{"id":36231,"date":"2022-12-31T10:30:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T10:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=36231"},"modified":"2022-12-31T11:24:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T11:24:52","slug":"con-sullivan-the-arsenal-obituary-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=36231","title":{"rendered":"Con Sullivan – The Arsenal Obituary 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

452: Cornelius Henry \u2018Con\u2019 Sullivan 1954-59\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born on 22 August 1928 in Bristol, Con was a Gloucestershire youth football player, who turned out for the Horfield Old Boys of the Bristol Downs League.<\/p>\n

Spotted by Bristol City he signed for them professionally in May 1949 after a successful trial period in the reserves. Initially a colt player he made his debut for the first team in December 1950 and by the 1951-52 season was an ever present for the division three south outfit, for whom he eventually made a total of 80 appearances.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He caught the eye of Arsenal\u2019s scouts as early as August 1952, no doubt tipped off by the City manager who was ex-Arsenal player Pat Beasley. It was noted that he possessed good anticipation, at 6′ 1″ was excellent at crosses, and had a reliable pair of hands. However, it was not until Arsenal had parted with George Swindin, their veteran goalkeeper, that Tom Whittaker decided to move for the West Country keeper. Con was purchased as a deputy for Wales international keeper Jack Kelsey, on 3 February 1954 from Bristol City, as Whittaker exclaimed: \u00a0\u201cWe have been following the progress of this boy for some time\u201d.<\/p>\n

His competitive debut came on 17 April 1954 at Newcastle where he let in five in a 2-5 hammering at the hands of the Magpies. However, Con had appeared a few times for the first team in friendlies previously, one on 30 March at Ashton Gate had been arranged as part of his transfer fee. Almost 29,000 turned up on a Tuesday evening to witness Bristol City beat the reigning league champions 3-1.<\/p>\n

Sullivan settled into a life in the reserves, being called into first team action when Kelsey was injured or playing for Wales. His most famous outing came just before Christmas 1955 as Arsenal hosted top-of-the-table Blackpool, a team containing Stanley Matthews. Dennis Evans\u2019 own goal at the end of the match was the talking point, as hearing a loud whistle he assumed the game was over and slammed the ball into his own net past a disconsolate Sullivan. Unfortunately, the whistle was blown from the crowd. The referee allowed the goal, and with it the Gunners lost the clean sheet in what was a 4-1 win.<\/p>\n

Clean sheets were a relative rarity in this era at Highbury with such a leaky defence, so Con was absolutely livid. It was even more galling as this would have been his third clean sheet that season and his annoyance was quoted in the national press thus: “I\u2019d like a couple of minutes alone with that clown who blew the whistle…”<\/p>\n

His final appearance came on 19 October 1957 at Highbury versus Birmingham, and he signed off having made 48 appearances first team appearances. Additionally he played in 121 reserve games, winning a London FA Challenge Cup winners medal in 1954-55.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 1958 Swindin arrived back at the club as the new Arsenal manager with a remit to rebuild the ailing side. Con was one of a number of players deemed surplus and was duly placed on the transfer list for \u00a33,000 in October 1958, ironically by the same man who Sullivan earlier in the decade had replaced as a keeper at the club. However, a training injury when practising diving in the sand pit effectively ended his professional playing career a few weeks after being placed on the transfer list. His back damage meant he spent almost the whole season in the medical room before leaving Arsenal in the summer of 1959, and retiring from the professional game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He moved back to Knowle West in Bristol, appearing for Robertson Athletic 1960 as a permit player, and spending some time working as a fork lift truck driver.<\/p>\n

Con Sullivan died on 14 April 2022, aged 93.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.bcfc.co.uk\/news\/former-keeper-sullivan-to-celebrate-90th-birthday\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.bcfc.co.uk\/news\/con-sullivan-1928-2022\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Daily Herald 4 Feb 1954<\/p>\n

Daily Mirror 19 December 1955<\/p>\n

\n

Copies of our books\u00a0Royal Arsenal \u2013 Champions of the South<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886-2018<\/a>\u00a0are still available from the publishers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

452: Cornelius Henry \u2018Con\u2019 Sullivan 1954-59 Born on 22 August 1928 in Bristol, Con was a Gloucestershire youth football player,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[699],"class_list":["post-36231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-con-sullivan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p87inb-9qn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35442,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35442","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":0},"title":"Sam Hollis \u2013 NOT Arsenal\u2019s manager","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"8 July 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Arsenal History - Mythbusters It\u2019s been 25 years since Arsenal\u2019s history was re-written and Sam Hollis was instated as the club\u2019s first manager. Now it\u2019s time to re-write it once again and remove Sam from the records. The name Sam Hollis came into the fray as Arsenal manager in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Thomas Mitchell"","block_context":{"text":"Thomas Mitchell","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=655"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sam Hollis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Sam-Hollis.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44867,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=44867","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":1},"title":"John Hollins – The Arsenal Obituary 2023","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"1 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"John Hollins MBE Born on 16 July 1946 in Guildford, Surrey, Jonn William Hollins was the 576th player picked to play for the first team, being signed from QPR the day prior to his 33rd birthday in 1979 for \u00a375,000. His debut as a substitute for David Price in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/John-Hollins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/John-Hollins.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/John-Hollins.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/John-Hollins.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/John-Hollins.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46881,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=46881","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":2},"title":"Chido Joins The Arsenal Elite","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"27 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Arsenal players with seven or more goals in a game Followers of Arsenal's academy can't help but have noticed schoolboy Chido Martin Obi's rich vein of form. Today he scored seven goals for the under-18s at Norwich City. This brings his goal tally to 25 in his last 9 games\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Directors"","block_context":{"text":"Directors","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=651"},"img":{"alt_text":"David Price\/Arsenal FC via Getty Images","src":"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com\/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSuWXcjXK6hFkeyc52hB0rGg_qT7GQMlo1s8evrEjvwemq7TfbDSAfmwXgNUF17N9htyXh6INSkwHM_4M","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54900,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=54900","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":3},"title":"Arsenal’s Oldest Debutant – A Lesson In History","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"27 March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Jimmy Smith Takes Ned Liddle's Crown For 2026 I\u2019ve been celebrating the birthdays of Arsenal players, managers, backroom staff and directors each day on my Bluesky account. In putting together the list of Arsenal birthdays for 27 March, I stumbled across an error in a player\u2019s date of birth which\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1904-02-20-Stalybridge-Reporter-James-Smith-transferred-to-Bury.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1904-02-20-Stalybridge-Reporter-James-Smith-transferred-to-Bury.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1904-02-20-Stalybridge-Reporter-James-Smith-transferred-to-Bury.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1904-02-20-Stalybridge-Reporter-James-Smith-transferred-to-Bury.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35486,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35486","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":4},"title":"Arsenal’s Appearance and Goalscoring Records: A Chronology","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"20 January 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"RECORD BREAKERS! We're sure that most of you are aware that David O'Leary has played most first team games for Arsenal and that Thierry Henry is the club's record goalscorer. But what about before them? Which players previously held those records? APPEARANCES For the appearances record we have started with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Players - A"","block_context":{"text":"Players - A","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=680"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alf Baker, George Armstrong and David O'Leary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Baker-Armstrong-OLeary-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Baker-Armstrong-OLeary-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Baker-Armstrong-OLeary-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36237,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=36237","url_meta":{"origin":36231,"position":5},"title":"Ray Barr – The Arsenal Obituary 2022","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"31 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond \u2018Ray\u2019 Barr 1949-1952 Ray was born on 5 June 1931 in Dromore, County, Down, Northern Ireland, who was spotted at Dromore FC, but he also played as an amateur for Linfield and represented the Northern Ireland Army Cadet Force. Barr was signed by Arsenal as an amateur on 20\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Ray Barr\"","block_context":{"text":"Ray Barr","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?tag=ray-barr"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Ray-Barr-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36231"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36251,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36231\/revisions\/36251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}