Arthur Best
St Kilda and Melbourne
AFL career
27 games52 goals
- Debut
- R7 1912 v FIT3 June 1912
- Most recent
- R18 1914 v SME29 Aug 1914
Stats
Bio
The son of prominent politician and Senator Sir Robert Best, Arthur Best was a sharpshooting forward who emerged from Melbourne Grammar and South Yarra to make an immediate impact at VFL level. He began his career with St Kilda, where he displayed a natural eye for the big sticks, but his most prolific football came after a move to Melbourne for the 1914 season. Best became a focal point in attack for the Redlegs, booting 30 goals in just 12 games and helping the side reach the semi-finals in what was a potent year for the club. His promising sporting trajectory was abruptly cut short by the outbreak of World War I, as he enlisted in the AIF in September 1914 rather than returning for the next season. Best served with distinction in the 58th Battalion, rising from private to captain and being mentioned in dispatches twice, but he did not return to the VFL field after the war, leaving a record of high achievement from a brief but talented career.
Profile
- Full name
- Arthur F. Best
- Born
- 18 Oct 1888
- Died
- 17 June 1960 (aged 71y 243d)
- Birthplace
- Fitzroy, VIC
- Deathplace
- Double Bay, NSW
Teams
Bio
1 revisionThe son of prominent politician and Senator Sir Robert Best, Arthur Best was a sharpshooting forward who emerged from Melbourne Grammar and South Yarra to make an immediate impact at VFL level. He began his career with St Kilda, where he displayed a natural eye for the big sticks, but his most prolific football came after a move to Melbourne for the 1914 season. Best became a focal point in attack for the Redlegs, booting 30 goals in just 12 games and helping the side reach the semi-finals in what was a potent year for the club. His promising sporting trajectory was abruptly cut short by the outbreak of World War I, as he enlisted in the AIF in September 1914 rather than returning for the next season. Best served with distinction in the 58th Battalion, rising from private to captain and being mentioned in dispatches twice, but he did not return to the VFL field after the war, leaving a record of high achievement from a brief but talented career.