Charles Murray Buchan (22 September 1891 – 25 June 1960) 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 lea ...

, sporting journalist and commentator. Buchan started his career in 1909 with Woolwich Arsenal (later renamed Arsenal F.C.). He is known for his career with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, where he became leading scorer for 7 of his 9 seasons with the club. He remains the club's all-time record League goalscorer. He was a winner of the First Division title in 1913, and reached the 1913 FA Cup Final with Sunderland. Buchan served with the Sherwood Foresters during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

for his service. He re-joined Arsenal in 1925, and saw the club to their first FA Cup final in 1927. Along with Herbert Chapman, Buchan was a pioneer of Arsenal's adoption of the WM formation, which brought significant success for the club in the 1930s. He was capped six times by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, scoring four goals. After retiring from football, Buchan became a football

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

with '' The Daily News'' - later renamed to '' News Chronicle''. He also commentated for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In 1947, he co-founded the Football Writers' Association. From 1951, he edited his own football magazine - '' Charles Buchan's Football Monthly''.

Playing career

Early career

Buchan first played as an amateur for local club Woolwich Arsenal, joining the club in December 1909. Whilst he impressed in reserve games, disagreements with manager George Morrell over his expenses caused Buchan to decline to sign a professional contract. Buchan moved to Northfleet United as an amateur for the remainder of the 1909–10 season. He won Kent Senior Cup, Kent League and Thames and Medway Combination medals. In the close season he signed for Southern League club

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

. He was spotted by Sunderland A.F.C. scouts in 1911, and was signed shortly after.

Sunderland and Wartime

A tall, elegant

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, Buchan was highly successful at the Wearside club. Sunderland won the 1912–13 First Division title and narrowly missed out on the Double - losing the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final 1–0 to Aston Villa. Frequently described as the best footballer in the country, Buchan was Sunderland's leading scorer for seven of his eight seasons at the club. This tally excludes the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

seasons, when full competitive football was suspended. He is Sunderland's all-time record League goalscorer, with 209 goals. Buchan was also capped by

- his debut coming against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 15 February 1913. During the First World War, Buchan served with the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and then the Sherwood Foresters. He was awarded the

and on 11 September 1918 was promoted to temporary second lieutenant for the final months of the war. In 1925, Buchan left Sunderland. He was replaced by Dave Halliday, who scored at least 35 league goals in his four full seasons at Sunderland, becoming the most prolific goals-to-games performer in the club's history. While at Sunderland, Buchan also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for Durham in the 1920

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

Arsenal

Buchan was re-signed by Arsenal. Sunderland manager Bob Kyle initially demanded a £4,000 fee, but Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman bargained him down to £2,000 plus £100 per league goal scored by Buchan during his first season. Buchan made his debut in a North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur on 29 August 1925. He ultimately scored nineteen league goals during that first season. Just as important as his goals was his contribution to Arsenal's tactics. Along with Chapman, Buchan contributed to Arsenal's development of the WM formation to fully exploit the relaxation of the offside law. Buchan's idea was to move the

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

from a roaming position in midfield to a "stopper" position in defence, with one forward brought back into midfield. This meant the offside trap was no longer the responsibility of the two full-backs, but the single central defender, while the full backs were pushed wider to cover the wings. Eventually the change in tactic would bring Arsenal great success in the 1930s. Buchan was a regular at Arsenal for three seasons. He captained Arsenal to their first ever Cup final in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, which they lost 1–0 to Cardiff City. Buchan finally retired at the end of 1927–28, having scored 16 league goals that season despite being 36 years of age. In all he scored 56 goals in 120 matches for Arsenal. Upon his retirement after scoring 258 league goals, (which would have been more had the First World War not intervened) he was the second highest goalscorer in the top flight, only Steve Bloomer had scored more, 314 for Derby County and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. Today he is ranked 6th as the all time top flight top scorer, and in the Football League's all time top scorer list, he is ranked 33rd.

Later career

After retiring, Buchan became a football

with ''Daily News'' which was later renamed '' News Chronicle.'' He also commentated for the

. In 1947, he co-founded the Football Writers' Association. From September 1951 until his death, he edited his own football magazine, '' Charles Buchan's Football Monthly''. He published his autobiography, ''A Lifetime in Football'', in 1955. Buchan died in 1960, at the age of 68, whilst holidaying in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Career statistics

Club

Goals and appearances by club, season and competition.

International

''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Buchan goal''

Honours

Sunderland * First Division: 1912–13 *

runner-up: 1912–13 Arsenal * FA Cup runner-up: 1926–27 England * British Home Championship: 1912–13 Individual * First Division Golden Boot: 1922–23 * English Football Hall of Fame: 2013

References

External links

Search facility for all of Charles Buchan's Football Monthly magazines dating back to 1951

Full details of Sunderland career

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchan, Charlie 1891 births 1960 deaths Footballers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich People from Plumstead English men's footballers English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers Men's association football forwards England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers English Football Hall of Fame inductees Arsenal F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English sportswriters Chelsea F.C. wartime guest players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. wartime guest players British Army personnel of World War I Sherwood Foresters officers Recipients of the Military Medal Leyton F.C. players English cricketers Durham cricketers Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich English Football League representative players English people of Scottish descent English magazine editors Grenadier Guards soldiers English autobiographers