We’ve got three semi-finals and notable days for Frank McLintock and David Seaman today – quite a notable selection. Because our Anniversary files are still growing, not all of our stories have links at the moment – but over time we’ll cover the lot. However there is an article on David Seaman’s time with the …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) The issue of appointing a manager to run Arsenal’s team had been a bone of contention for a number of years. The earliest mention of appointing a full-time manager was in 1892 when the club was still known as Royal Arsenal and run by a committee. A sub-committee of five was …
On February 5th 1931 Arsenal beat Leicester City away 7-2. Lambert got a hat-trick. That win took the club back to the top of the First Division, where they had been for much of the season, and a position at which they stayed for the remainder of 1930/31, thus winning their first ever league title. …
Apologies – this article first appeared with the wrong date up. March 27th was not the date of the League Cup Final, but was the date when Steve Morrow was transferred to QPR in 1997 ——————————————- 1992/3 was Arsenal’s Cup Double Year. The first ever team in England to win the FA Cup and …
Here’s a strange thing. Alan Smith won two first division titles, the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Cup Winners Cup. He won the Golden Boot twice, and was named in the PFA First Division Team of the Year. So how many England caps did he get? Answer one – and even that wasn’t …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) 1905, that’s when. On 26 September 2010 Arsenal’s history changed. That was the day that Tony Attwood published this article about Bobby Buist, an Arsenal player from the 1890s. I added a comment including a link to a match report of a game that Buist was reported to have played in. …
Edward Joseph Drake was born 16 August 1912 and died 30 May 1995. We already have many mentions of him on this site, including our invention of Ted Drake Day in December, to commemorate his achievement of scoring seven goals in one first division game. This article aims to cover some of the other issues …
By Tony Attwood Arsène Wenger speaks five languages – which, as the old joke goes, is five more than Sir Alex Ferguson. But Arsène Wenger does not speak Romford – for he confessed in one early interview that he couldn’t understand a word Ray Parlour said. Ray was born 7 March 1973 in Barking. I …
by Tony Attwood . On 22 March 1950 Arsenal played Chelsea at White Hart Lane, in an FA Cup semi-final replay. Arsenal won 1-0 with a goal scored in extra time. It was, according to reports, not a perfect game of skilful football – indeed it seems that Arsenal were indulging in a long ball …
Mark Andrews @Royal Arsenal MRA Caesar Jenkyns – First Arsenal player to appear in an international match. 21 Mar 1896: Caesar Jenkyns became the first player at the club to play international football, when he appeared for Wales v Scotland. The flamboyantly named Caesar Augustus Llewellyn Jenkyns was born in Builth Wells, Wales in 1867. …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) A little over 6 months after moving into their new stadium at Highbury the Arsenal directors took the unilateral decision to shut the ground due to a subsidence problem. It’s unclear whether this was a defect caused by the builder or lack of supervision by Archibald Leitch, the architect. Leitch had …
Billy McCullough (born 27 July 1935 – full name William James McCullough) was born in Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. He played initially for Portadown a club in the Province with a long history and tradition. The club was formed in 1887, and for much of its history, it was a regular run of the mill …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Woolwich Arsenal had been incorporated as limited company in May 1893. The club had had financial problems during the Boer War due to falling crowds but was helped through this lean period with loans from directors such as George Lawrance and George Leavey. A couple of unusual fund-raising events in the …
Roger Ord was the Woolwich Arsenal goalkeeper from 1897 to 1900. He was born in Northumberland in 1871 (I don’t have a date of his death) and played for Hebburn Argyle, Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Hebburn A (for a second time) and then Woolwich Arsenal. After leaving Plumstead he went to Luton Town in September 1900 …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Herbert Chapman is credited with trying to introduce floodlit football to England. Arsenal played a couple of floodlit games behind closed doors during the early 1930s but the football authorities were not favourable to it. Floodlit football was finally given the go ahead in the 1950s and it has been assumed that …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) 100 years ago Woolwich Arsenal were coming to the end of the club’s annus horriblis. Prior to this date the Reds’ league record read: Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points 29 2 9 18 18 55 13 They were bottom of the First Division table, seven points from safety. The …
Mark Andrews @royalarsenalMRA 14 March 1908: Torpedo Boys set fire to Nottingham Forest Grandstand with fireworks The Torpedo Factory role in the early years of the club was uncovered during my research for “The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC”. They were a fundamental part of the giant club excursions to away games where many times 2,000-3,000 Arsenal fans travelled …
By Tony Attwood Andrew Neil joined Arsenal from Brighton & Hove Albion for £3,000 on March 13 1924. He was born in Kilmarnock on 18 November 1892 and died in 1941 – sadly I don’t have the date or knowledge of why he died so young. He played for Kilmarnock, Galston, Stevenston United, and Brighton …
by Andy Kelly On Monday 12 March 1900, about 600 people with a free afternoon paid to watch Woolwich Arsenal play Loughborough. The reason it was played on a Monday afternoon was that the game had originally been played on the previous Boxing Day but had to be abandoned after 75 minutes due to fog …
By Tony Attwood Peter Nicholas was one of Terry Neil’s most effective signings, seemingly turning a team that couldn’t buy a win into a team that couldn’t be beaten – and all this for £500,000. He had started out with Crystal Palace as a youth player, and was part of their second division title winning …
By Tony Attwood On 10 March 1919 The Arsenal were elected to the First Division of the Football League. Arsenal has been in the top division ever since. We have dealt with this issue of Arsenal’s election at great length many times – the most comprehensive article being Andy Kelly’s piece which you can find …
by Andy Kelly 9th March 1935 saw the top two teams in the First Division play each other at Highbury. Free scoring Arsenal were averaging almost 3 goals per game and going for their third consecutive title. They had just beaten neighbours Tottenham 6-0 at White Hart Lane. Sunderland, although not as potent in front …
By Mark Andrews @royalarsenalMRA Richard Thomas Horsington: 1889-1890 On the anniversary of Royal Arsenal’s defeat in their first London Senior Cup Final on 8th March 1890, we highlight the player whose serious injury at the start of the game unfortunately contributed to their defeat by Old Westminsters 0-1. It is worth mentioning that all the …
By Tony Attwood I guess we mostly focus on this site on events from 30 years ago or more, because that is what we are taught history is about. The past, and the further back in the past, the better. But this match in 2012 does need to be remembered, not least for the phenomenal …
By Tony Attwood I have a memory as a child being given a copy of Tottenham Hotspur’s last programme of their Double Winning season, which (if my memory is correct, and it was a long time ago) had the headline “An Eventful Season”. If remembered aright, it was a masterpiece of understatement, and I think …