Cliff Bastin
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clifford Bastin | ||
| Date of birth | 14 March 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Heavitree, Devon, England | ||
| Date of death | 4 December 1991 (aged 79) | ||
| Place of death | Exeter, Devon, England | ||
| Playing position | Outside left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1928–1929 | Exeter City | 17 | (6) |
| 1929–1947 | Arsenal | 350 | (178) |
| National team | |||
| 1931–1938 | England | 21 | (12) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Clifford Sydney Bastin (14 March 1912 – 4 December 1991) was an English footballer.
Born in Heavitree in Exeter, Bastin started his career at Exeter City, making his début for the club in 1928, at the age of 16. Despite only playing 17 games and scoring 6 goals in his time at Exeter, he was spotted by Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman in a match against Watford; Chapman was attending to keep tabs on a Watford player, but the 17-year-old Bastin's ability was so evident that Chapman decided to sign him at the end of the 1928-29 season.
Bastin played the rest of his career at Arsenal, and formed an integral part of the side that dominated English football in the 1930s. He scored 178 goals in 395 games, which made him Arsenal's all-time top goalscorer from 1939 until 1997, when his total was surpassed by Ian Wright. In 2005 Thierry Henry passed both Bastin and Wright's totals, thus meaning Bastin is currently (as of Jan 2016) Arsenal's third-top goalscorer of all time. His record of 150 league goals for Arsenal stood for slightly longer, until it was equalled by Thierry Henry on 14 January 2006 and surpassed on 1 February in the same year.
Bastin made his début against Everton on 5 October 1929 and was immediately a first team regular, making 21 appearances that season. He went on to be a near ever-present in the side over the next decade, playing over 35 matches for every season up to and including 1937-38. His youth earned him the nickname "Boy Bastin", but despite his age Bastin's play was characterised by a remarkable coolness, and deadly precision in front of goal; he also became Arsenal's regular penalty taker. Bastin's scoring feats are all the more remarkable considering he played on the left wing rather than as centre forward; at the time Arsenal's strategy depended heavily on their wingers cutting into the penalty box, and the supply of passes from Alex James was the source of many of his goals.
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