Born: 5/7/1946 Newcastle Upon Tyne
Debut: Walsall Away 12/8/72. Scored on his debut. Final Match: Cambridge United Away League Cup 19/8/1975.
Honours: One England Youth cap. Twice Anglo Italian Cup winner whilst with Swindon Town. 1972/1973 supporters player of the year.
"King" Arthur joined Charlton in June 1972 as part of a package deal that saw Ray Treacy move to Swindon Town. A good deal by manager Theo Foley. Charlton received £20,000 plus Horsfield and he went on to make 156 consecutive League and Cup appearances (a club record) scoring 61 goals. Arthur was leading goalscorer for the club during the 1972/1973 and 1973/1974 and played games at Centre half during the 1974/1975 promotion season from Division Three. He was also named Supporters player of the year in 1972/1973 for scoring 29 goals during his first season with the club.
Horsfield was then sold to Watford (managed by Graham Taylor) for £20,000 by Andy Nelson in September 1975 before joining Dartford as a player coach in 1977. When the old Watling Street ground was sold and housing placed on it, Arthur was honoured by having a close named after him.
His jobs after playing included working as a local postman and as of 2000 as a manager for Parcel Force in Thurrock.
As of 2011 Arthur still lives in the Gravesend area.
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I remember joining a queue of 4-5 people at the old snack hut between the East open terrace and the Covered End. By the time I got served, Arthur had headed two goals (one harshly disallowed for using the centre half's upper body as a stepladder). Every time a cross came into the box, I thought we'd score with Arthur up front. Happy days.
I was devastated when Andy Nelson sold him just after we were promoted. But, as a fickle 11 year old, I soon learnt to "move on" when some bearded guy got 30 goals that season...
Great player Arthur no real pace but strong on the ball and superb in the air.
He was one of my heroes! Wrote to Andy nelson to demand he returned to the forward line from playing center half.
Also his vital equaliser away in April '75 v Peterborough when playing centre half.
A legend for me in my formative years as a fan.
Hero of mine too. Great in the air from Peacock precision crosses.
Always thought he looked like Ray Reardon (the snooker player).
We chatted all the way back, he told me lots about his career up to then, behind the scenes stuff at Charlton and what he hoped to do after he'd finished playing. Warm friendly bloke who made a big impression on this 19 year old.
On the outward leg, Charlie Williams the comedian was seated next to me - another chatty friendly bloke, who told me about his playing career at Doncaster Rovers and what it was like to be one of the first black players in professional football. Plus stories about the comedian circuit, some other famous comedians of the time and life in general.
I wished I'd written all down!
Although Wikipedia is, for the most part, pretty unreliable, there are some interesting and credible quotes from Arthur from a Middlesbrough Supporters Magazine about his unhappy departures from Swindon and Charlton - basically, he was told on each occasion that, like it or not, he was on his way . He also had some friction at Watford after declining to comply with Graham Taylor's directive that all players had to live within 10 minutes of the ground, subsequently turned down a coaching role at the club and ended up retiring prematurely from league football at only 29 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Horsfield
As the Killer has often said, the game is not all honey.
If he had any pace at all he would have been playing at the top of the game.
Great header of the ball and also formed a great partnership with Hales when he first arrived.
Favourite memory: - A headed goal away at Peterborough in our '75 promotion season. The loud thud of the contact and the bullet bulging the net. Priceless.