Peter Le Beau
You always remember your first game of football - and the first match I ever went to see at Highbury was in April 1961.
Arsenal were playing Blackpool and Sir Stanley Matthews made his last appearance for the team he had helped win the 1953 Cup Final before transferring to Stoke City- at the age of 46.
Starting for Arsenal at right back that day was Dave Bacuzzi.
He had just broken into the Arsenal side and caught the eye with his firm tackling, effective distribution and willingness to break forward into space.
Dave was the son of Joe Bacuzzi who played for Fulham and England and I can remember the interest in whether his offspring would show the same quality his father - whose career was interrupted by the Second World War.
Bacuzzi alternated in the right back position with Eddie Magill over the next two seasons. Having broken into the side under George Swindin his face clearly did not fit as well with Billy Wright who took over as manager in 1962.
A memorable game
Dave figured in one of the most exciting games I’ve ever seen in September 1963 when Arsenal came from 3-1 down to beat Bolton 4-3.
The problem was that despite being a wonderful centre half himself, Billy Wright seemed unable to organise a defence himself, and a talented Arsenal side with huge attacking potential shipped goals at an alarming rate.
I personally preferred Bacuzzi to Magill at right back but within a few months of that Bolton game, Dave was transferred to Manchester City for £25,000 - a decent fee in those days. I believe he played for City for two seasons and then moved to Reading where he played for a number of seasons before moving to play for Cork in Ireland.
Dave Bacuzzi's Final Salute
The last time I remember seeing Dave was on the day we left Highbury in May 2006. He cut a striking figure with a fine head of hair that was especially galling to those of us who are follicularly challenged.
When the news came through that Dave had sadly passed away this week it made me remember a fine full-back who always played for Arsenal with commitment and evident quality.
Rest in Peace Dave
Peter Le Beau writes for the Gooner Fanzine and appears on GoonerFanzineTV.
