George Tranter

George Tranter was born at Quarry Bank on 8th April 1887. A right-half, he played local football for Brierley Hill Alliance and Stourbridge before joining Aston Villa in January 1905.

Tranter did not establish himself in the first-team until the 1907-08 season. That season Aston Villa finished as runners-up to Manchester United in the First Division of the Football League. The team included Alex Leake, Harry Hampton, Howard Spencer and Joe Bache.

As Tony Matthews points out in his book, Who's Who of Aston Villa: "Tranter... was as hard as nails, he never shirked a tackle, was totally committed, had an infallibly cool temperament and was a good passer of the ball, very rarely hoofing it downfield."

Tranter was also a member of the Aston Villa team that won the 1909-10 First Division championship. That season Harry Hampton scored 29 goals in 35 games, whereas Joe Bache managed 22 in 35.

In January 1914, Tranter badly injured his knee and never played for the first-team again. During his time at Aston Villa Tranter scored one goal in 175 appearances.

George Tranter died in Dudley in September 1940.