Arthur Edwin Bottom (28 February 1930 – 18 April 2012) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, and had a tremendously high goals to game ratio during his career, playing at several clubs; most notably

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Playing career

Bottom's career began with Sheffield YMCA before he joined

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

as a junior.

York City

In the 1954-55 season, was signed by

. During his first season he scored 39 cup and league goals, an all-time club record for a single season. Eight of these goals came in York's run to the semi-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, including an equaliser in the semi-final against

. The match ended 1-1, with Newcastle winning the replay, 2–0. The following season, Bottom scored 33 goals for York. Along with Billy Fenton, he holds the club record for most league goals scored in a season, scoring 31 goals in the league during 1955–56. Bottom is the sixth highest all-time scorer for York City, with a total of 105 goals from 158 appearances for the club.

Newcastle United

In 1958, Newcastle United signed Bottom from York for a £4,500 transfer fee. He scored seven goals in eight appearances – including two on his debut – for Newcastle that season, helping the club to avoid relegation. The following season, he made only three more appearances (scoring three goals) before he was transferred to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

for £5,000.

Later career

Bottom joined

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

for the 1960-61 season, finishing the season as the club's top scorer with 17 goals. He later played for

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

Notes

External links

Arthur Bottom - An Appreciation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottom, Arthur 1930 births 2012 deaths Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sheffield United F.C. players York City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players