David Court: the last member of the George Swindin era still at Arsenal

David John Court was born on 1 March 1944 in Surrey and joined Arsenal as a schoolboy signing in 1959 during the George Swindin era, and turned professional on January 1 1962.

As such he is our link to these past eras – and his presence in the club should perhaps be more recognised.

He played as a centre forward and inside forward at first, and played his first game in the first team on 10 September 1962, against Villa.It was Billy Wright who started a round of position switching, first making Court a right winger, and then making him a right back.  It was at right back that he played regularly in 12965/6.

After Billy Wright’s dismissal David Court continued and actually played in every position except goal keeper during his spell at Arsenal.  His biggest game however was sadly one of our worst – the League Cup defeat to Swindon Town at Wembley.

Season Lge Apps Goals Manager
1962/3 6 3 Wright
1963/4 8 1 Wright
1964/5 33 3 Wright
1965/6 38 1 Wright
1966/7 10/3 0 Mee
1967/8 15/1 3 Mee
1968/9 40 6 Mee
1969/70 18/3 0 Mee
Total 168 (7 sub) 17

In 1969/70 he was injured and so missed out on the Fairs Cup final games and in the summer after that season – just as Arsenal were going to hit it bigger than big, he was transferred to Luton.  His 168 league games are shown above – all told he played 204 games for the club.

He played for Luton for two years, and then played for Brentford and Barnet before retiring from football.

He left football to run a delicatessen in Brookmans Park and then became a compliance official for DBS Financial Management before returning to Arsenal in 1996 as Assistant Head of Youth Development.  His job involves watching academy games, overseeing training and working with young players alongside Liam Brady.

 

One Reply to “David Court: the last member of the George Swindin era still at Arsenal”

  1. My uncle told me he had read in the papers
    that Court had scored against Spurs
    inthe 4-4 draw in 1962.Spurs were on top of the world after winning the double the previous season and retaining the cup.
    Wright had just been made manager
    and his attacking policy left huge gaps on defence and he was axed
    1966.

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