Charlie Buchan

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Charles Murray Buchan (September 22, 1891 – 25 June 1960) was an English football player and writer.

Born in Plumstead, London, Buchan first played as an amateur for local club Woolwich Arsenal, joining the club in December 1909. However, having impressed in reserve games, he fell out with manager George Morrell over his expenses, and declined to sign to a professional contract. Buchan instead signed for Clapton Orient; whilst playing for them he was spotted and duly signed by Sunderland in March 1911.

A tall, elegant centre forward, 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 final 1-0 to Aston Villa. Frequently described as the best footballer in the country, Buchan was Sunderland's leading scorer for seven of the eight seasons from 1912-13 to 1923-24 (excluding the wartime seasons, when full competitive football was suspended). He is Sunderland's all-time record League goalscorer, with 209 goals. Buchan was also capped by England, his debut coming against Ireland on February 15, 1913. His appearances were limited by the lack of internationals due to war; he only earned six full caps, scoring four goals.

In 1925, when nearly 34, Buchan was re-signed by Arsenal (as they were now called). Sunderland manager Bob Kyle initially demanded a £4,000 fee, but Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman bargained him down to £2,000 plus £100 per goal for his first season; Buchan promptly scored twenty, thus forcing Arsenal to match Kyle's original demand. Buchan made his debut in a North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur on August 29, 1925.

Just as important as his goals was his contribution to Arsenal's tactics; it was Buchan who came up, along with Chapman, of rejigging Arsenal's formation to the "WM", to fully exploit the relaxation of the offside law. Buchan's idea was to move the centre half 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, despite his age, for three seasons. He captained Arsenal to their first-ever Cup final in 1927, but again was on the losing side, as Cardiff City beat the Gunners 1-0, thanks to a freak mistake by Arsenal 'keeper Dan Lewis. 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; his count of 257 goals in the League, which would have been more had the First World War not intervened, makes him the Football League's sixth-top goalscorer of all time.

After retiring, Buchan became a football journalist with the Daily News and News Chronicle, wrote one of the first coaching manuals, and also commentated for the BBC. In 1947, he co-founded the Football Writers' Association, and from 1949 until his death, he edited his own football magazine, Charles Buchan's Football Monthly. He died in 1960, at the age of 68, whilst holidaying in Monte Carlo.

[edit] References

• Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4. 

[edit] External links

• Search facility for all of Charles Buchan's Football Monthly magazines dating back to 1951
• Biography at Football Monthly tribute site