George McLean (1937 – 2019)
It is with sadness that we report the death of former Reds’ centre forward, George McLean, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 81.
Born in Paisley in 1937, George impressed in youth football whilst representing Cambuslang Rangers and from there he made the move to Ibrox signing for the other Rangers. He scored five goals in eight appearances for Rangers’ first team but spent the rest of his professional career in England.
He didn’t make the breakthrough in a season-long stay at Norwich City but then enjoyed successful associations with Grimsby Town and Exeter City.
George arrived at Workington in January, 1967 and made his debut in a 1-0 home win over Colchester United.
Of the twenty goals he scored for Reds, my favourite would be the opener in a 2-0 League Cup win over Carlisle United at Brunton Park in 1967. He also scored in both matches against Fulham in the next round.
A character on and off the pitch, George made 63 competitive appearances for Workington during the ’66-67 and ’67-68 seasons, scoring nineteen goals in the process.
He later played for Barrow, his fifth Football League club, before switching to non-league with Boston United eventually settling in the Lincolnshire area.
We send our condolences to George’s family and friends.
