The son of a Sergeant Major, George Verney had played his early football wherever his father was stationed. He arrived at St Mary’s, still only 17, in time to play at left-half in the last six of the seven matches that it took the Saints to win the Hampshire Junior Cup for the second time. He never missed a Cup match in his six seasons at the club, taking in their first six encounters in the FA Cup as well as the various Cups in the county.

A tenacious player, he forged, during the first half of his stay, a powerful half-back line with Bill Stride and Charlie Deacon. But he became a leading player in his own right, representing the county on several occasions.

He remained at the club, after their election into the Southern League, but his first-team days were over. Having assisted the Reserves for a while, he then played local football for a few seasons. A mercantile clerk in Southampton during his playing days, he later worked as a salesman for a London land company. In 1939 he was a Willesden-based cost accountant.