George McLay

George McLay
Personal information
Full name	George McLay
Date of birth	1889
Place of birth	Crossgates, Scotland
Date of death	22 October 1917 (aged 28)
Place of death	near Poelcappelle, Belgium
Position(s)	Wing half
Senior career*
Years	Team
0000–1910	Glencraig Celtic
1910–1915	Raith Rovers
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

George McLay MM (1889 – 22 October 1917) was a Scottish professional footballer who played in the Scottish League for Raith Rovers as a wing half.^[4]

Personal life[]

McLay served as a sergeant in McCrae's Battalion of the Royal Scots during the First World War and saw action at the Battle of the Somme.^[3] As McLay advanced near Poelcappelle during the Battle of Passchendaele on 22 October 1917, he became trapped in barbed wire and was shot multiple times, before being shot through the head.^[3] He was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for his actions.^[3] McLay is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.^[2]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Scottish Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Raith Rovers	1910–11^[1]	Scottish First Division	9	2	0	0	9	2
	1911–12^[1]		19	0	2	0	21	0
	1912–13^[1]		20	2	2	0	22	2
	1913–14^[1]		21	1	0	0	21	1
	1914–15^[1]		10	0	—		10	0
Career total			79	5	4	0	83	5

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
^ ^a ^b "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Brown, Gordon. "George McLay: Hall of Fame induction for a true hero". www.fifetoday.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
^ "They Died in the Conflict in Season 1916–1917" (PDF). p. 10. Retrieved 15 May 2018.

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v t Raith Rovers F.C. – Hall of Fame inductees
2012	Baxter Dalziel Davidson Harrow McNaught Nicholl W. Penman Reid
2013	Cameron Ellis Forsyth James Polland Urquhart Wallace Young
2014	1994 Scottish League Cup Final squad Gourlay
2015	Baker Connor Harris Hutton McGurn McStay
2016	Andrews Calderón Crawford Hetherston McDermott Scott Todd
2017	Brewster Dennis McGlynn McLay A. Penman Stewart
2018	Porterfield Rougier Smith Thomson Wright
2019	Caira Campbell Dair Dempsey Morris Sinclair

Personal information
Full name	George McLay^[1]
Date of birth	1889
Place of birth	Crossgates, Scotland
Date of death	22 October 1917 (aged 28)^[2]
Place of death	near Poelcappelle, Belgium^[3]
Position(s)	Wing half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–1910	Glencraig Celtic
1910–1915	Raith Rovers	79	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only