Arthur Oxford

Arthur Thomas Oxford (1894–1980) was an Australian rugby league footballer, a state and national representative whose club career was played with the Eastern Suburbs club and South Sydney from 1915 to 1929.

Club career

A noted point scorer, Oxford played with South Sydney for 7 seasons between 1915 and 1921. He won a premiership with Souths in NSWRL season 1918.

Oxford then switched to Eastern Suburbs for another 7 seasons between 1922 and 1929, winning the premiership with them in NSWRL season 1923.

In 1920 he kicked a then-record 23 successive goals in club matches for South Sydney Rabbitohs. In the season 1923, he was the NSW Rugby Football League's top point scorer with 113 points (5 tries and 49 goals). Oxford was also Captain of Sydney Roosters on many occasions.

In 1927 he overtook Harold Horder's record for the most points scored in an NSWRFL career (758); Oxford's eventual total of 864 stood as the new career record for twenty seasons until it was bettered by Tom Kirk in 1946. Oxford's total club career tally over fourteen seasons was 36 tries and 378 goals for 864 points.

Representative career

He represented for New South Wales in twenty-two matches against Queensland from 1919 - 1924. He made five Test appearances in the Australia national rugby league team touring against New Zealand in 1919 and later against Great Britain. In 1925 during a season as captain-coach of Rockhampton in Queensland, he was selected as a Queensland representative, playing one match in 1925 making him the only player to represent both states.

Family

His son, also called Arthur Oxford, played first grade for Easts in the 1944, 1948,1949 and 1950; his other son Kevin played lower grades for Easts. His grandsons Gary, Wayne and Brett Stevens and Colin Oxford played for South Sydney. Gary Stevens was a South Sydney Rabbitohs star of the 1960s and 1970s and an Australian Test representative.

Arthur Oxford died on 1 June 1980, 26 days short of his 86th birthday.