Arthur 'Shooter' Ford was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played for Carlton

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

A defender, Ford make his league debut in 1903 but after just one season, left Carlton for Western Australia. The Essendon Town

Essendon Association Football Club

Essendon Association Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the Victorian Football Association from 1900 until 1921. The 'Dreadnoughts', who wore black and red, played their home games at the Essendon Recreation Reserve...

 recruit played initially at West Perth

West Perth Football Club

The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia, competing in the West Australian Football League . It is the oldest existing Australian rules football club in Western Australia. It competes in the West Australian...

, where he was a member of their 1905 West Australian Football League

West Australian Football League

The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...

 premiership team, before spending some time at Boulder City in the Goldfields Football Association

Goldfields Football League

The Goldfields Football League is a regional Australian football league based in the Kalgoorlie region, Western Australia. Originally founded in 1896 as Hannans District Football Association, the league enjoyed a seat and full voting rights on the Australian National Football Council until 1919...

.

Ford returned to Carlton towards the end of the 1908 season and played in that year's premiership side, the third in a row for the club. He was also a half back flanker in the 1909 VFL Grand Final

1909 VFL Grand Final

The 1909 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Carlton Football Club and South Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 2 October 1909. It was the 12th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...

, which Carlton lost. During his time at Carlton he acted as club secretary but lost the job following a controversial incident in their Round 14, 1910 match against Fitzroy. Following the match, Ford was cited for abusing and physically threatening the field umpire which resulted in a 12 month suspension. A possible reason for Ford's abuse was that it was the same umpire who had suspended his teammate George Topping

George Topping

George Topping was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.Topping made his debut for the Carlton Football Club in Round 10 of the 1902 season. He retired as a result of World War I after playing 2 games in 1916....

 earlier in the season.

He resumed his career once the suspension ended in 1911 and participated in his club's finals campaign that year. After the Preliminary Final loss to Essendon, Ford retired for the VFL and became captain-coach of Echuca

Echuca Football Club

The Echuca Football Club are an Australian rules football club which compete in the Goulburn Valley Football League .They are based in the Victorian town of Echuca and joined the league in 1909....

. Ford did however return briefly in 1912 for the finals once more before retiring for good.