26 July 1887: James Maxwell, was born in Kilmarnock for whom he first played before moving to Sheffield Wednesday and then Arsenal. At Wednesday he competed with Harry Chapman (the brother of Herbert) for the right wing position.
26 July 1919: Henry White signed from Brentford. He was Arsenal’s top scorer with 15 and again in the 1921/2 season when he got 19. He also had a trial for England.
26 July 1920: Ian McPherson born in Glasgow. He started with Rangers but left the club to serve with the RAF during the second world war where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was signed in August 1946 by George Allison.
26 July 1947: Alf Calverley sold to Preston NE. He had signed four months earlier from Mansfield for £2500, but had played Preston in his first match and then offered £1500 which Arsenal took. Then four months on from that Preston sold him for £4000!
26 July 1950: Dave Bowen joined from Northampton for £1000. He had been spotted as a player of potential by the son of the Arsenal manager of the day, as both he and Dave Bowen were doing their National Service.
26 July 1961: David Herd sold to Man U for £35,000. In total he scored 107 goals for Arsenal in 180 games and he became the club’s 15th best goalscorer. He won his five caps for Scotland, scoring three goals.
26 July 1973: After all the hope and hype Peter Marinello was sold to Portsmouth for £80,000 having never reached the potential he was believed to have.
26 July 1977: Last game for George Armstrong in a friendly v Red Star Belgrade. He retired from football in 1979 having become Arsenal’s top player for appearances – 621 – before O’Leary and Adams came along.
26 July 1984: Paul Merson signed apprenticeship forms, and played his first games for the first team in 1986/7 (seven games and 3 goals) before moving on loan to Brentford.
26 July 1985: Gael Clichy born. He joined Gersoise as a child and then aged 11 moved on to Cugnaux, Muret, Tournefeuille and finally Cannes with whom he made the jump into the first team.
26 July 1994:First game for Stefan Schwarz in friendly v Lyn. He had played 77 games for Benfica across a three year period but only played one season for Arsenal before moving on to Fiorentina.
26 July 1996: John Lukic returned from his time at Leeds on a free transfer and played 15 games in his final five years as a pro. He then moved on to coaching and working as an after dinner speaker.
26 July 2004: Marc Overmars retired from football and became technical director of Go Ahead Eagles. He returned as a player and played 24 games in the 2008/9 season.
26 July 2008: Four years to the day after retiring, Overmars returned to play in the Jaap Stam testimonial and for his team. He became director of football at Ajax in June 2012.
26 July 2010: The Arsenal History Society expanded its campaign for statues around the Emirates Stadium by suggesting that there should be three statues to launch the programme – which is exactly what happened.
26 July 2013: Joel Campbell went on loan to Olympiakos during which time he scored in the Champions League against Man U. In 2014/15 he returned to Arsenal, but soon went out on loan again.
26 July 2014: Arsenal played the club’s first game in the USA for 25 years at the Red Bull Arena, where Thierry Henry had played. New York won 1-0 through a goal by the son of Ian Wright.
26 July 2015: Arsenal beat Wolfsburg 1-0 with a goal by Walcott. It was the first time in the club’s entire history that it won every one of its pre-season games.
- Arsenal day by day – over 5000 anniversaries of the club
The current series being developed on this site is Henry Norris at the Arsenal.
Covering all aspects off the life and work of the man who rescued Arsenal from extinction, secured the club’s future by moving it to Highbury, and then brought in Herbert Chapman as manager.
The most recent article is How Henry Norris chose Highbury as Arsenal’s new ground.
The previously untold tale of how it was that Norris came to choose Highbury as the suitable location for Arsenal’s new ground.
The series is being worked on daily, and the articles thus far are here.
Among the many other series we have run are…
- Arsenal in the 30s
- Arsenal players in the 30s
- Arsenal in the summer
- The First League Season, including a review of each player who played in that season
- Arsenal day by day – over 5000 anniversaries of the club
- Arsenal in the 70s
There are details of many other series covered by this site on our home page.
