Reg Lewis (footballer)

Reginald Lewis (7 March 1920 – 2 April 1997) was an English footballer. Playing as a striker, Lewis solely featured for Arsenal throughout his footballing career. Lewis is Arsenal's 12th highest goalscorer of all time.[1]

Reg Lewis
Personal information
Full name Reginald Lewis
Date of birth (1920-03-07)7 March 1920
Place of birth Bilston, Staffordshire, England
Date of death 2 April 1997(1997-04-02) (aged 77)
Place of death Chadwell Heath, London, England
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1935–1953 Arsenal 154 (103)
International career
1950 England B 2 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Bilston, Staffordshire and raised in South London Lewis spent his entire career at Arsenal, however as a youth team player he played for Margate FC which in those days was a nursery club for The Arsenal. He joined the club as a schoolboy in 1935, and scored on his debut against Everton on 1 January 1938. He made only four appearances in 1937-38, however, and as a result missed out on a League Championship winners' medal.[2] Lewis broke into the first-team more in 1938-39, making 16 appearances in league and cup, scoring 7 goals, but the advent of the Second World War interrupted his career.[3]

During the war Lewis continued to play for Arsenal and shone as a natural goalscorer; although wartime appearances and goals are not officially counted, Lewis scored 143 goals in 130 games, including four in the 1943 War Cup Southern Final, in a 7-1 defeat of Charlton Athletic. Towards the end of the war he served in the British Army of the Rhine in Occupied Germany, but returned to play for Arsenal once first-class football resumed in 1946.[3]

On 24 August 1946 an additional fixture was arranged between England and Scotland with all proceeds going to the Bolton Disaster Fund. Lewis was called up to replace the injured Tommy Lawton.[4]

Although most of the Arsenal side of the 1930s were past their best by this time, Lewis was still only 26 and he continued to be a regular in the first team throughout the remainder of the 1940s. He was the club's top scorer in 1946-47 with 29 goals, and the following 1947-48 season, he partnered new signing Ronnie Rooke and between them they scored 47 goals as Arsenal won the First Division title. Lewis continued to be a regular for the rest of the decade and he enjoyed arguably his best season in 1949-50. As such in this season, he scored 19 goals in 31 league games and played twice for the England B team. Lewis capped it altogether by scoring both goals in Arsenal's 2–0 victory over Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup Final.[3][5]

However, during the early 1950s, Lewis became constantly afflicted with injuries, and he made only 12 appearances in 1951-52 and none at all in 1952-53. In the close season of 1953, he retired from the game at the age of 33. His 116 goals in 176 matches makes him Arsenal's twelfth top goalscorer of all time.[1][3] After retiring, Lewis first ran a pub, then worked in insurance. He died in Chadwell Heath, London in April 1997 at the age of 77.[6]

Honours
Arsenal[3]

References
  1. "Goalscoring Records". Arsenal.com.
  2. "1937-38 competition statistics". 11v11.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  3. "Reg Lewis". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016.
  4. The Times 21 August 1946 Sports in Brief
  5. "Arsenal's Cup Triumph Aka Compton - Cup Final (1950)". YouTube.com. British Pathe. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
  6. Hugman's Footballers: Reg Lewis
  7. "1948/49 Charity Shield". footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  • Harris, Jeff (1995). Hogg, Tony (ed.). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.
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