Players - Alf Arrowsmith

Alf Arrowsmith
Birthdate: 11 December 1942
Birthplace: Hollingworth, England
Date of death: 12 May 2005
Other clubs: Tintwistle Villa (1959-60), Ashton United (1960), Bury (1968-70), Rochdale (1970-72), Macclesfield Town (1972-73)
Signed from: Ashton United
Signed for LFC: £1,250, 30.08.1960
Liverpool debut: 07.10.1961
Last appearance: 15.04.1968
Debut goal: 16.09.1963
Last goal: 23.03.1968
Contract expiry: 11.12.1968
Win ratio: 48.21% W:27 D:15 L:14
Games/goals ratio: 2.33
Honours: League Championship 1963/64
League games / goals: 48 / 20
Total games / goals: 56 / 24

Player Profile

Arrowsmith was described as a born goalscorer by Shankly but was dreadfully unlucky with injuries. Arrowsmith arrived at Anfield as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in August 1960 having scored a massive 96 goals for Derbyshire club Tintwistle Villa in the 1959/60 season, a club record that has never been broken. He had just been four months at Ashton United and scored nine goals in seven matches when Liverpool made their move.

A year after his arrival his name was on everybody's lips at Anfield because the lad scored no less than 81 goals from 1961-1963 for the reserves. His breakthrough into the first team arrived in the latter part of the Championship 1963/64 season when he scored 19 goals in 24 games. Hunt, St John and Arrowsmith contributed a massive 67 League goals that season as Liverpool powered to their first League title for 17 years. The future looked bright for Arrowsmith but then tragedy struck. He injured his left knee badly in the 1964 Charity Shield that in fact inspired Liverpool’s first recorded substitution. Arrowsmith missed most of the season and only made a further 13 starts plus six as a substitute over the next three seasons.

Arrowsmith moved to Bury in 1968 and spent two years there before making the short move to Rochdale. His last season in the game was with non-league Macclesfield in 1972-73.

Daughter Julie, one of his three daughters, said after Alf's passing in 2005: “He lived life to the full, he had lots of energy and made a lot of people smile. Apart from my mum and us three, there was only one love of his life - it was Liverpool Football Club until the day he died."
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 48 6 0 1 1 56
1960-1961 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961-1962 1 0 0 0 0 1
1962-1963 3 0 0 0 0 3
1963-1964 20 4 0 0 0 24
1964-1965 7 1 0 0 1 9
1965-1966 5 0 0 1 0 6
1966-1967 9 0 0 0 0 9
1967-1968 3 1 0 0 0 4
1968-1969 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
5 291 Sunderland
4 290 Arsenal
3 270 Birmingham City
3 270 Fulham
3 270 WBA
3 270 Burnley
3 270 Tottenham
3 270 Sheffield United
3 224 Everton
3 195 West Ham United
3 191 Manchester United
2 180 Stoke City
2 180 Wolves
2 180 Bolton Wanderers
2 180 Sheffield Wednesday
1 90 Port Vale
1 90 Juventus
1 90 Leicester City
1 90 Aston Villa
1 90 Ipswich Town
1 90 Southampton
1 90 Newcastle United
1 90 Chelsea
1 90 Blackpool
1 90 Middlesbrough
1 90 Derby
1 90 Swansea City
Total Started/substitutions
50 Started
20 On the bench
6 Substitute
1 Substituted
Total Venue
30 Away
26 Home
Total Competition
48 League
6 FA Cup
1 Charity Shield
1 European Cup Winners Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
56 27 15 14 48.2% Bill Shankly
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 20 4 0 0 0 24
1960-1961 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961-1962 0 0 0 0 0 0
1962-1963 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963-1964 15 4 0 0 0 19
1964-1965 1 0 0 0 0 1
1965-1966 1 0 0 0 0 1
1966-1967 2 0 0 0 0 2
1967-1968 1 0 0 0 0 1
1968-1969 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Started/substitutions
24 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
20 League
4 FA Cup
Total Goal minute period
1 1-15 minutes
4 16-30 minutes
5 31-45 minutes
5 46-60 minutes
4 61-75 minutes
5 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
24 Open play
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 07.10.1961 Middlesbrough Ayresome Park League
50 01.04.1967 Tottenham White Hart Lane League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 1 16.09.1963 Wolves Anfield League
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Related Quotes

"Oh yes, I was out of the game for 18 months. It was against West Ham and we had only been on the park for about 10 minutes. I called for the ball, lost it and went to challenge the bloke. I turned around and my studs stuck and I went straight around. I got up and Bob came on and put something on it and I came back on again, put my foot down and I was down again.

They took me up to Walton hospital and then they hadn't got the equipment that they have now and the X-ray showed that I had broken no bones. I waited 5-6 weeks and the cartilage popped out in training one Friday morning. It was never the same again and it was always at the back of my mind. It was the cruciate ligament that I'd done. Nowadays you have some surgery and are back in no time but not in them days. I was still scoring goals in the reserves but it was never the same, I didn't have the confidence. I could still hit the ball as hard, but it was the twisting and turning."

Arrowsmith in 2003

He lived life to the full, he had lots of energy and made a lot of people smile. He left here to go to Liverpool but he always called Glossop 'God's country' and he'll be remembered by a lot of people. Apart from my mum and us three there was only one love of his life - it was Liverpool Football Club until the day he died. We like to think he's up there with Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley picking the team and spurring them on.

Julie remembers her dad, Alf Arrowsmith

Scrapbook
Arrowsmith - They love him. yea! yea! yea!
Arrowsmith - They love him. yea! yea! yea!
Arrowsmith emerging - January 1963
Arrowsmith emerging - January 1963
Arrowsmith leaves
Arrowsmith leaves
Arrowsmith on the cover of the Liverpool Echo in January 1964
Arrowsmith on the cover of the Liverpool Echo in January 1964
Coming stardom! - April 1964
Coming stardom! - April 1964
It must be Liverpool for the title now!
It must be Liverpool for the title now!
Peter Thompson on Arrowsmith's scoring feat - 4 January 1964
Peter Thompson on Arrowsmith's scoring feat - 4 January 1964
Sunk by a pirate named Alf! - 4 April 1964
Sunk by a pirate named Alf! - 4 April 1964
That winner by Arrowsmith will not be forgotten - 11 January 1964
That winner by Arrowsmith will not be forgotten - 11 January 1964
The Carlsbert page - Liverpool match programme
The Carlsbert page - Liverpool match programme
Young Arrowsmith slaughters Rams - 4 January 1964
Young Arrowsmith slaughters Rams - 4 January 1964
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Tintwistle Villa 1959-1960 Derbyshire 0 96 0 96
Ashton United 1960-1961 Lancashire Combination Div 2 7 9 7 9
Bury 1968-1969 England Second Division 19 3 20 3
Bury 1969-1970 England Third Division 29 8 33 8
Rochdale 1970-1971 England Third Division 29 12 31 14
Rochdale 1971-1972 England Third Division 15 2 17 2
Macclesfield Town 1972-1973 Northern Premier League 20 3 20 3
Total 119 133 128 135