Career
Born in Birmingham, Lishman first played as a centre forward for non-league Paget Rangers, before signing as a professional for Third Division South Walsall in August 1946. In two seasons with the Saddlers, Lishman scored 26 goals in 59 league appearances. He was signed by Arsenal in the summer of 1948 for £10,500, as backup for Regional Lewis, who was only 28 but becoming ever more frequently injured.
Lishman made his debut against Sheffield United on September 4, 1948, but after a promising first season (scoring 13 goals in 25 appearances), Lishman"s 1949-1950 and 1950-1951 seasons were marred by injury.
However, Lishman recovered to become Arsenal"s top scorer in 1950-1951, and the next season hit 30 goals, including three hat-tricks in three successive home matches. Arsenal finished third that season.
Lishman came close for Arsenal with a header, which clipped the crossbar, but Arsenal lost 1-0. His form was good enough for him to be picked for an England B match against Scotland Bachelor in March 1953, although he was never capped for the full national side.
Lishman was top scorer for another two seasons after that, making it five successive seasons as the club"s top scorer in total.
In all he scored 137 goals in 244 appearances, making him the club"s seventh-highest goalscorer of all time. With younger men like Derek Tapscott and David Herd taking over goalscoring duties for Arsenal, however, Lishman was dropped from the first team in 1955-1956. In March 1956 he was sold to Second Division Nottingham Forest.
He left the game entirely after retiring.
He joined his father-in law in business (furniture retail) in Stoke-on-Trent, later taking over the business himself. He continued to live in Stoke-on-Trent until his death in 1994.