Non-League and Academy football writer

A quote from Bobby Arber in a recent interview with Superhotspur.com about his time as a coach with Spurs: “ The young players have got to have a winning mentality, but you don’t want them to feel fear when they are playing. So I think that we allowed the players to express themselves and be themselves to the best of their ability, knowing that we were on their sides. And that if something went wrong then they could talk to us off the pitch, and not be afraid to ask you questions. ”

Bobby Arber is a real footballing man, who has given a lot to the game. From Poplar, but brought up in Islington, North London, Arber represented a talented Islington Schools side during his youth, alongside the likes of Charlie George and Micky Droy. Arber’s early playing career would take him to Arsenal (Arsenal weren’t the only club that wanted to sign Bobby), where he was part of a talented youth and reserve side, with the North London club, during the late 1960’s. He would later join Leyton Orient, and the left-back who was a talented ball player, would make over 30 competitive appearances for Leyton Orient during his time there. Later spells with Southend United, Rangers FC (in South Africa), Tooting and Mitcham United and Barking followed, before he finished his playing career in America, firstly with Sacramento Gold, and then Atlanta Chiefs, during the early 1980’s. After returning to England, Arber went into coaching with Barking and Woodford Town, and for a while during the mid 1980’s he managed non-League side Barking. Bobby would later join Spurs as a youth team coach during the early 1990’s, where he worked alongside former West Ham United player and then Spurs youth team manager Pat Holland.

During his time with Spurs, Bobby Arber would hold prestigious positions within the club’s youth/academy system. He was Spurs’ youth team manager for a good while, playing a big part in helping to develop the likes of then Spurs Academy players and future senior internationals Ledley King, Stephen Carr, Luke Young and Peter Crouch, as players. As youth team manager Arber would help lead Spurs’ youth sides to prestigious honours, such as the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland (in 1996) and also several other highly competitive other domestic tournaments. As a coach Arber played a big part in helping to develop the players of a very talented Spurs youth team, and players who had wonderful careers in the game, such as Ledley King and Peter Crouch, both of whom have paid many acknowledgements to the influence in which Bobby had on their careers as footballers, at such an important stage of their development as players. As part of this piece that I’ve written on Bobby’s career as a coach, I spoke to a former player that he coached during his time at Spurs. And this former player spoke very highly of Bobby Arber the coach, saying that he was “ brilliant ” and that he was “ fantastic at organising a team ”, as well as “ setting the team up as really hard to break down ”.

Bobby would coach his son Mark in the Spurs youth team, and Mark would later go on to have a fine career in the game. However, Bobby Arber would leave Spurs after spending around ten years with them, and he would later join his old club Arsenal, as Head of Academy Recruitment in 2006. Working closely with the likes of the legendary Liam Brady at Arsenal, Arber’s outstanding eye for talent, as well as his tremendous knowledge of academy football not just in England, but across Europe, made him an integral part of the Arsenal Academy set-up. Having recommended a number of young players to Arsenal that would later do really well in the game, Bobby’s influence on Arsenal, both in his first role as Head of Academy Recruitment, and later as a senior scout for the Arsenal Academy in Europe, was just as great as his coaching career with Spurs. I have had the great pleasure of meeting Bobby Arber, and he is a top man, whose superb knowledge of the game and of academy football, is so impressive and insightful. So experienced in the game, Bobby is currently an emerging talent scout at Championship side Ipswich Town, having held a position with Norwich City (in academy football) before that.

A real footballing man with a great knowledge and enthusiasm for the game, and someone who has made a real impression on academy football, Bobby Arber is someone who played his part in helping North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal, in both a coaching and scouting/recruitment capacity. They are both clubs that Bobby still holds close to his heart, in a footballing career so far, that he should be really proud of.