WALTER ARNOTT
— "Bauldie" | 28/03/1902 —

At a time when the Scottish Selectors of talent are so greatly concerned about a right back, I have no hesitation in noticing the brilliant career of one who was in his great day not only his country's best right back, but the ablest who has ever filled that position in the defence, maintenance, and extension of her honour. Walter Arnott's exceptional powers, not yet by any means forgotten by those who for so long were privileged to witness or profit by them, are heightened and improved by comparison with the mediocre club and country talent now vainly endeavouring to follow in his steps. What a pitiful, heartbreaking reflection, e.g., it must be to the Queen's Park habitues to look upon the "pigmies" at back who are endeavouring (it may be to the best of their ability) to uphold the honour of the Black and White Brigade and contrast them (to go no further back in the club history) with Walter Arnott and Robert Smellie, a noble pair, as club and as Scottish backs, not yet equalled, far less excelled, in the history of the game to date. Having little or nothing presently to talk about save decay and dishonour, the "Classic slopers" have a magnificent past to dwell upon, and they can profitably employ their leisure hours pondering over the great players who have borne their world-renowned colours, and tell the story of the wonderful battles fought by them in the good old days when the Queen's were a power in the land, and to be a member of the club was the glory, the pride, and the ambition of every football Scot. Undertaking this pleasant task, they must of necessity select Walter Arnott as a fitting subject, for in the infinite galleries of their great past he stands a conspicuous figure, alike in respect of the time he occupied the stage and for the signal ability with which he played his part. To play ten consecutive International matches for Scotland v. England, and to have at his credit no less than fifteen in all for his country, is surely proof enough of his transcendent powers and of his worth both to Queen's Park and to Scotland. In addition to this unparalleled 'National record, you must consider his long, varied, and valuable services to his club in their ordinary and cup-tie matches. The Wellingtonian tribute of "hero of a hundred fights" is more than applicable to this football warrior, who, now that he has settled down to the equanimity of peaceful domesticity, may recall them to cheer the hearth of his quiet Dumfriesshire home.

A few facts concerning his career and a few criticisms thereupon may be acceptable to the younger as well as the older "refereaders." It was, then, in season 1883-84 that Walter Arnott, then a plain and not a "gilded youth" of the Pollokshields F.C., joined the Queen's Park. He had left such class company in the 'Shields as Frank Shaw, Woodville Gray, and James Turner, and James Turner, and so he was not either in ability nor yet by disposition unfit to take his place in the Queen's company. He possessed, like all great artists of whatever kind, unbounded confidence in himself. He went to Hampden fully determined to kick himself into fame if not fortune, and he succeeded to a degree I warrant you far beyond his youthful conception or his boyish ambition. From the moment he stepped upon Hampden's historie arena — where so many brilliants had footed it before him — pulled up his rather attenuated socks, tucked up his rather shrimp sleeves, gave that famous right foot of his that inimitable twirl, from that moment Walter Arnott's success was ensured, and he was right away installed a popular idol.

No player save Charles Campbell of all the crowd which has flitted across the Hampden stage has been more popular, and none save "C. C." retained longer the admiration of his clubmates or of its numerous patrons. In 1884 Walter Arnott stood behind the stalwart Dr John Smith, the no less stalwart Charles Campbell, the sturdy R. M. Christie, and the clever W. Anderson. His International career began that year on Cathkin Park when he, a mere stripling, faced the giant cricketer, William Gunn, of Notts, who, with the Lytteltons, the Dafts, Ulyett, Burnupp, and Foster, was one of the many brilliant cricketers who have donned the Association jerseys. To see Gunn tearing down the field like a Colossus, with the plucky young Scot close at his heels waiting to get in that famous and never-to-be-forgotten return kick of his on the hop, was a sight indeed for the gods, and one that set the gallery in a roar. Happily beginning his 'National engagements with a victory (1-0), it was not till 1888 on Hampden Park that he was on the losing side, and that, I am sorry to say, to the tune of 5-0 — black figures that stand to this day as England's record score in the match. Were I to single out the greatest International of all the ten "W. A." played v. England, I should at once name that of 1889 at the Oval, when he and Robert Smellie and company defeated the "Flower of England" by three goals to two. It is not alone the ability displayed by W. A. and his confreres on that grand day that warrants our esteeming this the Queen's Parker's grandest Grand National, but also the fact that they were opposed by one of the most powerful teams which has ever represented the Rose against the Thistle since 1872. W. R. Moon, les freres Walters, J. Forrest, (Blackburn Rovers), W. J. Bassett, John Goodall, and Tinsley Lindley were all on the field against the Scots, yet our brave boys won, and returned home laden with the spoils of war, and crowned with the laurels of victory. Although I have given this team before, still, I consider its performance so worthy of recalling and immortalising that I give it again: —

Goal, J. Wilson (Vale of Leven); backs, W. Arnott and R. Smellie (Queen's Park); half-backs, G. Dewar (Dumbarton), J. Kelly and J. M'Laren (Celts); forwards, W. Latta (Dumbarton). W. Berry (Queen's Park), J. Oswald (Third Lanark), J. M'Pherson (Cowlairs), and Neil Munro (Abercorn).

I have not the space at my command to notice in detail his many Internationals, or his many brilliant club games, and so I content myself by saying that the 1889 at the Oval, the 1891 at Blackburn, and the National v. Canada, on Old Ibrox, were, in my opinion, those in which he gave greatest aid to Scotland. His last two caps v. England, it is said, should not have been granted him, and with that opinion I am inclined to agree. Still, he was then Scotland's best right back, a fact that is borne out by the consideration that on Ibrox, in 1892, Daniel Doyle was chosen to play right back. Smellie's break-down letting in his old club-mate to partner Doyle. The greatest forwards he has played against are W. N. Cobbold (Corinthians), James M'Call (Renton), and W. Johnstone (Third Lanark). As a pair, Dunlop and Hill, of St. Mirren, tested him severely, as also Chadwick and Milward, the famous Everton combination. 

As to his club performances, the great finals v. Renton and the Vale of Leven the cup tie at Dumbarton (which be and Smellie drew out of the fire), his play against Sunderland at Sunderland the year Donald Gow migrated to Wearside, in all these Arnott bore himself like a champion. He also played several matches for the Corinthians, and of course he was with St. Bernard for a season, here making the acquaintance of genial Tom Lamb, still his friend. As to his personal peculiarities, these were very marked. He had a style altogether his own, many imitators there have been of his famous hop after, and return of, the ball, but these flatterers only proved their own weakness and showed up the strength of their master. He was not a charger, a fact that Messrs Drummond and Smith might remember on April 5th to their own and Scotland's advantage. His forte lay in watching for and playing the ball, and this he could do with a neatness, a power, and an effect, which no other British back has equalled. His little touches of by-play, to which I have alluded above, gave a spice of cockiness to his style that made it all the more attractive, although occasionally it gave rise to a smile, and sometimes drew a caustic comment from an opponent. He had a naive and native humour, was a rare raconteur, and to hear him sing "When M'Carthy took the flooe at Enniscorthy," was a treat. In closing, I esteem him the brightest — I use the adjective in its intellectual and playing sense — best, and most popular of British backs, in a class like James Crabtree, Nicholas John Ross, and A. M. Walters, all by himself. Great backs there have been in Scotland, in Britain, but one, only one "Wattie."