George Francis Mottry Hardwick ( born February 2, 1920 - April 19, 2004 ) is an English football player and coach. Harduik played as a defender for the Middlesbrough and Oldham Athletic clubs, was the captain of the national team of England , for which he played 13 matches. He is among the 10 legends of the Middlesbrough club [2] and 100 legends of the Football League [3] . He coached Oldham Athletic (as a playing coach), the Netherlands national team , PSV Eindhoven , Sunderland and Gateshead .
 George Harduik | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 George Harduik in November 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| general information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | George Francis Motry Harduik | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Gentleman George [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 2, 1920 Saltburn-by-the-Sea , England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | April 19, 2004 (84 years old) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | defender | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biography
George Harduik was born in the family of an electrician and a school teacher. After the closure of the mine, where George’s father worked, the family was below the poverty line, parents had to go hungry in order to somehow feed their son. At 13 years old, Harduik became a Middlesbrough youth team player [4] , and in April 1937 he entered into a professional contract with the team for which he received £ 5; in his debut match, he scored an own goal. With the outbreak of World War II, Harduik enlisted in the Air Force , trained as a shooter. During the German raid on the airbase in Bedfordshire, he almost died, and later became a sergeant in the Air Force bomber command [1] .
During the war, he played football for London's Chelsea , twice together with the team took part in the Wembley Cup final, and also played 17 matches for the England national team. These matches were not official, but were held to raise the morale of soldiers. After the war, the Chelsea leadership intended to acquire Harduik and was ready to give any money for the player, but Middlesbrough refused to sell their lead player [1] .
In 1946, Harduik became the captain of the England team , not having an asset in a single official match for the national team. In total, he spent 13 matches for the English national team, all in the status of captain, in which England won 10 victories, including the defeat of the Portuguese national team with a score of 10: 0 in May 1947 [5] . Harduik himself recalled that he was a tough and demanding captain, who did not let down his partner in the team, who were afraid of him. In 1947, Harduik, as a captain, led the British team to a match with the FIFA team, which ended in a victory for the British with a score of 6: 1 [1] . Due to an injury, Harduik’s career in the national team did not last long, he missed a European tour and a triumphant victory over the Italians in Turin [4] .
At the club level, Harduik spent 166 matches and scored 5 goals for Middlesbrough, and from 1950 to 1956 he was a playing coach for Oldham Athletic , for which he played a total of 190 matches, in which he scored 14 goals [1] . Harduik mainly played as a left-back, although he sometimes took a place on the right flank, but in his first season he often played offensively at Oldham [4] .
After the player’s career ended, Harduik coached the 7th US Army football team in Germany, PSV Eindhoven club and the Netherlands national team , led the Middlesbrough youth team. In November 1964, he was appointed head coach of Sunderland , but although the club under his leadership showed the best results for the entire post-war period, the leadership sent him to a halt 169 days after the appointment. Under Harduik, Brian Clough began his coaching career, whom he appointed coach of the Sunderland youth team [1] . After being fired from Sunderland, Harduik coached the modest Gateshead club [4] .
George Harduik was twice married, had two sons from his first marriage [1] . He died after a long illness on April 19, 2004. According to Billy Wright , who replaced him as captain of the national team, Harduik was not appreciated as a player. English national team player Tom Finney called Harduik the best defender against whom he had to play [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 George Hardwick Obituary . The Daily Telegraph (April 20, 2004). Date of treatment November 11, 2011. Archived on September 3, 2012.
- ↑ Anthony Vickers. Boro banner icons unveiled . Evening Gazette (August 13, 2007). Date of treatment November 10, 2011.
- ↑ Football Legends list in full . BBC (August 5, 1998). Date of treatment November 10, 2011. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Brian Glanville. Obituary: George Hardwick . The Guardian (April 20, 2004). Date of treatment November 11, 2011. Archived on September 3, 2012.
- ↑ Portugal 0 - 10 England . englandstats.com. Date of treatment November 11, 2011. Archived on September 3, 2012.