The Thistle Archive

The Thistle fans could be forgiven for asking “who?” when it comes to the inclusion of Geoff Aunger in the club's A-Z, the Canadian midfielder never having appeared as a Jag in Glasgow, nor indeed Scotland for that matter. All three of his appearances (as a trialist) were made for John Lambie's Thistle in the July 1994 pre-season tour of Northern Ireland, registering wins to nil over Derry City, Glentoran and Portadown. By that time, the 24-year-old was firmly established as a Canadian internationalist with 17 caps behind him. Indeed, only the previous month he'd played in 5 games in 12 days against Morocco, Brazil, Germany, Spain & Netherlands!

Geoff began his professional career in 1987 in the Canadian Soccer League and played all six years of the league's existence and with five different teams. He started with the Vancouver 86ers and went on to play with the Winnipeg Fury, Victoria Vistas, Hamilton Steelers, London Lasers, and once more with the 86ers. He was the league's 7th leading scorer in 1988 with the Fury, 4th in 1991 with the Steelers and named a league All-Star in 1992, the final year of the league. In February 1992 - just before the start of that final season - Geoff landed in England turning out for Leicester City in a local cup tie away to Holwell Sports and scored in the 1-1 draw.

Friendships with Frank Yallop and Craig Forrest connected him with England, and he returned there to train for a while with Ipswich Town. In December 1992 he scored a hat-trick on his debut for Sudbury Town in their 4-1 win over Braintree Town. Luton Town gave him a season-long deal in 1993-94 and, in early November '93, he scored with his first touch in English league football with just 2 minutes on the clock, but the Hatters went down 3-2 to promotion-chasing Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. His close-season trial as a Jag in '94 seems to have been followed by a short break. Together with another midfielder, Ágúst Gylfason, he landed at SK Brann for a trial in November 1994, but it was the Icelandic player who won the contract. The following month Geoff was back in England and joined Chester City for an extended trial period as they sought to improve their prospects in a relegation battle. Former Leicester boss Alan Evans had tipped Chester off about Geoff's attributes. Chester boss Mike Pejic said of him: “The lad is good with his back to the play, holds the ball up well and can bring midfielders into the game.”

Geoff returned to North America for their 1995 season, landing once more in Vancouver with the 86ers who played in the A-League (second tier of US Soccer). Geoff was one of a handful of Canadians who played in the early years of MLS, when extravagant shootouts decided games. He tried his luck once more in England, this time with Stockport County but made but just one appearance in December 1997, as a substitute the day after signing, before joining the A-League's Seattle Sounders. He was the first Canadian to win an MLS Cup, the D.C. United side of 1999 still rated by many as the greatest team to ever play in the league. His crime count - regularly high for fouls and bookings - in end of season stats tables suggest that he was a competitive player! Geoff later settled in New York where he worked as a private banker.

Geoff is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →