Voysey Clem Image 6 Arsenal 1924

Description

New Cross, London born centre half Clem Voysey began his football career in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. He made one war time appearance for Leeds City (under Herbert Chapman) against Bradford Park Avenue in a 5-2 home defeat in March 1919 and played for Manchester City under Leslie Knighton during the same period. Joining Arsenal in April 1919, being one of new manager Leslie Knighton’s first signings for the club.

He played in a few of the final wartime friendlies before making his Football League debut against Newcastle United in August 1919 as peacetime football resumed. Described as “speedy, resourceful and very tricky” but “on the light side for a centre half”, he played the first five matches of the 1919-20 season but then was dropped.  He is reported to have had a spell of treatment at the Great Northern Hospital and after that never became a regular in the Arsenal team.

His next appearance was a one off in the FA Cup in a 2-0 defeat to Queen’s Park Rangers in January 1921.  He played the first match of 1921-22 against Sheffield United as outside left, but again that proved his only appearance for the season. But he did make 18 appearances at centre half and inside right in 1922-23, scoring four goals including a brace in a 3-3 draw at Sunderland in November 1922, and ten more appearances the following season, scoring twice, before a gap of just over two years to his last match for The Gunners in a 4-2 defeat at Leeds United on 6th February 1926, the end of a strange career that saw him score 6 goals in 37 appearances for Arsenal over a seven year period.

NB in the photograph he stands on the right with Arsenal team mate Jimmy Ramsay.