When his father, Harry Wood, became the trainer at Portsmouth, Arthur was 11 and would soon start his progress through schools football to playing for Portsmouth Amateurs. But he had spent the years before that, watching his father at The Dell and had become an admirer of two great Southampton goalkeepers of that era: Jack Robinson and George Clawley.  So it was that he returned to The Dell, as a 19 year-old amateur ’keeper, in September 1913. Six months later, he was making his debut in the Southern Alliance. Then, having signed pro, he shared the goalkeeping duties with Ernie Steventon in 1914-15. Serving in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, he was able to turn out for the Saints occasionally. He started the 1919-20 season in possession, but then Harrie Wilcock came on the scene, ousting Arthur but attracting bidders.

When the club accepted Preston’s offer, Tommy Allen came in and Arthur would get only two more games before moving to Second Division Clapton Orient. As Allen settled in for 291 League games for the Saints, Arthur bettered that with 374 in his 10 seasons with Orient. Retiring from the professional game in 1931, he joined Ryde Sports, initially as a player but later becoming the trainer, while working in the Portsmouth area as an insurance agent.