Richard Arends was born in Wijhe, Holland, on November 17, 1916. He came to Canada on the S. S. Volendam at the age of nine together with his father Richard, mother Hillegonda, and sisters Rieka and Bertha. They arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on February 19, 1926.

The son of a former soccer player Dick however, learned most of his soccer in Toronto. While Dick was a student at Western Tech he played juvenile soccer. He then became a goalkeeper with British Consols in the National Soccer League. In 1936 he helped Consols reach the Western Division playoffs in the National Soccer League. British Consols won the 1937 National Soccer League playoff championship.

On June 17, 1939 he was picked for the Ontario All Stars that were defeated 2-0 by a Scottish Football Association representative team. Dick’s play impressed the Scots so much that he was later offered a contract with Scottish League club Motherwell.

During the war Dick joined Toronto club John Inglis. In March 1946 he signed for Viking A. A. of Chicago and won the United States Open Cup in 1946.

In June 1946 he joined Toronto Greenbacks and played for that club in the North American Soccer Football League in the 1946 and 1947 seasons. In 1948 he was the Greenbacks’ goalkeeper when they lost by 6-0 against the touring Swedish club Djurgarden.

Before the 1949 season Dick moved to Toronto Scottish. On May 24, 1951 Dick was the goalkeeper when the Ontario All-Stars were beaten 3-0 by Fulham. On June 5, 1951 he was again in goal when the NSL All-Stars were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Glasgow Celtic.

Dick was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000. He passed away at the age of 95 on May 5, 2012.