Do you have a scrapbook or files or information about Arsenal in the 1970s

By Tony Attwood

In association with some colleagues and friends I am looking to gather together all the resources I can find about Arsenal in the 1970s.  It would include things like

  • A year by year analysis with brief report on each match,
  • programme covers,
  • league tables,
  • player profiles,
  • lots of photos of matches,
  • newspaper cuttings,
  • managers and backroom teams,
  • notes on friendlies,
  • the reserves,
  • the youth set up,
  • statistics…

you name it, if it happened to Arsenal in the 1970s it would be recorded in this.

The idea is that if enough material can be collected a book could be published, and that is where I am hoping for your help.

A scrapbook or similar collection of materials would be a godsend to the preparation of such a work.

If you have any such resources, which you would be willing either to scan in, or to lend to me for a short period so that I could do the scanning, I would be eternally grateful.  I can’t say I’d pay, but I would give you full acknowledgement in the book, and of course a free copy on publication.

Just to be absolutely clear, I am not wanting anything sent in now, but I would just like to know if there is any chance of gathering such information.

I would also like to get in touch with players from the era, and the families of players.  If you are a regular reader of this site you will know that we have had many people from families of players in  the Woolwich Arsenal get in touch, and that has really brought this site to life.  If you have contact with a player from the 1970s, or if you played for or worked for Arsenal in that period, I would love you to get in touch.

You can write in using the comments section below, as normal, or if you prefer, email me privately at Tony.Attwood@aisa.org   All emails are always treated in complete confidence.

This venture doesn’t mean anything else changes on this site – the current series will continue working their way through, and later this year the book Woolwich Arsenal: The Club that Changed Football, will be published.  So we are not losing anything by looking at this possibility of a book on Arsenal in the 1970s.  If you can help however I would love to hear from you.

Arsenal’s first foreign player and Arsenal’s smallest ever squad

Proposal to set up AISA Arsenal History Society

We’ve got our own column in the official Arsenal programme this season.

Are you related to a player, manager, official or supporter of Woolwich Arsenal FC?

20 Replies to “Do you have a scrapbook or files or information about Arsenal in the 1970s”

  1. Hi Tony ,I have a box full of old Arsenal programmes from when I started going as a kid 1977 onwards,cup final tickets/Programmes from 1970 rossetes and couple of autographs,always kept them,never knew why? Now I have a reason will gladly lend them RSVP, Ha I actually prefer RVP!

  2. probably more what your looking for, I’ve just looked and found The London Evening Standard cup final colour editions for 1978,1979 and the Evening News colour cup final editions for 1979+ a couple of semi final edtions from those years…in good condition aswell,amazing they really are time pieces

  3. Tony , could I make a suggestion ? There was a good write up in the ‘Goal ‘ magazine
    just after the 1971 double which really fired my imagination and made me choose Arsenal as the club to follow .
    Is there an archive or body that stores all printed material for posterity ?Do have a look if its possible.
    Alas my scrap book was for my favorite player – Fredrick Charles George but I lost it a long time ago .There were even a few pictures from his “pop” star days !

  4. Tony – I have every home programme from the seventies with a match report from one paper or another in just about all of them. Any use?

  5. I have recently found amongst my recently deceased mothers hoard some 1970 Arsenal programmes of games I went to you are welcome to copies or details from them. The games covered are
    Wed 2nd December 1970 v Beveren Waas (Fairs Cup) (9th November v Crystal Palace (League Cup) 13th January 1970 v Rouen (Fairs Cup)
    23rd September 1970 v Lazio (Fairs Cup) and 17th January 1970 v Chelsea (Div 1). I also have a copy of the Fairs Cup Final but mislaid at the moment.

  6. I’m interested in your project and would like to ask if the book will be similar in any way to Jon Spurling’s fascinating books on the subsequent two decades?
    Regardless of it’s perceived, I can gladly help by way of having all the programmes from all the Home first team matches in the 1970’s, including the contents of one of the postponed ones (v W.B.A 29/12/76).
    Match Reports-wise I have a fair few from the Home games as well as a scrapbook featuring a report on every First team game in the 1979/80 season, which straddles the cut-off point.
    If required, I’ve even got a pair of classic red socks with the white band (Kids size)!

  7. Sod (sorry to call you that but that’s the name that came up on the site!) thanks for your offer.

    The work we are doing is, I feel, radically different from everyone else’s. Indeed as I said last night at the launch of the DIAL SQUARE TO WOOLWICH ARSENAL publication, at the AISA AGM, in that one publication we have corrected 18 serious factual errors that have occurred in other publications about the early club.

    I will come back to you very shortly about your kind offer of help and will email you directly.

  8. I’ve got a couple of scrapbooks of cuttings from the late 70s with various comments written around it by me as a 12 year old. You can have a look at them if you want.

  9. Alan, that would be fabulous. I am co-ordinating all the details at the moment and will be back in touch shortly. Thank you very much for getting in touch.

  10. Hi Tony,

    I have three scrap books 76-77, 77-78, 78-79.
    They include match reports, attendances, tables, etc all from newspaper cuttings (looks like most of the games 76-78 are covered)also a special on Supermac’s legs, and the 78 and 79 cup finals. I live in the States but if you can use them we’ll work something out. Tel

  11. I’ve got alot of programmes going from 1972 to 1980,newspaper cuttings and match tickets from this period.I live in the north of France but I come back to London often.

  12. Hi, I am looking for match reports on ORIENT V ARSENAL FA Cup 6th Round 18th March 1972. Can anyone help. The O’s lost 1-0 to a Alan Ball goal. Arsenal went on to lose cup final v Leeds.

  13. Tony
    You were going to get back to me, but you never did, which is a tad remiss.

  14. Very remiss – I have been struggling to work out how to write reviews of every match in the 1970s – it is one hell of a job. Please write to me at tony.attwood@aisa.org and tell me how we could work together on this.

  15. tony…. Arsenal finished second in the old Division 1 at the end of the 1972-73 season, yet did not take part in any of the European club competitions in the following season. Why?

  16. Because at the time UEFA only allowed 1 team per city to compete in the UEFA Cup. Tottenham won the UEFA Cup that season and were London’s entry as holders of the cup.

  17. Sperz won the initial UEFA Cup in the 71-72 season,and were runners up 73-74.They won the LEAGUE Cup in 72-73,therefore qualifying for the UEFA Cup earlier in the season than us.(which seems a tad unfair.) But, yes,those geniuses at UEFA did only allow one team per city at the time.And,rather unfairly,do not recognise the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.Even though the UEFA Cup was a direct replacement.Therefore according to them(UEFA Website) we have only won one European trophy. “NICE”

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