Wikipedia

Cliff Bastin

Clifford Sydney Bastin(14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an Englishfootballerwho played as a winger forExeter CityandArsenal.He also played for theEngland national team.Bastin is Arsenal's third-highest goalscorer of all time.[3]

Cliff Bastin
Personal information
Full name Clifford Sydney Bastin
Date of birth (1912-03-14)14 March 1912[1]
Place of birth Exeter,England
Date of death 4 December 1991(1991-12-04)(aged 79)
Place of death Exeter, England
Position(s) Left winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1928–1929 Exeter City 17 (6)
1929–1947 Arsenal 350 (150[2])
Total 367 (184)
International career
1931–1938 England 21 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Exeter City

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Born inExeter,Bastin started his career atExeter City,making his début for the first team in 1928, at the age of 16.[4][5]The match was on 14 April away against Coventry City.[6]A week later Cliff Bastin scored two goals in Exeter's 5–1 home victory over Newport County, and was named man of the match.[7]Despite only playing 17 games and scoring 6 goals in his time at Exeter,[8]he was spotted byArsenalmanagerHerbert Chapmanin a match againstWatford.Chapman was at the game to watch Watford playerTommy Barnett.But the 17-year-old Bastin's ability became so evident to him that he decided to sign him in May 1929.[1][3][9]

Arsenal

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Bastin made his début againstEvertonon 5 October 1929[10]and was immediately a first-team regular, making 21 league and 8 cup appearances that season.[11]He went on to be a near ever-present in the side over the next decade, playing over 35 matches in every season up to and including1937–38.[11]His youthful appearance earned him the nickname "Boy Bastin", but despite such, Bastin's play was characterised by a remarkable coolness, and deadly precision in front of goal; he also became Arsenal's regularpenalty-taker.[12]Bastin's scoring feats are all the more remarkable considering he played on theleft wingrather than asforward.At the time, Arsenal's strategy depended heavily on their wingers cutting into thepenalty boxwith a supply of passes from playmakerAlex Jamesbeing the source of many goals as well.[3]

With Arsenal, Bastin won theFA Cuptwice, in1929–30[1]and1935–36,[13]and theFirst Divisiontitle five times, in1930–31,1932–33,1933–34,1934–35and1937–38.He played in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in theCharity ShieldatStamford Bridgein October 1930.[14]By the age of nineteen Bastin had won a League title, FA Cup and been capped for England, making him the youngest player ever to achieve all three.[15]He scored 28 goals for Arsenal during the 1930-31 season.[1]Bastin finished as Arsenal top scorer in 1932–33 and 1933–34, with 33[1][16]and 15 goals[11]respectively. After centre-forwardTed Drakearrived in March 1934, Bastin was no longer Arsenal's primary winger.

With Drake scoring the majority of the goals and Alex James increasingly unavailable due to injury and age, Bastin was moved to inside-forward to replace James for much of the 1935–36 season, which saw Arsenal drop to sixth.[17]Bastin still scored 17 goals, including six in Arsenal's run to the 1936 FA Cup Final, which they won 1–0.[11][18]From 1 November during the 1936-37 season, at his own request, he played at right half.[19]Bastin was eventually restored to the left wing to score 17 goals in the 1937–38 title-winning season.[11][20]An injury to his right leg ruled him out of much of the 1938–39 season, the last one played before the outbreak of the Second World War.[3]

The Second World War intervened when Bastin was 27, thus cutting short what should have been the peak of his career, although his leg injury would probably have done this in any case. Bastin was excused military service as he failed the army hearing test owing to his increasingdeafness.Thus, during the war, he served as anARP Warden,being stationed on top ofHighbury stadiumwithTom Whittaker.[1]He also played matches in theWartime Leaguewhich was set up to boost civilian morale. He played 241 games during the war, and scored 70 goals.[1]However, these matches are classed as unofficial, and do not count towards a player's career appearances and goal-scoring statistics.[21]

Bastin's injured leg had hampered his performances in wartime matches, and would ultimately curtail his career.[22]After the war, Bastin, by now in his thirties, would only play seven more times for Arsenal without scoring.[23]His last appearance before retirement, came in an away match against Manchester United on 28 September 1946.[24]The retirement of Cliff Bastin was announced in June 1947, while he was recovering from an ear operation.[16]

Bastin's tally of 178 goals made him Arsenal's all-time top goalscorer from 1939 until 1997, when his total was surpassed byIan Wright.In 2005Thierry Henrypassed each player's totals, and so Bastin is Arsenal's third-top goalscorer of all time. His record of 150 league goals for Arsenal stood for slightly longer, being equalled by Henry on 14 January 2006 and surpassed by him in February of the same year.[3]

International career

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Bastin made his debut at senior level forEnglandagainstWales.This game was played atAnfieldon 18 November 1931, which England won by a 3–1 margin.[25]His first goal for England occurred in his second match for the national team, away againstItaly,on 13 May 1933.[26]A week later, he scored two goals againstSwitzerlandin Bern.[27]A most noteworthy highlight of his England career was the famous "Battle of Highbury",where England defeated1934 World Cupwinners Italy 3–2.[28]Bastin also featured in a notorious match againstGermanyin Berlin in 1938, when the England team was ordered to give theNazi salutebefore the match. England won 6–3, and Cliff Bastin scored his tenth goal for England.[29]Bastin may have won more caps but at the time faced competition fromEric Brook.His last goal for England came via a penalty againstFrancein Paris, on 26 May 1938. This was also Bastin's last international appearance.[30]

Hugo Meisl,the coach ofAustria,rated Cliff Bastin very highly as a player. Talking before the 1934 World Cup, about Austria's chances of winning the tournament, Meisl was not optimistic, but believed they could do so if they had Cliff Bastin.[31]

Later life and death

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After retirement, Bastin returned to his native Exeter and ran apub.His autobiographyCliff Bastin Remembers,was ghost-written in 1950 byBrian Glanville.[32]He died in 1991 at the age of 79. A stand atSt James Park,Exeter's home ground, is named in his honour and in 2009 he was inducted into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame.[33]

Personal life

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Bastin married Joan L. Shaul atHendon,North London,in 1939.[34]She outlived him by just over 20 years, dying in April 2012 at the age of 96. They had two daughters, Patricia and Barbara.[35]

Honours

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Arsenal[36]

Individual

References

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  • Harris, Jeff (1995). Hogg, Tony (ed.).Arsenal Who's Who.Independent UK Sports.ISBN1-899429-03-4.
  1. ^abcdefgMason, Tony (2004). "Bastin, Clifford Sidney [Cliff] (1912-1991)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 4. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 283.ISBN0-19-861354-7.
  2. ^James, Josh."Behind the Numbers: Van Persie's Century".Arsenal. Archived fromthe originalon 5 December 2011.Retrieved4 January2012.
  3. ^abcde"Cliff Bastin".Arsenal.13 July 2023.
  4. ^Green, Chris; Dawes, Brian (2000)."Cliff Bastin (Arsenal F.C. 1929-46)".Arsenal Arsenal.co.uk.Retrieved8 August2024.
  5. ^"Boy Stars Of Football".Dundee Courier.21 November 1931. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^"Match 45 14th April 1928 Coventry City (a)".The Grecian Archive.exeter.ac.uk.Retrieved13 August2024.
  7. ^Barrett, Will."Match 46 21st April 1928 Newport County (h)".The Grecian Archive.exeter.ac.uk.Retrieved13 August2024.
  8. ^"Bastin, Cliff".The Grecian Archive.exeter.ac.uk.Retrieved12 August2024.
  9. ^"Exeter Transfer To Arsenal".Western Morning News.4 June 1929. p. 12 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^Bastin, Cliff; Glanville, Brian (2010) [1950].Cliff Bastin Remembers: The Autobiography of Arsenal's Greatest Outside-Left.Downham Market: GCR Books Limited. p. 16.ISBN978-0-9559211-4-8.Retrieved8 August2024– via Google Books.
  11. ^abcde"Cliff Bastin: Club Stats".Retrieved8 August2024– via 11v11.
  12. ^Joy, Bernard (2009) [1952].Forward, Arsenal!.Downham Market: GCR Books Limited. p. 70.ISBN978-0-9559211-1-7.Retrieved9 August2024– via Google Books.
  13. ^"Arsenal v Sheffield United, 25 April 1936".Retrieved10 August2024– via 11v11.
  14. ^"Fortune smiles on the Arsenal".Sheffield Independent.8 October 1930. p. 10.Retrieved22 March2016– via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^Simkin, John (March 2022)."Cliff Bastin".Spartacus Educational.Retrieved9 August2024.
  16. ^abHoby, Alan (15 June 1947)."Inside Sport: Cliff Bastin ends a grand career".The People.p. 7.Retrieved12 August2024– via Findmypast.
  17. ^Felton, Paul; Edwards, Gareth (8 October 2000)."England 1935-36: League Division 1. Final Table: Supplied by Stuart Jackson".RSSSF.org.Retrieved11 August2024.
  18. ^"Feature: FA Cup win 1935/36".Arsenal.25 February 2016.Retrieved10 August2024.
  19. ^Bastin, Cliff; Glanville, Brian (2010) [1950].Cliff Bastin Remembers: The Autobiography of Arsenal's Greatest Outside-Left.Downham Market: GCR Books Limited. p. 126.ISBN978-0-9559211-4-8.Retrieved11 August2024– via Google Books.
  20. ^Felton, Paul; Edwards, Gareth (8 October 2000)."England 1937-38: League Division 1. Final Table: Supplied by Stuart Jackson".RSSSF.org.Retrieved11 August2024.
  21. ^Cooper, Vince (10 May 2023)."The Big Feature: The War Cups".Read The League.Retrieved11 August2024.
  22. ^Bastin, Cliff; Glanville, Brian (2010) [1950].Cliff Bastin Remembers: The Autobiography of Arsenal's Greatest Outside-Left.Downham Market: GCR Books Limited. p. 175.ISBN978-0-9559211-4-8.Retrieved10 August2024– via Google Books.
  23. ^"Cliff Bastin: Club matches: Arsenal".Retrieved11 August2024– via 11v11.
  24. ^"Manchester United v Arsenal, 28 September 1946".Retrieved11 August2024– via 11v11.
  25. ^"Match No. 179 - Wednesday, 18th November 1931: England 3 - 1 Wales".Retrieved10 August2024– via Englandstats.
  26. ^Goodwin, Chris; Isherwood, Glen (22 February 2022)."England Match No.186 - Italy - 13 May 1933".England Football Online.Retrieved11 August2024.
  27. ^Goodwin, Chris; Isherwood, Glen (22 February 2022)."England Match No.187 - Switzerland - 20 May 1933".England Football Online.Retrieved11 August2024.
  28. ^"Match No. 195 - Wednesday, 14th November 1934: England 3 - 2 Italy".Retrieved10 August2024– via Englandstats.
  29. ^"Match No. 216 - Saturday, 14th May 1938: Germany 3 - 6 England".Retrieved10 August2024– via Englandstats.
  30. ^Goodwin, Chris; Isherwood, Glen (15 March 2022)."England Match No.218 - France - 26 May 1938".England Football Online.Retrieved11 August2024.
  31. ^Wilson, Jonathan (2023).Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics.London: Orion Publishing Group, Limited. p. 86.ISBN978-1-3996-1009-4.
  32. ^"Review Books: The Real Arsenal: From Chapman To Wenger - The Unofficial Story. By Brian Glanville".The Camden New Journal.12 November 2009.Retrieved11 August2024.
  33. ^"Bastin and McLintock make Hall of Fame".Arsenal.Archived fromthe originalon 11 July 2009.
  34. ^"England Players - Cliff Bastin".Englandfootballonline.Retrieved31 December2015.
  35. ^"Family Announcements, Bastin (Joan) - Funeral Directors and services - Exeter Express and Echo Announcements".Thisisannouncements.co.uk.19 April 2012.Retrieved31 December2015.
  36. ^"Greatest 50 Players - 18. Cliff Bastin".Arsenal. 1 June 2017.Retrieved18 May2019.
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