Ainsley: George Edward (George)
1936-1947
(Player Details)
(Leeds United War-time Guest Player Details)
Centre Forward
Born: South Shields: 15-04-1915
Debut: v Sunderland (a): 19-12-1936
6’0” 13st. (1939)
Ainsley commenced with South Shields St. Andrews before joining Sunderland in April 1932.
He made his League debut on 6th May 1933 in a 1-1 away draw at Chelsea and played three more
times the following season, in two losses against Portsmouth (h) 0-2 on 30th August 1933,
Stoke City (a) 0-3 on 6th January 1934, and a draw against Manchester City (h) 0-0 on 11th
April 1934. He made no further appearances for the Rokerites and he was sold to Bolton Wanderers
in August 1936 for £2,500. There were only seven League appearances with the Trotters, before he
joined Leeds in December of that year. His Leeds debut was aginst his former team, Sunderland,
on 19th December 1936 and he also opened up his goal account in the 1-2 home defeat and followed
this with two more goals on Christmas Day in a 5-0 home romp against Middlesbrough. He toured
South Africa with an F.A. XI in 1939, playing in one Test match, and represented the RAF against
the F.A. XI at Dulwich on 30th March 1940. Apart from scoring thirty-five goals in sixty-three
appearances for United, he also saw service with several other clubs as a guest player during the
war, when he served in the RAF as a Sergeant instructor. In those War Years he scored four goals
in seven games in 1939-40 with Blackpool and then had another game without scoring in 1940-41. He
also played once, without scoring, for Manchester United in that season. In 1941-42 he scored
five times in ten games for Liverpool and scored once in his only game for Huddersfield Town.
1942-43 saw him play once without scoring for Birmingham and also Sunderland as well as getting
ten goals in just nine games for Southport. He was again on target for Bradford Park Avenue,
where he formed a dynamic partnership with Len Shackleton, scoring twenty-seven goals in
twenty-nine games, while the "Clown Prince of Soccer" helped himself to thirty-four goals in
just twenty-eight games. He finished off the War Years by making two appearances, without scoring,
for Crewe Alexandra in 1944-45. Returning to Leeds after the War, he moved to Bradford Park Avenue
in November 1947, staying to the end of the following season and amassing twenty-nine goals in
forty-four appearances before he retired as a player in 1949. He later became an F.A. coach in
India, in 1950, then with Cambridge University, in the early 1950's. He was trainer at SK Brann
in Bergen, Norway in 1955. Ghana then appointed him head coach from 1958 to 1959. This was
followed by an appointment as coach of Pakistan until November 1962 and he then moved to Highland
Park, Johannesburg as coach. Isreal then appointed him Manager in late 1963 and he held that post
until December 1964. He was appointed manager of Workington in July 1965. In the 1965-66 season
he took them to fifth place in Division Three, their highest ever League position. However,
Workington suffered relegated at the end of the 1966-67 season and Ainsley was sacked in November
1966. He became National Coach of the Libyan Olympic team before returning to England in 1970. He
then coached USL Dunkerque in France. He died in Seacroft, Leeds in April 1985