Arsenal anniversaries on 3 August – and the day Columbus set sail… in the other direction

This article is one of a daily series of such pieces covering the history of Arsenal in 5000 events.

3 August 1968: Continuing the tradition of playing Rangers pre-season as initiated by Herbert Chapman,  Arsenal drew 2-2 at Ibrox.

3 August 1998: Scott Marshall transferred to Southampton having played 26 games for Arsenal.  He only played twice for Southampton, and one match on loan for Celtic before moving to Brentford, for whom he did play 75 games.

3 August 1999: Thierry Henry signed for Arsenal for the first time, from Juventus for £11m.  He played 16 games for Juve and it is said that Arsene Wenger and Henry had regular phone chats during in the seasons before Henry signed for Arsenal

3 August 2010: Sanchez Watt loaned to Leeds for a season.  He had six different loan spells, including two at Leeds, before signing for Colchester in 2013, but was released in 2015.

3 August 2012 Benik Afobe loaned to Bolton all season scoring two goals in 20 games.  It was not until his sixth and final loan (to MK Dons in 2014) that he found national acclaim, and signed for Wolverhampton W.

3 August 2013: Arsenal drew 2-2 with Napoli in Emirates Cup

3 August 2014: Arsenal beat Benfica 5-1 in the Emirates Cup with four from Sanogo.  Following an anti-BT campaign by after BT Sport had made fun of the competition’s points allocation system in 2013, and knocked Arsenal mercilessly in their pre-tournament ads, the corporation suddenly reversed their policy and praised the competition and Arsenal’s quality.  It was also the moment when Bellerin shone as a star of the future.

Also on this day, 3 August, in 1492, Cristobal Colon (known in England as Christopher Columbus) set sail in search of the fabled land known as “India”.  He demanded from King Ferdinand the rank of Grand Admiral which would then pass on to his children, and 10% of the receipts of the Admiralty of Spain.   These were granted as long as he made it back



 

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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 secured Highbury for Arsenal in 1913.

The previously untold tale of how it was that Norris came to choose Highbury as the suitable location for Arsenal’s new ground.

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