White Bert Image 2 Arsenal 1920

Description

Watford born inside forward Bert White started his football career with London junior club Wharncliffe Athletic in 1913 and from there joined Southern League Brentford in 1914 as an amateur. However his Brentford career was cut short by the First World War, by when White had scored 7 goals in 16 appearances, and during the War White served as a private in the Royal Fusiliers and as a lance corporal in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps while continuing to be on Brentford’s books, appearing for them in wartime league football. He was discharged in February 1919 and returned to competitive football and he joined First Division Arsenal in July 1919, making his Football League debut against Newcastle United the next month. He was Arsenal’s top scorer in his debut season with 15 goals, and repeated the feat in 1921-22 with 19 goals.

He impressed enough to play in a trial for England, although ultimately he never won an England cap. However, in 1922-23 he (and Arsenal) suffered a slump in form, and after being replaced by converted full back Bob Turnbull in November 1922, he was sold to Blackpool in March 1923. In all he played 110 games for Arsenal, scoring 45 goals. After leaving Arsenal, White embarked on a journeyman’s career; as well as playing for Blackpool for just over two seasons, where he scored 19 goals in 75 appearances, he went on to have spells at Fulham, briefly in 1925-26 (2 goals in 8 games), before joining Walsall for the first time in February 1926.

He was the club’s top scorer with 26 goals in 29 games during 1926-27, including hat-tricks against Rochdale and Accrington Stanley, before they sold him to Nelson in March 1927, for whom he bagged a further 8 goals before the season end including a hat-trick against Hartlepool. But he returned to Walsall in October 1927 after 15 goals in 22 appearances, however he only added 6 appearances and 1 goal to his previous 31 goals in 42 games,  joining Stafford Rangers in the summer of 1928 and Thames Association in 1929 before retiring in 1930.

He was also a cricketer of some note, playing eight first-class matches for Warwickshire in 1923. He also played for his native Hertfordshire in the 1921 Minor Counties Championship.