David Herd, who played for Arsenal, Manchester United and Stoke City in the First Division, has sadly died at the age of 82.

The Scottish striker, who made 180 appearances and scored 107 goals for Arsenal between 1954-1961, joined from Stockport County for a fee of £10,000.

Starting originally as a bit-part player, he only featured on eight occasions in his first two seasons at Highbury. Despite this though, he showed his quality in a breakthrough campaign (1956-57) with an impressive tally of 18 goals in 28 games.

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Despite a lack of opportunities in his first two seasons, Herd developed into a prolific striker at Highbury. (Photo source: Arsenal’s official website)

From then onwards, he established himself as the club’s top goalscorer for four consecutive seasons. With all that being said though, Arsenal’s lack of consistent league form meant they were no closer to winning a trophy even with Herd’s standout contributions in attack. As a result, he became unsettled due to a lack of success and opted for a move to Manchester United in July of 1961 for a fee of £35,000.

Herd continued his goalscoring form at United, netting 145 goals in 265 appearances before his value began to decline with age and he opted for Stoke and Waterford United before retiring in the early 1970’s.

With 107 goals in 180 appearances, he is Arsenal’s 15th highest goalscorer, and a player that will live long in the memory for many years to come.

The thoughts of everyone at Daily Cannon are with David’s family and friends at this sad time.