Cliff Bastin (March 14, 1912 — December 4, 1991) was an English football player.
Born in Heavitree near Exeter, Bastin started his career at Exeter City, making his debut for the club in 1928, at the age of 16. His talent was evident enough that he was signed a year later by Herbert Chapman's Arsenal, who went on to become dominant force in English football in the 1930s.
Bastin would play the rest of his career at Arsenal, scoring 178 goals in 395 games; he was Arsenal's all-time top goalscorer until 1997, when his total was surpassed by Ian Wright. In 2005 Thierry Henry passed Bastin's total; as of 2005 he remains the club's third-leading goalscorer. Had his career not been interrupted by the Second World War it is likely that he would have scored many more goals for Arsenal.
Bastin won the FA Cup in 1930 and 1936, and the Football League five times, in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1938. Bastin also played for England 21 times, including a notorious match against Germany in Berlin in 1938, when the England team were ordered to give the Nazi salute before the match.
The Second World War intervened when Bastin was 27, thus cutting short what should have been the peak of his career. Bastin was excused military service, as he failed the army hearing test. Thus, during the war, he served as an ARP Warden, being stationed on top of Highbury stadium with Tom Whittaker. He also played matches in the war-time league (but, strangely, not internationals) to boost civilian morale. In 1941, Fascist Italy's propaganda, broadcast on Rome Radio, contained a bizarre claim that Bastin had been captured in the Battle of Crete, and was being detained in Italy. The Italians were seemingly unaware that Bastin had played his entire career being almost entirely deaf. After the war was over, Bastin would only play six more times before retiring in 1947.
After retirement, Bastin returned to his native Exeter and ran a pub. He died in 1991. A stand at St James Park, Exeter's home ground, is named in his honour.