James Edward Travers known as George Travers, was an English professional

Professional

A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...

 footballer who played as an inside forward

Inside forward

In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...

 or centre forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

. He made 164 appearances in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

, representing a number of clubs prior to and just after the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Playing career

Travers was born in Newtown

Newtown, Birmingham

Newtown is an inner city area of Birmingham, England, to the north of the city centre. It is located in the Aston council ward, in the council constituency of Ladywood. The housing in the area is made up of a number of tower blocks, maisonettes and terraced houses.Newtown is centred around the busy...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, and attended Birchfield Road School in nearby Aston

Aston

Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...

. He began his football career with local teams Bilston United and Rowley United before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

 in 1906. He made no league appearances for the club before moving on to Birmingham

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

, where he spent eighteen months and played only twice for the first team. Transferred to Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 in a part-exchange deal involving Jack Wilcox

Jack Wilcox

John Mitchell "Jack" Wilcox was an English professional footballer who played as an outside right for various clubs in the years preceding the First World War.-Football career:...

, he marked his debut in December 1908 with a hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

, but played only three more league games, leaving for Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

, then a Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 club, at the end of the 1908–09 season

The Football League 1908-09

The 1908–1909 season was the 21st season of the The Football League.-Overview:Tottenham Hotspur played their first ever season in the Football League, gaining promotion to the First Division in the process...

. A year in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 preceded six months with Leicester Fosse

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 before a more long-lasting move, to Barnsley

Barnsley F.C.

Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

 of the Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, in January 1911.

Travers played in the 1912 FA Cup Final

1912 FA Cup Final

The 1912 FA Cup Final was the 41st FA Cup final. It was contested by Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion. It took two matches to determine a winner...

, in which Barnsley beat West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 1–0 in extra time in the replay, after the first game had ended goalless. The Manchester Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

s report of the replay praised his shots at goal.

After three years at Barnsley he joined Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, for whom he played 21 games, scoring 4 goals. After the war he joined Swindon Town

Swindon Town F.C.

Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

, playing 34 games in their last season in the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 and scoring 14 goals, which made him the club's second-highest scorer for the season. Returning to the Football League, he spent a few months with Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 of the newly formed Third Division

Football League Third Division

The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 and the remainder of the 1920–21 season

The Football League 1920-21

The 1920–1921 season was the 29th season of The Football League.-Overview:The Football League Third Division is introduced, in effect the Third Division South of the following season, when Third Division North is introduced...

 with rivals Norwich City

Norwich City F.C.

Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...

. He finished his league career in the 1921–22 season

The Football League 1921-22

The 1921–1922 season was the 30th season of The Football League.-Overview:This year the Third Division was divided into North and South sections...

 at Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

, then returned to non-League football

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 with Nuneaton Town and Cradley St Luke's, finally calling time on his career with his first club, Bilston United, in May 1931 at the age of 42.

Travers died in Smethwick

Smethwick

Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, in 1946 at the age of 57.