21 March through the years has been the date on which the first player ever got an international cap while playing for Arsenal, and is the anniversary of the day the club started its final downward slide into the second division.
Elsewhere the great Jimmy Brain made his last appearance on this day while the hero of the first double, John Radford, made his debut.
Here’s the full list. If we’ve missed any, please do send in a comment below and we’ll add it.
- 21 March 1896: For second year running Arsenal beat Crewe 7-0
- 21 March 1896: Arsenal’s first international player
- 21 March 1903: Thomas Shanks is first Arsenal player to be capped for Ireland
- 21 March 1904: Final game for Frederick Coles
- 21 March 1906: Everton 0 Arsenal 1. Last of 5 consecutive wins and part of 9 wins in 10 to secure 1st division survival.
- 21 March 1913: Man U 2 Arsenal 0. Start of 8 match run without a win which relegated the club.
- 21 March 1931: Jimmy Brain final appearance
- 21 March 1936: Arsenal 1 Grimsby 0. FA Cup semi final played at Huddersfield.
- 21 March 1964: John Radford made his Arsenal debut away at West Ham United.
- 21 March 1966: Martin Hayes born
- 21 March 1970: Southampton 0 Arsenal 2. Three consecutive wins after 10 without a win. A welcome turn around.
- 21 March 1978: Birmingham 1 Arsenal 1. Six without defeat, challenging in league and cup.
- 21 March 1979: Arsenal 2 Southampton 0. FA Cup 6 replay
The Anniversary files now have over 3000 entries, and are now divided into six sections:
