled: “Thank goodness we didn’t get relegated; I did okay in some games.
“I only really came in to help the team and give them some confidence.”
George went on to play for Brian Clough, a man he admired and respected greatly, later in his career at Forest.
Clough successfully guided Derby to the First Division title in the early 1970s and George, on reflection, would have relished the chance to have played under him earlier in his career.
“I always respected Brian Clough and wanted to play for him,” he said.
“He gave me respect and I had the same for him.
“I only played for him for a short time at Nottingham Forest. I did always want to play for him as he was able to get the best out of players; it’s just a shame my knee was buggered at the time!”
Want to hear more from Charlie George on his early career, life at Derby County and THAT hat-trick against Real Madrid? Watch the RamsTV Meets videos embedded within this article to take a trip down memory lane.
