Arthur Hutchins is one of the players for whom there is some information but not too much. This is the main time line I have, which at least seems to go a little further than anyone else has managed:
- 15 September 1890: Arthur Hutchins born
- 2 September 1916: Debut for Arthur Hutchins in wartime match
- 14 April 1919: Arthur Hutchins and Ernie Williamson signed from the now defunct Croydon Common
- 12 September 1919: First league game for Arthur Hutchins; a 1-1 away draw with Sunderland
- 25 November 1922: Last game for Arthur Hutchins – a 2-3 home defeat to Sunderland.
- 30 July 1923: Arthur Hutchins transferred to Charlton
- Arthur died in 1948
Arthur Hutchins was born in Bishop’s Waltham, a Saxon village Hampshire not far from Botley.
He played for Croydon Common before the 1st world war, a club that Henry Norris was associated with. Hutchins then played as a guest for Arsenal in the war, over 100 times, with Croydon Common (of the Southern League) not playing wartime games.
Croydon Common was in fact the only Southern League club not to resume after the war and so signing for Arsenal would have been the obvious step. Croydon Common however were still functioning as a company, and they got £50 for the transfer even though they were not in a league.
He made his league debut away to Sunderland on 13 September, 1919 and became Arsenal’s regular left back in the first post war season, maintaining his place in the next two seasons. Hutchins’ one and only Arsenal goal came in September 1922 and earned the club a 1-0 home win over Liverpool.
However in 1922/3 he only played ten league games and was dropped for Andy Kennedy. He then moved on to Charlton of Division 3 South on a free transfer in July 1923, having played 108 games in total and scoring one goal. He stayed with Charlton for three seasons and then retired.
Years | Team | League games | League goals |
---|---|---|---|
?-1919 | Croydon Common | ||
1919-1923 | Arsenal | 104 | 1 |
1923-1926 | Charlton Athletic |
Here’s his Arsenal season by season
Season | League Games | Goals |
1919/20 | 18 | 0 |
1920/21 | 39 | 0 |
1921/22 | 37 | 0 |
1922/23 | 10 | 1 |
104 | 0 |
I have no details of Arthur’s life after football, nor even the data of his death. If you have any more information please do write in.
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- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
(Again, not sure where I got it from, but) my record on Hutchins states that he became a publican in Peckham after retiring from football in 1926?