The Thistle Archive

Arbroath-born right-back George Law came through in the juniors with his hometown team, Dauntless, and was brought in for trials with Arbroath towards the end of 1905, signing professional terms early in the new year. 1906-07 was a real breakthrough season for him when a string of fine performances led to Rangers taking an interest. In February 1907 a fee of £55 was agreed for the transfer, but George was allowed to return for one last hurrah that springtime, helping Arbroath to win the Forfarshire Cup, defeating Dundee A in the final in early April.

George had five seasons with Rangers and was a big favourite with the Ibrox fans who appreciated his robust defensive style. Not only was he a whole-hearted competitor, but he had a fine turn of speed which kept him out of trouble. With these fine attributes he was viewed as one of the best defenders in the country, and he was rewarded in the springtime of 1910 when he was capped in all three matches of the British Home Championship. In March, a 1-0 Hampden win over Wales was followed by a 1-0 defeat to Ireland at Windsor Park. It was all in the balance for the April showdown games and both results went Scotland way. Wales beat Ireland and Scotland beat England 2-0 in front of 106,205 at Hampden, with future-Jag Jimmy McMenemy scoring for Scotland. It was a clean-sheet for Geordie and the title of "British Champion". Further success followed as he won a League Championship medal in 1910-11, and also a Glasgow Cup winners’ medal the same season. A further League title was won in 1911-12, but a leg injury and strong competition for the jerseys disrupted his game somewhat.

In July 1912 he moved south of the border to Second Division Leeds City, where Herbert Chapman was recruiting established international players in an effort to gain promotion to the First Division. He made his Football League debut that September at Fulham. At this point, Geordie made the switch to right-half. The outbreak of war disrupted his game at Leeds, and George returned to Scotland to do his bit in the Clyde shipyards. He once again appeared with Rangers during the war years, and had a rather unsuccesful loan spell at Partick Thistle in the springtime of 1917. He played 4 League games at right-back for Thistle; a 1-1 home draw with Motherwell being offset by three defeats to Airdrie (1-3 away), Hibernian (0-3 at home) and Queen's Park (0-2 at home).

After the war, George returned home to Arbroath where he and his brother took over his father's motoring business. Once again he was able to turn out for Arbroath for fun and fitness, and captained the team to another Forfarshire Cup win in 1921. George retired from the game in 1922 and ran the family business for the rest of his working life.