Arsenal’s greatest forgotten hero: the man who saved our club

Charles Edward McGibbon was a sergeant with the Royal Engineers who played football for Royal Artillery, and then signed for Woolwich Arsenal.  However he couldn’t get into the first team so went on loan to Eltham  and then to New Brompton (now Gillingham) of the Southern League where he became their top scorer. McGibbon then …

The day the modern Arsenal was born – and the club doesn’t even know when it was!

28th March 1910.  100 years ago. On that day Woolwich Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.  I don’t think anyone had invented the phrase “four pointer” at that time, but that is exactly what it was.   Chelsea had had a good Easter programme and had pulled ahead of Woolwich Arsenal – whose dreadful run had …

London football in crisis: but only two can go down. Chelsea v Arsenal 1910.

100 years ago London had three Division I clubs – Woolwich Arsenal (who were actually in a small town in Kent), Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. All three were having a tough time of it, and the only things that were keeping all three from being relegated were a) In those days, only two clubs went …

285 miles and a match on friday; defeat on saturday

. On Thursday March 24th 1910, Woolwich Arsenal players travelled 285 miles to Newcastle on Tyne. On Friday March 25th 1910 (Good Friday), they played Newcastle and drew 1-1 That same day they took a train back to London – another 285 miles. On Saturday March 26th 1910, the self same players (with just one …

Arsenal take on The Wednesday 100 years ago

. The Wednesday, whom Woolwich Arsenal played on Easter Saturday, 1910, came out of  The Wednesday Cricket Club – a club which, as we can all guess, played cricket on a Wednesday.  They turned to football to have something to do in the winter. They predated the Arsenal by 19 years – although they started …

On this day 100 years ago, Newcastle v Arsenal

. And guess what – we drew 1-1 in front of a crowd of 20,000.  Wholly unexpected, but a point is a point, (especially in the days of only two points for a win) and it kept us out of the relegation zone. As I mentioned before, Woolwich Arsenal had to play on Good Friday …

100 years ago today: the long trip to Newcastle

Just about the longest journey that there was in football took place 100 years ago today, as Woolwich Arsenal set out from Kent, into London, across London, and then on the train to Newcastle. Arsenal v Newcastle in the FA Cup semi final 1906 Newcastle United started out in 1881, as a spin off of …

Three matches in four days: what would today’s players say to that

Easter 100 years ago ran from 25th March (Good Friday) through to 28th March (Easter Monday). Nothing spectacular there you might say, and I would thoroughly agree with you, save for the fact of the fixture list.   For Woolwich Arsenal it read… 25th March – Newcastle United away 26th March – The Wednesday home 28th March …

The day Tottenham Hotspur tried to buy Arsenal

Today’s sponsor: ArsenalGifts.com is a one-stop shop for all things Arsenal related, from replica kits and retro shirts through to Emirates Stadium tours, memorabilia and novelty items. Visit http://www.arsenalgifts.com . The day Tottenham Hotspur tried to Buy Arsenal By the last 10 days of March 1910, the financial position of Woolwich Arsenal had reached breaking …

Arsenal shares bring thousands of pounds to Oxfam

Oxfam have revealed that the most valuable shares ever left to the charity were shares in  the originalArsenal Football Club. The original Woolwich Arsenal shares which were offered for sale to the people of Woolwich and Plumstead by Henry Norris in 1910 are still the shares that are traded now as Arsenal FC.  When the …

Arsenal beat Bradford City, Tottenham slip into the relegation zone

Dire and desperate times, playing against an up and coming Bradford City team, in front of a crowd of 14,000. And we won 1-0. I have no idea how we did it, as I have no newspaper report, but we did it.  After six games in which we won none and scored just two goals, …

If you are desperate you go to Bradford.

100 years ago Woolwich Arsenal were in desperate straits.  One position from the foot of the table, and on the edge of administration.  And today 100 years ago they went to Bradford City. Woolwich Arsenal had been formed in 1886 of course – a prime time for the creation of clubs.  Bradford City were in …

Henry Norris and his eternal drive for publicity

. One of the amusing sidelines that emerged in researching 1910 in Arsenal’s history was just how far Henry Norris (who bought Woolwich Arsenal) would go to get his view in print.   He wrote the programme notes, he wrote in various papers – but that was not enough. In July 1908 Norris was part …

Arsenal may have been bad but they were not as bad as Hull

. . Arsenal 0 Manchester U 0, 12 March 1910 There’s no public records of this match that I can find – and quite possibly that is just as well.  The crowd was a mere 5,000, and it took Woolwich Arsenal to five games without a win. The bottom of the table, after the match, …

The days when Arsenal played to crowds of 5000

It would be wrong to think that large crowds in football are a modern phenomena. Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge was opened in 1905, and although the terraces started crumbling within a matter of weeks, it was proudly proclaimed as holding 80,000.  Mind you it was built by Archie Leitch, who was always prone to such exaggeration. …

100 years ago it was cup weekend, and Arsenal had no game

Arsenal had no game this weekend because they had been knocked out of the cup.  The match they should have played was moved to the monday (no hanging about for re-arranged fixture organisation or permission from the police 100 years back). Meanwhile Henry Norris had gone cool on the issue of Woolwich Arsenal, and predicted …

Nottingham Forest v Arsenal, March 1910

Quite how mid-week games were organised 100 years ago has always been beyond me. March 2nd 1910 was a Wednesday and Woolwich Arsenal were away at Forest.  This being long before the era of floodlighting the match kicked off in the afternoon – probably 2.30pm although I can find no formal record of that. Forest …

Charlie Buchan at the Arsenal – the early days

Towards the end of February 100 years ago the word began to go around that despite all their problems Woolwich Arsenal did indeed have at least one terrific young player. He was 17 years old and playing in the reserves.  There is a report of a match between the Reserves and Croydon Common in the …