Percy Robert Sands 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, who spent seventeen years playing for 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...

, making him one of the club's most enduring servants.

Born in Norwood

Norwood

- Australia :* Norwood Secondary College, Secondary School in Ringwood, Victoria.* Norwood, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide**Electoral district of Norwood, a state electoral district in South Australia...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Sands trained as a teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

, and joined Woolwich Arsenal (as they were then known) as an amateur in 1902. While still an amateur, he became the club's first-choice centre half 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...

, having made his debut against 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 September 5, 1903. He would not turn fully professional for another three years, and would still work as a teacher when not playing.

Woolwich Arsenal were promoted 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....

 in 1904, and Sands was a near ever-present in the side. Although Arsenal were an undistinguished mid-table side at this time, they reached the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 semi-finals two years running, in 1905-06

1905-06 in English football

The 1905–06 season was the 35th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Following the increase in size of the Football League from 36 clubs to 40, and with Doncaster Rovers having been relegated from the Second Division, four new clubs were elected into the league, along with Stockport...

 and 1906-07

1906-07 in English football

The 1906–07 season was the 36th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:-First Division:-Second Division:P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = PointsReferences...

. Nicknamed "Mr Reliable", Sands stuck with the club through leaner times, including financial difficulties and then relegation in 1912-13

1912-13 in English football

The 1912–13 season was the 42nd season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Sunderland won the First Division for the fifth time, with a record of 25–4–9; Aston Villa, finishing second, had fewer defeats, but a lot more draws: 19–12–7....

, by which time he had been made captain of the side, and the club's move to Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

 (and its subsequent renaming) that same year.

With the advent of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, first-class football was suspended, but despite his age (33), Sands continued to play for Arsenal in unofficial wartime matches. He later left to serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps

Royal Army Medical Corps

The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...

 on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

. After peace broke out, he joined Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 side Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

, before retiring. In all he played 350 matches for the Gunners, a record that stood until it was broken by Bob John

Bob John

Robert Frederick "Bob" John was a Welsh football player and coach.Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him amongst stiff competition, in January 1922 for a fee of £750...

 fifteen years later.

He was never capped for 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...

, although he was called up for trials with the squad, and also played for the Football League representative XI. He died in December 1965 aged 84.