George Campbell
Personal information
Full name	George Campbell
Date of birth	3 May 1957 (1957-05-03) (age 52)
Place of birth	Caol, Fort William, Scotland
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Left Winger/Midfielder
Youth career
1971–1972	Kilmallie Youth Club
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1972–1978 1978–1983 1983–1985 1985–1986 1987–1988 1989	Aberdeen (SPL) South Melbourne Hellas (NSL) Preston Makedonia (NSL) Green Gully (NSL) Box Hill Inter (VPL) Fawkner Blues (VPL)	033 0(1) 104 (17) 050 0(8) 029 0(4) 062 0(29) 024 0(2) 302 (61)
National team
1972–1973	Scotland National Youth Team	003 0(0)
Teams managed
2000–2002	Essendon Royals Senior Assistant Coach (VPL) Essendon Royals U21/Reserve Coach (VPL)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

George Campbell (born 3 May 1957) is a former Scottish professional football player. He was born in a Highland town called Caol near Fort William in Scotland and played for Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League. George is one of three players to have ever made their debut at 16 years of age for Aberdeen FC. ^[1]

He was the youngest player to have ever made his debut for Aberdeen being only 16 years and 8 months old, up until the 22nd August 2009 when Fraser Fyvie broke his record by 3 months. He was nicknamed the 'White Pele' and 'The Pele of the North' because of his unique skill on the ball.

When George signed for South Melbourne Hellas in Australia, he became the most expensive player to enter the country with a transfer fee from Scottish giants Aberdeen F.C. to Australian giants South Melbourne Hellas for £20,000 ($50,000 AUD). This was an enormous amount of money considering the 21 year old was only planning on staying at the club for 1 year before returning back to Scotland's Premier League.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Honours 3 Records 4 Coaching career 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Playing career

George Campbell played for Lochaber before joining the Kilmallie Youth Club as a 14 year old in 1971. Campbell turned professional when he signed for Aberdeen FC in 1972, initially as a schoolboy. He spent seven seasons at Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium as a left sided midfielder.

Whilst at the Dons, George represented his country, Scotland at the UEFA European Youth Championship Qualifiers in 1972 & 73 at the age of 15 & 16.

Campbell was the youngest player to have ever made his debut for Aberdeen FC being only 16 years and 8 months old, up until the 22nd August 2009 when Fraser Fyvie broke his record by 3 months. He made his debut for Aberdeen in the UEFA Cup against N.E.C. Nijmegen in 1974. A week later he made his Scottish Premier League debut against Heart of Midlothian F.C. on the 10th August 1974 at Pittodrie Stadium in front of 40,000 supporters.

Campbell won the 1975 Reserve Scottish Cup with Aberdeen F.C. before breaking into the Aberdeen first team.

During the 70's Aberdeen regularly challenged Rangers FC and Celtic FC for domestic offers. Campbell won the 1976 Scottish League Cup with Aberdeen FC after beating Celtic FC 2-1 at Hampden Park, Scotland's National Stadium in front of 69,707 supporters.

George was nicknamed the 'White Pele' and the 'Pele of the North' because of his unique skill with the ball. He played a total of 33 games for the Scottish giants and scored his only goal in a pre-season match against Irish Premier League club Finn Harps F.C., who had won the FAI Irish Cup 1 year previously in 1974. Aberdeen had already beaten the Harps in the UEFA Cup in 1973 3-1 and 4-1.

He was signed by South Melbourne FC in 1978, Australia's most successful football club in history, who played in the National Soccer League of Australia, for a transfer fee of £20,000 ($50,000 AUD). He became the most expensive player to enter the country and was only planning to be in Australia for one season before returning to Scotland's Premier League although another broken leg prevented him from doing so. George was one of the best footballing talents to have ever played in Australia and for South Melbourne Hellas & Preston Makedonia.

Campbell won the Ampol Cup with South Melbourne FC in 1982 and helped South become runners up in the NSL in 1981 which was South's best ever National Soccer League placing at the time.

In 1982, after 104 appearances and 17 goals with South Melbourne FC, George moved to National Soccer League club Preston Makedonia and stayed there for 3 seasons making 50 appearances and scoring 8 goals before moving to another NSL club called Green Gully in 1985 where he made 29 appearances and scored 4 goals. He then signed for Box Hill Inter in the Victorian Premier League and stayed there for 2 seasons making 62 appearances. George then signed for Fawkner Blues who were also in the VPL. He made 23 appearances for the Blues and scored 2 goals.

George regularly appeared on Australia's only National football program called 'Match of the Day' on free to air television channel 028, which is now known as SBS.

Campbell was not eligible for Socceroo representation as he's Scottish and had already represented Scotland, although he did represent Victoria and played against American footballing giants New York Cosmos. He played against German legend Franz Beckenbauer, Dutch legend Johan Neeskens and Carlos Alberto, one of Brazil's most highly regarded defenders of all time.

Campbell was named the Player of the Year at Victorian Premier League club Fawkner FC for season 1989.

In 1999 George became a 'legend' of South Melbourne FC and is in South Melbourne's Hall of Fame at Bob Jane Stadium.

[edit] Honours

With Scottish National Youth Team:

• 3 International Caps
• UEFA European Youth Championship Qualification

With Aberdeen F.C. in SPL:

• 1975 Reserve Scottish Cup Winners
• 1976 Scottish League Cup Winners

With South Melbourne Hellas in NSL:

• 1981 NSL Runners Up
• 1982 Ampol Cup Winners

With Preston Makedonia in NSL:

• 1983 NSL third placed

With Green Gully SC in NSL:

• 1986 Dockerty Cup Winners

With Fawkner F.C. in VPL:

• Player of the Year - 1989

[edit] Records

With Aberdeen F.C. in SPL:

• Youngest Player to have ever made his debut for Aberdeen FC up until 22nd Aug 2009 - He was 16 years & 8 months young
• One of three players to have ever made their debut for Aberdeen FC at 16 years of age

With South Melbourne Hellas in NSL:

• Most expensive player to enter Australia and to be signed by South Melbourne at the time - £20,000 ($50,000 AUD)

[edit] Coaching career

Campbell was the Senior assistant coach and U 21's coach at Essendon Royals in the Victorian Premier League in seasons 2000 and 2001. Campbell, Dean Hennessey's senior assistant, together won the Victorian State League Division 1 and were promoted to the Victorian Premier League in 2001. George then won the U21 Victorian Premier League title with Essendon in season 2001.

Campbell was the Football Federation Victoria U14 & U15 State Coach in 2005 & 2006. The Melbourne Victory Youth Coach, Mehmet Durakovic was his assistant for the FFV U14 State Team in 2006.

[edit] External links

• South Melbourne FC's Notable Players
• George Campbell on official Aberdeen FC website
• George Campbell - Youngest Players to have ever made their debuts for Aberdeen FC on official Aberdeen website
• Former Football Star, George 'White Pele' Campbell, returns from Australia for Christmas
• George Campbell Playing Statistics
• 2006 FFV State Representative Coaches
• Melbourne Football STARS (MFS) website

[edit] References