Former Arsenal star, Alan Skirton, has passed away at the age of 80.
Alan Skirton played for Arsenal in the 60s, racking up 153 appearances and 53 goals for the side before moving to Blackpool for the (then) huge sum of £65,000.
Skirton made history with Arsenal as the first player to score in a European match at Highbury for the Gunners.
The six-foot star arrived at Arsenal from Bath for £5,000 making him the most expensive non-league footballer at the time and the winger even overcame tuberculosis to enjoy his career in the top flight.
Skirton made his debut for Arsenal against Burnley on 20 August 1960, playing on the right wing, a role he shared with Danny Clapton that season. The following season he made the role his own becoming the club’s top scorer for the campaign with 19 goals in 40 appearances in the process.
His historic European goal came against Danish side, Stævnet on 22 October 1963.
Billy Wright’s replacement as manager by Bertie Mee saw the club shift their focus onto young players and Skirton was sold to Blackpool in 1966. He scored on his debut for the Seasiders in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
“Arsenal – there was just nothing to touch it,” Skirton told Arsenal.com in 2013. “It was just incredible. When you had played 11 games for the first team you got a blazer. I was as pleased as punch going down to the West End to get measured up. It was marvellous. It meant the world to me.
“Arsenal was, and still is, a lovely football club. I came to a tribute night for my friend Frank McLintock and sitting next to me was a lady and her son. It was Geordie Armstrong’s wife and son… tremendous.
“This is what Arsenal is all about. One of the players who is sadly not with us anymore but not forgotten by the Club who has embraced his family. I just think this is incredible; it’s something Arsenal is so fantastically good at. They never seem to forget. Anybody that has been connected with Arsenal will always be very, very glad about it.
“I enjoyed every minute of my time there and the teams I played in with the likes of George Eastham, Joe Baker, Jimmy Bloomfield, George Armstrong, Jon Sammels, Frank McLintock and others would be a mile in front of the stars of today.”
Arsenal released a statement saying,
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of former Arsenal winger, Alan Skirton.
Alan played on the wing for the Gunners from 1959 to 1966, when his pace and power earned him the nickname ‘The Highbury Express’. In all, the man from Bath – who went on to contribute greatly to the recent rise of Yeovil Town as their commercial manager – scored 54 goals for us in 154 appearances. That nickname, along with his induction into our prestigious 100 Club, gave Alan much pride.
In the 1961/1962 season, Alan was Arsenal’s top scorer, with 19 Division 1 goals in 38 appearances.
Alan holds the admirable distinction of being the first Arsenal player to score a European goal at Highbury, and he was also the first Arsenal substitute to be called upon in a competitive fixture.
He was a huge personality who touched so many, and he will be sorely missed by his wife Jane, sons Andrew, Paul and Simon, and daughter Debbie.
He meant so much to his brothers Mick, Colin and Gordon and their families, his grandchildren and their families, and his great grandchild Tobias, who was recently welcomed into the Skirton family.
Alan will be remembered as a true gentleman and we will all miss him.
I’d actually written and scheduled this post long before the awful news about Jose Antonio Reyes was made public. He was just 35 and his death is a real tragedy.
If you’d like to read more about Reyes at Arsenal I’d point you to this article.
As it is, I’m not up for writing about him just yet. As I said on Twitter, he may only have been with us a short time, but he left a bigger mark on the hearts of Arsenal fans than many who followed and stayed longer.
RIP Jose.