George Torrance (footballer)

George Torrance
Personal information
Full name George Clark Torrance[1]
Date of birth (1957-09-17) 17 September 1957
Place of birth Rothesay, Scotland
Playing position Left midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1981 Camberley Town (4)
Farnborough Town
1982–1984 Wokingham Town
1984–1986 Brentford 34 (1)
1986–1987 Maidstone United 40 (6)
1987–1994 Falmouth Town 252 (55)
Porthleven
Teams managed
Porthleven (player-assistant)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


George Torrance is a retired Scottish professional footballer, who played as a left midfielder. He is best remembered for his time in the Football League with Brentford.

Club career

Non-league football

A left-sided midfielder, Torrance began his career with Isthmian League Division One side Camberley Town,[2] when he was stationed with the army in nearby Blackwater.[3] He moved on to join fellow Isthmian League side Farnborough Town, before being posted to Germany for two years.[3] While still in Germany, Torrance joined Isthmian League Premier Division side Wokingham Town.[3] He achieved notoriety in the 1982/83 FA Cup, scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 first round draw with Division Three high-flyers Cardiff City.[4]

Brentford

Torrance and Wokingham Town teammate (and fellow soldier) Steve Butler joined Division Three side Brentford in December 1984,[1] with the Griffin Park club paying £400 to buy the pair out of the army.[3] Torrance found himself used as a utility player in his early time with the Bees, playing six different positions in his first eight games.[3] He became an integral part of the side, making 21 appearances during the 1984/85 season, though an ankle injury saw him lose his place towards the end of the campaign.[3] Torrance was an unused substitute for the 3-1 1985 Football League Trophy Final defeat to Wigan Athletic and later recalled that failing to get onto the pitch at Wembley was his "greatest disappointment".[3] He played on into the 1985/86 season and departed the club during the campaign, having made 34 league appearances.[5]

Return to non-league football

Torrance joined Alliance Premier League side Maidstone United during the 1985/86 season, helping the club stave off relegation on goal difference.[3] He moved to Cornwall in 1987 and joined South Western League side Falmouth Town, winning three titles and making over 250 appearances for the club.[6] Torrance later joined Porthleven, playing well into his 40s and serving as player-assistant manager at the club.[3]

Representative career

In December 1986, Torrance was called upon to represent the FA XI in a match versus an Isthmian League representative side.[7] He scored in a 4-1 victory.[8] Despite being Scottish, Torrance appeared for England Police in a match versus Scotland in 1994, with England winning 3-0.[3] Also playing for England was Torrance's Welsh former Brentford teammate, Gary Roberts.[3]

Personal life

Torrance served in the Royal Engineers and later ran a residential home with his parents-in-law in St Keverne. He joined the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in 1994, after moving to Falmouth.[3][9] He was later stationed in Truro and in 2010 was based at Royal Cornwall Hospital in the town.[9] Torrance has two children and lives in Helston.[9]

Honours

Falmouth Town

References

  1. 1 2 "Barry Hugman's Footballers - George Torrance". hugmansfootballers.com. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  2. ↑ "1980/81". camberleytownfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Brentford Official Matchday Magazine versus Camberley Town 14/11/98. London: Morganprint Blackheath Ltd. p. 19.
  4. ↑ Bob Thomas. "Football FA Cup First Round 20th November 1982 Wokingham Town 1 v... News Photo 79019346". Getty Images. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/brentford/brentford.html
  6. ↑ "Players with over 250 appearances". falmouthtown.net. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Brentford F.C. Griffin Gazette versus Huddersfield Town 21/02/95. Quay Design of Poole. 1995. p. 33.
  8. ↑ "Representative Matches - History - The Ryman Isthmian Football League". isthmian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 New police officer welcomed to RCHT
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.