He conceded one goal short of 60 in the league, though it didn’t matter for another year, at which point Dixie Dean’s considerable shadow overshadowed George Camsell to the point where, when Erling Haaland threatens the biggest haul in English football, he hardly worth mentioning.
At least not past Middlesbrough, because Camsell’s status is safe there. They unveiled a new statue in his honor at Riverside Stadium earlier this season and his 345 Boro goals live on in Teesside football folklore.
Camsell was a goalscoring machine in the interwar period. The first man to break the mark of 50 goals in a single English season in 1926/27. He finished with 59 league goals in 37 games, including nine hat-tricks as Middlesbrough won the Division Two title and promotion.
With four in the FA Cup, he achieved 63 in all competitions. It was a new record from a distance and was expected to stand the test of time, but this was a great age to be a striker.
The offside law was relaxed and Dean batted in 60 to set a new league record the following season. He added three more in the FA Cup to tie with Camsell with 63 goals in all competitions.
George Camsell was the first man to break the 50 goal mark in an English season
Dean’s 60 has rightly been immortalized. Unlike Camsell’s, it entered the top flight. It led Everton to a third title. And it’s hard to see it ever beaten. Not even by City’s Haaland, who have been fantastic but are still 25 goals short with only four to play.
Sixty-three in all competitions remains a live target for him, however, with a dozen required and up to seven games to go for Manchester City, although he’s more likely to get there if he takes the penalties he should.
Penalties didn’t mean much for Camsell either. He took three in his record season of 1926/27, scoring the first two and losing in the FA Cup against Millwall before refusing to take another.
Boro got six more that season, taken by others, so he could have been on his own for Dean.
Camsell was Middlesbrough’s top goalscorer for ten years in a row and was still scoring goals in his late thirties when the outbreak of the Second World War ended his professional playing career.
For England he was no less prolific, scoring two goals on his debut against France in 1929. With four more against Belgium, two against Ireland and three against Wales, he scored 11 in his first four internationals.
Then the 14-member selection committee dropped him without explanation and sidelined him for four years.
At Middlesbrough, they assumed an anti-northern bias, drawing the same conclusion on Merseyside when they wondered why Dean only won 16 caps – and only four after turning 22.
Camsell’s achievements require more recognition as Erling Haaland chases records
Dean once claimed England dropped him off for a match in Paris because he refused the soup at the pre-match meal. Camsell, who won his first cap in Paris, may have benefited from Dean’s selective tastes.
Camsell won a late recall and never scored while representing his country. When the war ended his England career in 1936, he scored 18 goals in nine appearances and one short of the record of scoring in 10 in a row set by Steve Bloomer in the 19th century.
A shortage of Dean. A shortage of Bloomer. Two names that still ring true and good company to keep.
After the war, Camsell returned to Ayresome Park to take on various roles as a scout, trainer and assistant secretary until his retirement in 1963. He died aged 63, four months before England won the World Cup.
His most celebrated achievement as a scout was the discovery of Brian Clough, a young striker who scored 204 goals in 222 appearances for Middlesbrough and remained grateful for Camsell’s influence.
“He was known as the bravest center forward in the entire Football League,” said Cloughie.
Who better to remind us of one of football’s forgotten heroes at a time when huge goals are back in fashion and Boro is eyeing another promotion?
Solanke leaves past mistakes behind to finally realize the potential
Dominic Solanke resembles every inch of the Premier League striker and begs where he would be if he hadn’t lost months of football at such a critical stage of his development while at odds with Chelsea.
Solanke barely kicked a ball when it became clear he wanted his contract to expire and move to Liverpool on a free transfer in 2017. Mistakes have probably been made on all sides, but there is certainly a duty of care to ensure that young players continue to develop.
There was a similar situation when Sheffield Wednesday refused to play George Hirst as he tried to secure a lucrative move away from the club.
As they returned to regular play, both young forwards found it difficult to kick through and live up to the potential that had been seen in England’s youth ranks. Hirst, now 24, has spent the past two years on loan from Leicester in League One at Portsmouth and Ipswich.
Solanke moved to Bournemouth in 2019 and spent two years scoring goals and replenishing confidence in the Championship. At the age of 25, he has grown into a strong, mobile striker who can score and create at the highest level.
It is a testament to his talent and his attitude.
Dominic Solanke looks to have matured and finally reached his potential at Bournemouth
A season to remember for outsiders Stevenage
Stevenage will be a long way from home when the campaign ends at Barrow on Monday, but what a fantastic achievement for owner Phil Wallace, manager Steve Evans and everyone at the Lamex.
They were 66/1 automatic promotion outsiders after finishing 21st last season. Not only did they make up a room about it, they also knocked Aston Villa out of the FA Cup.
Steve Evans has led outsider Stevenage to an unexpected promotion to League One
Loyal Lewington overshadowed by the drop of Dons
Relegation was no reward for the loyalty of Dean Lewington, who ends the season just five short of John Trollope’s long-standing record for most league appearances for a single club. Trollope played in 770 games for Swindon Town from 1960 to 1980.
Lewington moved away from Portsmouth’s Jimmy Dickinson into second place on Sunday, as he played his 765th game for Milton Keynes Dons at Burton, where a goalless draw after failing to score from 31 shots on goal condemned them to League Two next season.
Lewington’s 29 appearances for Wimbledon before the club’s controversial change of identity in 2004 are not included in this total.
McKenna’s Incredible Centurions
Ipswich Town couldn’t beat Plymouth Argyle for the League One title but will be the only EFL club to celebrate 100 goals this season.
Goals from Freddie Ladapo and Marcus Harness in a 2-2 draw at Fleetwood on Sunday saw Kieran McKenna’s side finish the season with 101 goals, with a goal difference of +66.
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich will be only EFL side to score 100 goals during the season
Coyle could still perform a miracle north of the border
If Owen Coyle’s Queen’s Park are to complete a poetic march of amateur football into the Scottish Premier League, they’ll have to do so via the play-offs after losing to Dundee on Friday.
There was some consolation, however, for the most casual English observers of Scottish football with the final standings in League Two, north of the border, with East Fife fourth and Forfar fifth.
Another blow to Spurs
As if to prove the nature of talent cycles, Tottenham, who won the U18 and U17 Premier League titles this season, were relegated from the top flight of the U21 Premier League 2 on Sunday.