2 July 1975: Charlie George sold to Derby

Perhaps to be more complete one might say of this day, “Charlie George ludicrously sold to Derby by Bertie Mee who put his own authority above the good of the team.”

Charlie was born in Islington, went to Holloway Road school and played for Islington schoolboys.

He made his first-team debut on 9 August 1969 and made 39 appearances that season, being a key player in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup triumph, playing in both legs of the final.

Although injured for the first part of the first double season he did play in the latter stages and of course scored the winner in the Cup Final.

The tragedy however was that he was managed by Bertie Mee who felt that football clubs should be run in the same way as the army.  Despite the collapse in Arsenal’s form in 1974-5 Mee felt it right to drop Charlie and he was transfer listed, going to Derby in 1975 having played 179 times for Arsenal.

For Derby he went on to score a hat trick against Real Madrid – he is remembered with as much affection by Derby fans as he is by Arsenal fans.

By the end of the 70s he was playing with Nottingham Forest and scored the only goal of the game against Barcelona to win the Super Cup.

Ludicrously he won only one England cap – and for that was insanely played on the left-wing.  The manager at the time was… Don Revie.

Henry Norris at the Arsenal:  There is a full index to the series here.

Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever

Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.

100 Years: 100 Years in the First Division

Arsenal today: Untold Arsenal 

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