Buckley: Arthur

1936-1939: &WW2 Guest 1940-1945 (Player Details) (Leeds United War-time Guest Player Details)

Outside Left

Born: Greenfield, nr Oldham: 03-07-1913

Debut v Birmingham City (a): 10-10-1936

5’10” 11st 4lb (1936)

Buckley was a winger of considerable promise. He began with Greenfield before signing amateur forms with Third Division North Oldham Athletic in March 1932. He turned professional a fortnight after his nineteenth birthday and Leeds paid £2,500 for him in October 1936. He had scored ten goals in forty-seven League games for the Latics. He proved a sound investment, scoring regularly and providing the crosses for Gordon Hodgson to convert into goals. After being a regular for two seasons he shared the left wing duties with Jack Hargreaves for the last full season before the War. After playing two of the three games in the aborted 1939-40 season, he was at Outside-Left in United’s 5-2 home win over Bradford Park Avenue in April 1940 in the initial War-time Regional League but did not play again until he was back on the Left Wing at Burnden Park for United’s 0-6 hammering by Bolton Wanderers on 13th October 1945 in the final Wartime League season of 1945-46. He spent much of the war on active service with the Army. However, he managed to play five games with Aldershot in 1940-41, while receiving his initial Army training there, and played once for Crystal Palace in 1942-43. But much of his leave was spent playing for his home town team, Oldham Athletic, as a guest during the Second World War, scoring seven times in nineteen games in 1939-40, twice in 1940-41, three times in 1941-42, twice in 1942-43, and four times 1945-46, but did not add to his goal tally. He was selected for an Army XI against The Army in Naples on 17th May 1945. However, he was yet another player whose League career ended in the Second World War. He was released by Leeds and, after failing to get a place at Oldham Athletic, he played with Mossley in Non-League football. In the 1947-48 he played forty-three games and was the club’s leading goal-scorer with twenty-six. Although now thirty-five, he moved on to Hurst prior to the 1948-49 season and made his debut for them in the Lancashire Combination League on 21st August 1948 at Rochdale Reserves and went on to score seventeen times in thirty-five games before playing his final game at home to Darwen on 17th September 1949. He died in 1992.