Cliff Bastin

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Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer who played as a left winger for Exeter City, Arsenal, and the England national team. Born in Exeter, he made his first-team debut for Exeter at 16 in 1928. A week after his debut he scored twice in a 5–1 win over Newport County and was named man of the match. Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman signed him in 1929, and Bastin quickly became a regular.

Known for his calm style and sharp finishing, Bastin was nicknamed "Boy Bastin" for his youthful looks and was Arsenal’s regular penalty-taker. He helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in 1929–30 and 1935–36, and their First Division titles in 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, and 1937–38. He scored 28 goals in the 1930–31 season and was Arsenal’s top scorer in 1932–33 (33 goals) and 1933–34 (15). After Ted Drake arrived, Bastin spent part of the 1935–36 season at inside forward and also played as a right half before returning to the left wing. A leg injury limited his 1938–39 season, and World War II interrupted his career.

During the war Bastin served as an ARP warden and played wartime matches for Arsenal (241 games, 70 goals), though these are not counted in official statistics. After the war he played only a few more games for Arsenal and retired in 1947. He scored 178 Arsenal goals, making him the club’s top scorer from 1939 until 1997, when Ian Wright overtook him; Thierry Henry later surpassed all of Bastin’s totals.

Internationally, Bastin earned 21 England caps and scored 12 goals between 1931 and 1938. Highlights include the “Battle of Highbury” in 1934, when England beat Italy 3–2, and his goal in a 1938 match against France, his last for England. He also scored in Berlin in 1938 in a game surrounded by political tension.

After retiring, Bastin returned to Exeter, ran a pub, and wrote his memoir Cliff Bastin Remembers (ghost-written by Brian Glanville, 1950). He died in Exeter in 1991 at age 79. A stand at St James Park is named in his honour, and he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2009. He married Joan Shaul in 1939 and had two daughters; Joan died in 2012.