Arthur Box (18 September 1884 – 7 June 1960) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made more than 100 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for

Burslem Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

, Stoke and Birmingham. He also played for Croydon Common and Crewe Alexandra.

Career

Early career

Box was born in Hanley, Staffordshire, the son of Thomas, a boilermaker, and Edna. He was on the books at Hanley Villa, Northwood Mission and Stoke (without making a first team appearance), before joining

in August 1904.

Burslem Port Vale

He played three Second Division games in the

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season, but was mainly a back-up to

Harry Cotton Henry Cotton (5 April 1882 – 1921) was an English footballer who played in goal for Nantwich, Burslem Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, Wigan Town and Stoke in the 1900s. Career Cotton played for Nantwich, before joining Burslem Port Vale in Ma ...

. He became the club's first choice goalkeeper in the

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season, playing 35 league games to George Boote's three. Unusually for a goalkeeper he actually scored a goal, albeit a penalty, in a 1–0 win over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

at the Athletic Ground on 24 March 1906. In the

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

campaign, he played only 12 matches, as new signing Howard Matthews was preferred. Box returned to Stoke in July 1907, with Vale in the midst of financial meltdown.

Stoke

His rivals at the Victoria Ground were Wales international Leigh Richmond Roose and the inexperienced

Fred Rathbone Fred Rathbone (3 August 1885 – 1959) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke. Career Rathbone joined Stoke on his 21st birthday and made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Cl ...

. Box played in 39 of the club's 44 fixtures in 1907–08, as the "Potters" finished in 10th position in the Second Division. However, heavy financial problems saw the club enter

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

and leave the

at the end of the 1907–08 season.

Birmingham

He joined Birmingham in September 1909 for a fee of £100, and took over first-team duties from

Jack Dorrington John Dorrington (2 June 1881 – 9 January 1944) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent his entire 12-year professional career with Birmingham (renamed from Small Heath in 1905), for which he made 106 appearances in the ...

at the end of the 1908–09 season. However, the team finished bottom of the Second Division and Box left St Andrew's at the end of the 1909–10 season.

Later career

He then moved into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Leek Victoria, Croydon Common, for whom he played 21 games in the Southern League as well as 29 in the South-Eastern League and 11 in the London League, and Crewe Alexandra.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Box, Arthur 1884 births 1960 deaths Footballers from Hanley, Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Croydon Common F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players