David Court

David Court

Personal information
Full name	David John Court
Date of birth	March 1, 1944
Place of birth	Mitcham, Surrey, England
Height	Right-winger, right back, wing half
Youth career
1959–1962	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1962–1970	Arsenal	175	(17)
1970–1972	Luton Town	52	(0)
1972–1973	Brentford	12	(1)
1973–?	Barnet
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David John Court (born March 1, 1944 in Mitcham, Surrey) is an English former footballer, now turned coach.

Court joined Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1959, turning professional in January 1962. Initially a centre forward or inside forward, he was a regular goalscorer for the Gunners' youth and reserve sides. He made his first-team debut against Aston Villa on September 10, 1962, in a 2-1 defeat and went on to make fourteen league appearances over the next two seasons.

At the start of the 1964-65 season, Arsenal manager Billy Wright switched Court to the right wing, and he became a regular there for that season, playing 35 times, before being switched to right back in 1965-66, where again he was a regular for the season, playing 38 times. Wright was dismissed as Arsenal manager and many players left the club as a result, but Court continued to stay at the club for the next three seasons as a utility player.

Court played every position bar goalkeeper under Wright's successor Bertie Mee, although he played fewer matches - a total of only 31 over Mee's first two seasons. However, 1968-69 saw him return as a first-team regular – he played 51 matches that season, including the Gunners' League Cup Final loss to Swindon Town at Wembley Stadium.

He continued to be a regular in 1969-70, until he suffered injury midway through, and as a result he missed both legs of the Gunners' Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final triumph that season. In July 1970 Arsenal accepted a £30,000 bid for him from Luton Town; in all he had played 204 matches for Arsenal, and had scored 18 goals. He spent two seasons with Luton, before seeing out his career at Brentford. He played non league football at Barnet before retiring.^{[citation needed]}

After retiring from football, he worked in the financial sector, before returning to Arsenal in 1996 as Assistant Head of Youth Development, alongside Liam Brady, and has remained in the job since.

References

• Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4. 
• "David Court". Arsenal.com. http://www.arsenal.com/staffarticle.asp?article=350587&title=David+Court&lid=coaching+staff&thisNav=first+team. 

Persondata
Name	Court, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 1, 1944
Place of birth	Mitcham, Surrey, England
Date of death
Place of death