1957 George Reilly born, Bellshill, Scotland. (1985) Although born in Scotland, George grew up in the Tartan enclave of Corby, after his family relocated to the Northamptonshire town when his father got a job at the steelworks. Beginning his football career at Corby Town, Reilly worked as a bricklayer before turning professional at Northampton Town and then moving on to Cambridge United. 1983 saw him sign for Watford, appearing in the FA Cup Final at the end of his first season as a Hornet - although his side lost 2-0 at Wembley against Everton. Newcastle had first expressed an interest in Reilly early in the 1984/85 season, but were unable to agree a fee and instead signed Tony Cunningham from Manchester City to boost their attacking options. No sooner had that deal been done though that Watford opted to accept United's offer and Reilly also signed - both strikers being paired for the first time in a 1-0 home win over Luton in March 1985. Reilly's first goal followed in the next game, with Cunningham also scoring in a 3-1 home win over Watford. However the pairing wasn't a success and the route one football that it encouraged saw Chris Waddle quit the club and Peter Beardsley seek pastures new. (Beardo later wrote that: "I certainly didn't enjoy the way we played, neither did Waddle and I am quite certain the fans didn't like it much either.") The highpoint of Reilly's time in Toon was probably scoring the only goal of the game to beat Liverpool at SJP in August 1985, but within four months he had departed - sold on to West Bromwich Albion following the signing of Billy Whitehurst from Hull City. Reilly remained at the Hawthorns until 1988 before returning to former club Cambridge United and winding down his career at Barnet and returning to his bricklaying trade. His 'Rambo' nickname was ironic and stemmed from his donning a black bandana in the style of Sylvester Stallone's fictional hero - although some of George's play was more reminiscent of Sly's approximation of association football in "Escape to Victory"... Perhaps his other nickname was more fitting - Mavis, in honour of the Coronation Street character Mavis Riley.... Those 1984 FA Cup exploits were to have a belated effect on Reilly, when he had part of his ear bitten off while working on a Corby building site in 2003. The culprit proved to be a Plymouth Argyle fan, who had sought revenge for Reilly's goal against the Pilgrims in the FA Cup Semi Final. Reilly commented at the time of the attack: "I can't believe someone held a grudge for that long. I know people have strong loyalties but this is taking it a bit(e) far." Taken from the born or died page on NUFC.com
