Arthur Milton
Apr 26th, 2007 by 'holic
Yesterday was certainly not a good day. Following on from the reports of the passing of Alan Ball came the news that Arthur Milton had also died.
I have to say at this point that not even I am old enough to have seen Arthur in an Arsenal shirt, but my Dad certainly used to talk of him in glowing terms, and there is every likelihood that I saw him playing cricket for Gloucestershire.
He was, of course, the last of the double internationals, representing England at both football and cricket in the days when the seasons for both sports barely overlapped.
From his Arsenal debut in 1951 to his departure in 1955 Arthur made 84 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 21 goals in the process. His most prolific season saw Arsenal crowned champions in 1952-53, with Milton scoring 8 goals in 29 games.
On leaving Highbury Arthur spent a season with Bristol City before concentrating on a cricket career with Gloucestershire that spanned 26 years before his retirement in 1974.
Arthur was invited to two of the theme days in the farewell to Highbury season, sharing a train journey and entertaining members of my supporters club to the first. He also attended the final day celebrations against Wigan.
The thoughts of the ‘Holic household are with Arthur’s family.