Arthur Henry Gibson, also known as Victor Raine Gibson (18 July 1888 – 8 April 1958) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for RCD Espanyol, and later a coach active in Spain and France.[1][2]
Early and personal life
Arthur Henry Gibson was born in Woolwich in 1888.[3][4] He married in 1910 and had an infant daughter who died.[4] He divorced his English wife in 1938 and married a Frenchwoman in 1939, with whom he also had a daughter.[4]
Gibson quickly became the team's captain, and took on the role of manager.[2] In July 1912, Allack and Gibson were dismissed from Espanyol for various acts of indiscipline, and he moved to French side Olympique Cettois.[3][4] On 5 April 1914, Gibson started as a defender in the final of the 1914 USFSA Football Championship, which ended in a 0–3 loss to Olympique lillois.[7] He stayed at the club for 12 years until 1924, when he moved to Montpellier, where he retired two years later in 1926, at the age of 38.[citation needed]
Gibson led FC Cette to back-to-back finals in the Coupe de France in 1923 and 1924, but lost both, the first as coach (4–2 to Red Star Olympique), and the second as player and coach (3–2 to Marseille).[3][12] However, he achieved his revenge by winning this cup twice in a row in 1926 and 1927 with Olympique de Marseille, beating AS Valentigney 4–1 in the former and US Quevilly 3–0 in the latter.[3] He also led Sochaux to a title in the 1931 Peugeot Cup.[3]
Later life and death
Gibson returned to England in the 1930s, working as a gardener and groundsman.[4] He divorced his English wife in 1938 and married a Frenchwoman in 1939, with whom he also had a daughter.[4] He died in Ruislip 8 April 1958, at the age of 69.[3][4]
^"Catalonia 0-7 France". hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Hemeroteca. 22 February 1912. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
