| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Rowlands Antonio[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 October 1914[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Whitchurch, Shropshire, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 2 July 1997 (aged 82)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Oswestry, Shropshire, England[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1934 | Oswestry Town | ||
| 1935–1946 | Stoke City | 84 | (13) |
| 1946–1947 | Derby County | 18 | (2) |
| 1948–1949 | Doncaster Rovers | 34 | (7) |
| 1949–1951 | Mansfield Town | 67 | (2) |
| 1951–1952 | Oswestry Town | ||
| 1952–1953 | Wellington Town | ||
| 1953–1954 | Stafford Rangers | ||
| 1954–1955 | Oswestry Town | ||
| 1955 | Berriew | ||
| Total | 203 | (24) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
George Rowlands Antonio (20 October 1914 – 2 July 1997) was an English footballer of Italian descent who played in the Football League for Derby County, Doncaster Rovers, Mansfield Town and Stoke City.[1]
Antonio was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, moving to Oswestry with his parents at age three.[3] He started playing in the same county with non-league Oswestry Town before joining Stoke City in 1935.[1] He made his Stoke debut against Liverpool on the final day of the 1935–36 season and established himself in the side the following season.[1] He scored twice in a 10–3 win over West Bromwich Albion, Stoke's record victory. He played quite regularly in the next two seasons sharing positions with Bobby Liddle.[1] In 1938 he was selected by the Wales Football Association for placing as an international for Wales but was dropped when he was discovered to have been born in England.[3]
During World War II, during which he served in the army with the North Staffordshire Regiment,[3] he guested for Nottingham Forest making three appearances in 1939–40 and seven appearances scoring 2 goals in 1940–41.[1] In the 1945–46 season, he guested for Ipswich Town as well as a number of other clubs. He played 16 times for Stoke in 1946–47 season scoring five goals before joining Derby County in March 1947.[1] In the year he was at Derby he played 18 matches and scored twice. He joined Doncaster Rovers for the 1948–49 season appearing 34 times and scoring seven goals, then signed for Mansfield Town from 1949 to 1950 playing 67, scoring twice.[1]
Source:[4]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke City | 1935–36 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1936–37 | First Division | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 3 | |
| 1937–38 | First Division | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 1938–39 | First Division | 23 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 4 | |
| 1945–46 | — | 7 | 2 | 7 | 2 | |||
| 1946–47 | First Division | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | |
| Total | 84 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 98 | 15 | ||
| Derby County | 1946–47 | First Division | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 1947–48 | First Division | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | ||
| Doncaster Rovers | 1948–49 | Third Division North | 24 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 4 |
| 1949–50 | Third Division North | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | |
| Total | 34 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 8 | ||
| Mansfield Town | 1949–50 | Third Division North | 29 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 2 |
| 1950–51 | Third Division North | 38 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 44 | 1 | |
| Total | 67 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 75 | 3 | ||
| Career Total | 203 | 24 | 23 | 4 | 226 | 28 | ||