Players who have appeared in League football for PNE & Southport
Bob Batey
Clive Clark
Tony Coleman
Bobby Crawford
Paul Crossley
Willie Cunningham
Les Dagger
Albert Dainty
Billy Greatorex
Toby Green
David Hughes
Frank Jefferies
Eric Jones
Tommy Lawrenson
Frank Lee
Jack Livesey
Norrie Lloyd
Henry Lowe
Jack Marshall
Andy McLaren
George Motch
Archie Rawlings
Willie Robertson
George Ross
George Sapsford
George Shaw
Eric Snnokes
Sammy Taylor
Dave Wilson
Player Profile – George Ross
George Ross was born in Inverness on 15 April 1943. He started his career with Scottish Junior side Hilton Athletic and joined Preston in September 1958 and was converted from wing-half to full-back.
Ross was part of the youth team which reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 1959/60. PNE drew at Chelsea 1-1 but lost 4-1 at Deepdale in front of 27,764.
Ross made his PNE debut in the number two shirt, replacing Willie Cunningham in a 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day 1960.
He became a regular in the PNE team the following season, mainly playing in the number three shirt and only missed 5 league games in 1961/62 and 1962/63.
He was an ever present in the 1963/64 season and back in the number two shirt. He played in the FA Cup Final defeat to West Ham in 1964.
He also played in every match in the 1965/66 season. Ross won a Third Division Championship medal in 1970/71 with 39 league appearances. The title winning season also saw the arrival of John McMahon and once back into the second division he was limited to just 8 appearances in two seasons. In November 1972 Ross joined Southport on loan and made 4 appearances. His final PNE appearance was as a substitute for the injured goalkeeper Alan Kelly in a 2-0 defeat at Blackpool on 14 April 1973.
Ross was with the Lilywhites for 15 seasons and made 386 league appearances. He scored only 3 goals, 2 of these came in consecutive matches in 1962/63. His first was a 2-1 defeat at Charlton on 3 November with a 1-1 home draw to Stoke a week later. His third and final league goal came four years later in a 4-3 victory at Bury on 27 December 1966.
In July 1973 Ross joined Southport permanently and had just finished the previous season as Fourth Division Champions. In his one season with the club he made 27 league appearances but couldn’t help Southport avoid relegation back to the fourth division.
He left Haig Avenue to join NASL side Washington Diplomats, before returning to England to play non-league football with Morecambe and Telford.