 In November 1953 , Lawton was traded to First Division champions Arsenal for £ 7 @,@ 500 plus James Robertson ( valued at £ 2 @,@ 500 ) . He was signed by manager Tom Whittaker , who had previously found success in bringing in veterans such as Ronnie <unk> and Joe Mercer . However Lawton was limited to ten appearances in the 1953 – 54 campaign after picking up an injury on his debut . He also played in the 1953 Charity Shield , scoring one goal as Arsenal beat Blackpool 3 – 1 . He scored seven goals in 20 appearances throughout the 1954 – 55 season , including winning goals against Chelsea and Cardiff City . He scored a hat @-@ trick past Cardiff City on the opening day of the 1955 – 56 season , before he announced his decision to leave Arsenal to pursue a career in management eight games into the campaign . 
