Arthur George "Archie" Cross (1880 – unknown) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er.

Cross was born in Dartford

Dartford

Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 and started his career at Dartford FC

Dartford F.C.

Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season...

, before joining nearby Woolwich Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in April 1900. A right back

Right Back

-Guest Artists:This album features many additional artists, including:* Barrington Levy, performing on "Righteous Dub" & "Saw Red"* H.R., performing on "New Sun"* Dangr, performing on "Kick Down"* Tippa Irie, performing on "Sensi"...

, he was initially the understudy to Duncan McNichol

Duncan McNichol

Duncan McNichol was a Scottish footballer.Born in Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, McNichol played junior football for St Bernard's of Edinburgh, before moving south of the border to join Woolwich Arsenal in June 1899...

, but made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 on 6 October 1900. After playing just three games in 1900-01

1900-01 in English football

The 1900–01 season was the 30th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Stockport County played their first season in the football league. Blackpool also returned to the league, at the expenses of Loughborough and Luton Town.-Honours:...

, he played in fifteen of Arsenal's first nineteen games of 1901-02

1901-02 in English football

The 1901–02 season was the 31st season of competitive football in England.-League changes:Doncaster Rovers and Burton United replaced Walsall and Burton Swifts in the Football League. Burton United were formed by a merger of Burton Swifts with former League side Burton Wanderers...

, before losing his place again to McNichol. After another season as backup, he finally won a regular place in the side in 1903-04

1903-04 in English football

The 1903–04 season was the 33rd season of competitive football in England.-Events:For the first time ever, a London team, Woolwich Arsenal, is promoted to the First Division and makes the League's reach nationwide...

, during which Arsenal won promotion to the First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 for the first time in their history.

However, after Arsenal were promoted they signed his namesake Archie Gray

Archie Gray

Archibald Colin "Archie" Gray was a Scottish footballer.Gray began his career at local junior clubs Govan Columbia and Glasgow Ashfield, before joining Edinburgh side Hibernian in 1899. He spent five seasons with Hibs, winning the 1902 Scottish Cup...

, and Gray was included in the Arsenal side at the expense of Cross, who only played in just over a third of Arsenal's matches in their first three seasons in the top flight. In 1907 he switched sides to left back but was mainly use in the position as cover for the first-choice left back, Joe Shaw. Despite being only a reserve for much of his latter career, he was picked for an England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

trial in 1906, but never made it to the senior side. Cross left Woolwich Arsenal in 1909, with 149 appearances in league and cup to his name, although he never scored for the Reds. After leaving Arsenal, he saw out his career with a second spell at Dartford.