COYG.

Forward · 1929–1947 · verified

Cliff Bastin

Boy Bastin. A prodigious wide forward of Herbert Chapman's all-conquering 1930s side, Cliff Bastin scored 178 goals for Arsenal — a club record that stood for nearly sixty years until Ian Wright finally surpassed it in 1997.

At a glance
Debut1929, as a teenager
Goals178 — a club record for nearly 60 years
EraHerbert Chapman's 1930s side
Record broken byIan Wright, 1997

The Chapman era

Bastin made his Arsenal debut in 1929 as a teenager, earning the nickname Boy Bastin for his precocious talent. Operating as an outside-left in Herbert Chapman's revolutionary side, he cut inside to score with remarkable regularity for a wide player. Across the 1930s he was a central figure in the most dominant Arsenal team of the pre-war age, winning a succession of League titles and FA Cups.

A record that endured

Bastin finished his Arsenal career with 178 goals, almost all of them scored before the Second World War interrupted the game. It was a club goalscoring record that would stand for close to sixty years, until Ian Wright surpassed it in 1997. That longevity speaks to the scale of his achievement: a winger out-scoring centre-forwards across a glittering decade for one of English football's first great teams.

How he played

Bastin played wide but thought like a striker, drifting infield to arrive in the box and finishing with a calm beyond his years. Quick, composed and deadly, he turned the outside-left position into a goalscoring one and set a standard that defined the club for generations.

Timeline

Connected pages

Verification

Published as verified · checked 25 Jun 2026 · 2 retained source references.

Sources and evidence

  • Arsenal.com (reference recorded; direct URL not retained)
  • the historical record (reference recorded; direct URL not retained)

Links and source labels are shown exactly as retained in the published record.