Golden Goals: when George Camsell scored five on Christmas Day 1926 | Simon Burnton

Dec 21, 2017

The Middlesbrough striker had a golden season in 1926-27, including a festive scoring streak that made life particularly hectic for football statisticians

In April 1925 a panel of assorted footballing suits and bigwigs gathered to debate a possible method of arresting the decline in the number of goals being scored and decreasing the amount of irritating stoppages being endured. The tweak they agreed on that day immediately engendered a blossoming of high-speed attacking surely beyond the wildest imaginings of those gathered at the meeting, a flourishing of forward play that culminated six years later in a still-unbeaten 3.7 goals being scored in the average league game and Aston Villa alone plundering 128, another record. For all their attacking brio Villa still came second – Arsenal, the champions, scored 127.

So although Billy Pease, Billy Birrell, Owen Williams and Jacky Carr fed him countless chances during the 1926-27 season, George Camsell’s goals were also created in that committee room, where the council of the Football Association debated two proposed changes to the offside law and, in a move that will astonish long-term followers of football administrator voting, very much picked the right option.

Tags: Football Middlesbrough Sport