Alan Arnell attended Chichester High School for Boys between 1944 and 1950. He was an outstanding schoolboy footballer and on leaving school played first for Chichester City and then for Worthing FC where he was noticed by a Liverpool scout.
Alan Arnell LFC
Centre-forward Arnell moved from Sussex amateur side Worthing to Liverpool when he was 20-years-old. As Arnell was doing his National Service in the Royal Sussex Regiment he could not sign as a pro so it was as an amateur he made a scoring debut on 5 December 1953 in a 5-2 win home victory overBlackpool. He only played another two times that season and just eight the following season, in which he scored three more goals. Although he was in and out of the side during the next few years, Arnell boasts a decent scoring record averaging a goal every two games in the Second Division for Liverpool. Arnell was transferred to third division Tranmere Rovers in February 1961. He scored 34 goals in 68 League games for Rovers but suffered relegation into Fourth Division.
Liverpool FC 1955 Alan Arnell back row far left; Billy Liddell front row in the centre
Arnell had to battle for the number nine shirt with Billy Liddell and Louis Bimpson at Liverpool and he was always having to settle for a bit part when the great Billy was around: “Billy was an idol at Anfield. The local Press was biased towards him but I’m not complaining,” Arnell told the Brighton & Hove publication, the Argus, in 2002. “With him around you had to be 110 per cent. When I went there a lot of the players were starting to get old. There was a chance for me and I took it. I began with £12 a week in the season, £10 during the summer rising to £28, which was good money although I missed the benefits of the abolition of the maximum wage. In 1961 I arranged to buy a sub-post office and newsagent’s shop less than a quarter of a mile from the training ground. It was towards the end of the season and Bill Shankly, who had taken over as manager in 1959, said Swindon were interested in me and a £7,000 fee, which was quite a high fee then, was mentioned. I said I had just offered to buy a business and Shanks immediately replied – in that case, you can have a free transfer. In about one hour I was a Tranmere player. I think Shanks was a little bit naughty about that. Life under Shankly was interesting although Don Welsh was also a flamboyant manager. Shanks was simply obsessed with football. When you talked with him, you were the best player, the opposition rubbish, not worth mentioning. He was a great motivator.”
Cigarette card – Alan Arnell
Birthdate: 25 November, 1933
Birthplace: Chichester, England
Other clubs: Chichester City (1949-51), Worthing (1951-53), Tranmere Rovers (1961-63), Halifax Town (1963-64), Runcorn (1964-66)
Bought from: Worthing
Signed for LFC: 24 March, 1953 Liverpool
Debut: 5 December, 1953
Last appearance: 14 January, 1961
Debut goal: 5 December, 1953
Last goal: 22 April, 1959
Contract expiry: February 1961
Win ratio: 41.33% W: 31 D: 17 L: 27
Games/goals ratio: 2.14
LFC league games/goals: 69 / 33
Total LFC games/goals: 75 / 35
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