Geoff Strong

Geoff Strong
Personnel
Surname	Geoffrey Hugh Strong
birthday	September 19, 1937
place of birth	Kirkheaton ,  England
date of death	17th June 2013
Place of death	Southport ,  England
position	Half- forward , outside runner (left)
Juniors
Years	station
	Throckley Juniors
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1955-1957	Stanley United
1957-1964	Arsenal FC	125 (69)
1964-1970	Liverpool FC	155 (29)
1970-1971	Coventry City	33 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Geoffrey Hugh "Geoff" Strong (born September 19, 1937 in Kirkheaton , † June 17, 2013 in Southport ) was an English football player . Mostly on the left, both offensively and defensively, he had a successful time at Arsenal in the early 1960s before winning the English Cup with Liverpool in 1965 and the domestic championship in 1966 .

Athletic career

Strong was already successful as a student at Newburn Hall School in Kirkheaton - near Newcastle . He mostly held the position of outside runner and also played two selection games for Northumberland as a half-striker . When he left school at the age of 15 to begin training as a machinist , he lost sight of his sporting hobby and stopped kicking the ball for 18 months. He did not indulge until his instructor found out about his talent in an evening class back to football and was referred to the Throckley Juniors , where he soon took over the office of team captain. When he came of age, he then moved to the Northern League at Stanley United . Although scouts from professional clubs had him there quickly "on the radar" and offers from Wolverhampton and Middlesbrough were received, it initially satisfied him to only play inferior class and to focus on the profession he had learned. Only an offer from Arsenal FC in London prompted him to move to the capital.

Initially only signed as an amateur player, he quickly proved himself in the Arsenal reserve team and signed a professional contract at the age of 19. He immediately proved to be a reinforcement in the offensive game of the "Gunners". With his strengths, which were in the speed, both feet, willingness to work and head ball strength, he became after his goal in the debut against Newcastle United (5-0) in September 1960 to a constant in the storm. He harmonized particularly well with Joe Baker , who was also signed up in 1962, and in the 1962/63 season they both scored 52 goals together. The following year, they even increased the yield to 56 hits. However, since Strong and his partner never felt at home in London, he moved back north. With the reigning champions FC Liverpool an adequate prospect was found, so that in November 1964 he switched to the "Reds" trained by Bill Shankly . Arsenal could hardly cope with the sporting loss and slipped in the following period in the table, which in turn cost Billy Wright the coaching post.

Strong had already played at Anfield at the start of the 1964/65 season and scored for Arsenal. In the week before his move to Liverpool, they seemed to have reached an agreement with Aston Villa , but Strong himself had ultimately not agreed. Now he should primarily replace the seriously injured striker Alf Arrowsmith . But since Strong was versatile, this came in handy for coach Shankly. The downside of the coin, however, turned out to be that he would only belong to the extended circle in the squad and was often not used. When Liverpool FC won the FA Cup in 1965 , however, they represented the injured left wing runner Gordon Milne in the final win against Leeds United . He also played a defensive role in the dramatic semi-final against Inter Milan in the European Cup . The fact that, as a formerly successful Arsenal striker, he couldn't find a place on the offensive was also due to high-profile competitors such as Ian St. John and Roger Hunt . Even in the championship season 1965/66 Strong was not a regular player and played just over half of the 42 league games, mostly as a replacement for Milne or as a substitute for Roger Hunt. His goal in the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' competition against Celtic Glasgow , which he scored with his head despite an injury, was widely noticed . The hit, which paved the way to the final, prompted well-known BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme to the famous exclamation “The cripple has scored”. Strong was absent from the final itself. He experienced his best time in Liverpool in the 1966/67 season. As a left winger, he only missed six league games and scored twelve goals. Despite this success, Shankly used him again only sporadically in the subsequent 1967/68 season. It wasn't until left-back Gerry Byrne had to pay tribute to his injuries that Strong managed to get stuck in one position. Although Peter Wall was already a potential Byrne successor, Strong kept his place on the team for almost two years. Only the disappointing FA Cup defeat in February 1970 against Watford FC caused personnel consequences. Strong was one of the eliminated players and so he only played five more games for Liverpool - the last against eventual champions and local rivals Everton . In the summer of 1970 he left Liverpool for Coventry City and after another year he ended his sporting career.

After his active career, he ran a hotel furnishings company and owned a restaurant together with his ex-teammate Ian Callaghan . He died at the age of 75 of complications from Alzheimer's in a Southport nursing home .

Title / Awards

• English Championship (1): 1966
• English Cup (1): 1965
• Charity Shield (2): 1965 (shared), 1966

Web links

• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database
• Profile on barryhugmansfootballers.com

Individual references / footnotes

1. ↑ Geoff Strong ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Arsenal.com)  
2. ↑ "Dedication: That's what is demanded at Anfield - and we've got it, says Geoff Strong of Liverpool" (lfchistory.net)
3. ↑ "Player Profile: Geoff Strong" (LFCHistory.net)
4. ^ "Geoff Strong: Footballer who won League and Cup with Liverpool" (The Independent)
5. ↑ "Former Reds star Geoff Strong dies aged 75" (Liverpool Echo)