 He initially played at right-half, but was not a great success until he was converted to a centre-half in which position his career took off.Described in Holley & Chalk's "The Alphabet of the Saints" as ""a powerful and efficient defender, Arthur reached his peak at the turn of the century"".He helped Saints to win the Southern League title in 1897–98 and again in 1898–99 and to the FA Cup final in 1900, defeating three top flight clubs along the way, by when he had been rewarded with two England caps, against Scotland and Wales.