Douglas John Lishman (14 September 1923 – 21 December 1994) 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 ...

. Lishman, who played as an

inside 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 ...

, featured for clubs

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, Arsenal &

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

throughout his career. Lishman is as well Arsenal's seventh highest goalscorer of all time.

Career

Born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Lishman first played as a centre forward for non-league Paget Rangers, before signing as a professional for

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

in August 1946. In two seasons with the Saddlers, Lishman scored 26 goals in 59 league appearances. He was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 1948 for £10,500, as backup for Reg Lewis, who was only 28 but becoming ever more frequently injured. Lishman made his debut against

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 ...

on 4 September 1948, but after a promising first season (scoring 13 goals in 25 appearances), Lishman's 1949–50 and 1950–51 seasons were marred by injury. Lishman was passed over for the

1950 FA Cup Final The 1950 FA Cup Final was the 69th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 29 April 1950 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool. Arsenal won the match 2–0 to win the FA Cup for the third time, with both goals scored b ...

(which Arsenal won 2–0), in favour of Lewis and Peter Goring, and then just as he came back into the Arsenal first team, he broke his leg playing against Stoke City in December 1950. However, Lishman recovered to become Arsenal's top scorer in 1950–51, and the next season hit 30 goals, including three

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

s in three successive home matches; Arsenal finished third that season. The following 1951–52 season they reached the

1952 FA Cup Final The 1952 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1951–52 staging of the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup), English football's main cup competition. The match was contested by Newcastle United and Arsenal at Wembley ...

, only to lose to Newcastle United; a series of injuries meant only eight fit players finished the match as no substitutes were allowed in those days. Lishman came close for Arsenal with a header, which clipped the crossbar, but Arsenal still lost the game 1–0. Lishman's disappointment was soon forgotten, as Arsenal won the League Championship in 1952–53. Lishman was again Arsenal's top scorer, this time with 22, and with every goal proving vital as Arsenal won the title on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

above Preston North End. His form was good enough for him to be picked for an England B match against Scotland B in March 1953, although he was never capped for the full national side. Lishman was top scorer for another two seasons after that, making it five successive seasons as the club's top scorer in total. With younger men like

Derek Tapscott Derek Robert Tapscott (30 June 1932 – 12 June 2008) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward. Tapscott played for Barry Town, Arsenal, Cardiff City, Newport County, Cinderford Town, Haverfordwest County and Carmarthen ...

and David Herd taking over goalscoring duties for Arsenal, however, Lishman was dropped from the first team in 1955–56. In all he scored 137 goals in 244 appearances, making him the club's seventh-highest goalscorer of all time. In March 1956 he was sold to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Whilst at Forest Lishman, scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Sheffield United, a win that allowed for Forest to be promoted to Division One in 1956–57. Lishman eventually decided to retire as a footballer in the summer of 1957, leaving the game entirely. He joined his father-in law in the furniture retail business in Stoke-on-Trent, later taking over the business himself. He continued to live in Stoke-on-Trent until his death in 1994.

Honours

;Arsenal * First Division: 1952–53 * FA Charity Shield:

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

References

* ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Lishman, Doug 1923 births 1994 deaths English footballers Walsall F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands England B international footballers English Football League players English Football League representative players Paget Rangers F.C. players Association football inside forwards FA Cup Final players