Mansfield Town Arnold came up through the youth team at
Mansfield Town, and made his debut against
Hereford United in October 2005. He scored his first career goal against
Bristol Rovers in December 2005 in his third appearance for Mansfield. and was offered a new contract in May 2007. By the end of the 2007–08 season, Arnold had made 70 appearances in all competitions for Mansfield.
Alfreton Town Arnold spent only a single season at Hyde before returning to the
East Midlands, signing-on for
Conference North club
Alfreton Town, helping them to win the league and achieve promotion to the
Conference National in his first season. Arnold was one of the outstanding performers for the club, and immediately became a fans' favourite. He contributed 13 goals in all competitions over the course of the season. The 2011–12 season started badly as Arnold missed a large proportion of the first half of the season after breaking his metatarsal which added to
Alfreton Town's already lengthy injury list. After returning he scored at both ends in a bizarre game against
Hayes & Yeading where there were four goals in injury time and the final score being 3–2. Arnold began to play an integral part in
Alfreton Town's upturn in form from the halfway point in the season by contributing goals and assists, and was subsequently named runner-up for the supporters' player of the year for his part in sustaining the team's
Conference National status. His contract came to an end at the end of the 2011–12 season and thus became a free agent, and was believed to be in discussions with his former club
Mansfield Town despite
Alfreton Town stating he had agreed to stay, creating confusion amongst the fans. On 5 June 2012,
Alfreton Town announced that he had signed a new one-year contract with the club. He again contributed largely to the team's season by scoring nine goals and again contributing key assists helping them to achieve a comfortable midtable finish. In June 2013 Alfreton manager
Nicky Law confirmed that Arnold was unlikely to remain with the club for the following season as he was keen to play League football again.
Cambridge United He trialled at former club
Mansfield Town but was not offered a contract and instead joined
Cambridge United on a two-year deal. In the first half of the season he played a key part, mainly as an impact player from the bench, in the team's good form which seen them unbeaten for the first 16 games of the season, however the team's form soon dipped around Christmas and Arnold then found himself on the sidelines for periods until the end of the season. It was a compliment to the squad overall that the likes of Arnold and
Delano Sam-Yorke amongst others found themselves on the sub's bench on many occasions. He did however play a key role in getting
Cambridge United to the
FA Trophy final by scoring the winner in the first round against
Salisbury City and also against
St. Albans City in the second round. He then made an appearance in every game of the cup run including a 20-minute appearance at
Wembley Stadium for the final where
Cambridge United beat
Gosport Borough 4–0 to lift the trophy, and also contributed to them finishing the season in 2nd place and a play-off spot. At the end of the 2014–15 season the club did not offer him a new deal when his contract expired.
Grimsby Town On 19 July 2014, Arnold joined
Grimsby Town on a season long loan deal. Although he started his
Grimsby Town career injured he went on to establish himself firmly as a first team starter and helped guide them to the play-offs, where he scored two wonderful goals in the 1–2 play off semi-final win over
Eastleigh. The club narrowly missed out promotion by losing out in the
2015 Conference Premier play-off final at
Wembley Stadium to
Bristol Rovers on penalties, although Arnold set up
Lenell John-Lewis's opening goal with a run from the half-way line and then went on to draw 1–1 after extra time. His efforts over the season earned him a place in the
National League team of the year, alongside the league's outstanding players. On 29 May 2015, he joined the club on a permanent one-year deal after being released by
Cambridge United, citing the positivity around the club following their narrow avoidance of promotion, even despite reported interest from
Football League teams. Over the course of the 2015/16 season Arnold once again played an integral part in taking Grimsby to the play-off and
FA Trophy finals. Arnold scored the third goal in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over Forest Green Rovers in the
2016 National League play-off final at
Wembley, seeing Grimsby
promoted to
League Two after a six-year absence from
the Football League. At the end of the season, he was offered new terms, but after mulling over the contract, Arnold decided to seek a fresh challenge. "Several factors" were behind the decision.
Lincoln City On 29 July 2016, Arnold signed for
Lincoln City; he was signed using money raised from the club's crowd funding scheme. He made his debut for Lincoln in a 3–1 win over
Woking. On 17 January 2017, Arnold scored an injury time goal in a 1–0
FA Cup replay victory over
Ipswich Town to enable Lincoln City to reach the Fourth Round of the FA Cup for the first time in 41 years. He was part of the team that not only won the National League that season, but also became the first non-league team for over 100 years to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. On 10 February 2017, Arnold joined
Salford City until the end of the season. Speaking to the
Lincolnshire Echo after his arrival he made comments about the clubs ambitions not matching reality, saying the club was complacent and the professionalism wasn't what it was at Lincoln. The loan move was cancelled shortly afterwards.
Boston United On 1 June 2018, Arnold left Lincoln City, following a mutual termination of his contract. The following day, he joined
Boston United on a one-year contract, which also included a management role. On 6 October 2018, Arnold left the club by mutual consent.
Altrincham In June 2019, Arnold signed for
Altrincham after six months away from football. He left the club on 21 August 2019. == International career ==