It is hard not to feel sorry for David Bentley. Actually let me try that again. It is hard to feel sorry for David Bentley. He was born with a remarkable talent and yet it appears to have been swept to the winds. Of course injuries have played a part in his decline, but if …
This article was published in 2013. The run referred to here has continued since then, of course. Additionally new information came to hand in 2017, as we researched Arsenal in 1913 to reveal new insights into how Arsenal have significant leverage over other clubs in 1919 when the election of Arsenal to the first division …
By Tony Attwood This article focuses on the first ever league match that Chapman took charge of for Arsenal It is an update on part of an earlier article – that earlier article is still on the site as it continues the story beyond the first game – but the rest of the piece will …
The Arsenal Clock moves from place to place This article was updated on 26 October 2013 to incorporate the information provided in the comments section By Tony Attwood The original big clock at Highbury was placed at the rear of the then uncovered Laundry End of the ground (which later became the North Bank), on …
In 2008 Arsenal played Fulham away, before coming onto their second leg (at home) of the Qualifying Round games for the Champions league on August 27. An interesting coincidence of dates, and one that is reflected in these commentaries written by Gf60 at the time. Fulham vs Arsenal 1-0; 23 August 2008 Seriously offensive swear …
By Tony Attwood (with profound thanks to “The Gunners” by Richard Lerman and David Brown). The greatest hat trick by an Arsenal man? Who knows. That’s the problem with digital television – it wasn’t invented early enough. But if it were possible to go back in a time machine, the hat trick on 27 August …
By Tony Attwood Season openings can be exciting, frustrating and misleading. Frustration seemed to be the order of the day in 2012/13 as Arsenal sold not only Robin van Persie but also Alex Song. The pre-season games had proven a mixed bag, and included one match against a Nigerian team that was postponed until the …
Jérémie Aliadière was one of those players of whom so much was expected and yet, mostly due to injury, he could not deliver. Another Wenger young French player, a graduate of Clairefontaine, with Claude Dusseau claiming that the three best strikers to emerge from Clairefontaine were Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and Jeremie Aliadiere, and yet… …
Thomas Henderson Docherty was born 24 April 1928 in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. He started playing with junior (ie non-league) club Shettleston. In 1946 he was called up for National Service, joined the Highland Light Infantry and played for the Army. After his National Service he joined Celtic, and two years later joined second …
Lionel Smith was born in Mexborough on 23 August 1920 and died aged 60 on 6 November 1980. He joined Arsenal in 1939 just before the outbreak of the Second World War as an amateur left back and signed professionally in August on the eve of the declaration of war. With football suspended Lionel served …
I must admit I have a soft spot for Charlie Nicholas. Maybe because I sat next to him once when he was out of favour at Arsenal and he just took a regular seat in the stand. He was charming. Maybe because he has resolutely supported Arsene Wenger and Arsenal when all the other ex-Arsenal …
This article is part of our series featuring the commentaries on matches of recent years by Gf60. Tony: In 2011 the Emirates Cup had been disappointing with two draws, and the pre-season had ended with a defeat to Benfica. The opening of the season was awful too, with just two victories in the first seven …
Oh Gilberto Aparecido da Silva. Oh a million memories. The Invisible Wall. Those short passes mopping up. And on 1 June 2007, Gilberto captained Brazil against England at the first senior international match at the new Wembley Stadium. I remember sitting in a hotel bar watching the game just thinking over and over, “an Arsenal …
Colin Addison was born on 18 May 1940 in Taunton, Somerset and he played for Arsenal 32 times, his first match being 17 August 1966. He signed for York in 1957, moving to Nottingham Forest in 1961, Arsenal in 1966, Sheffield United in 1967 and Hereford in 1971. He was signed by Bertie Mee in his first …
Tony: I remember Arsenal v West Brom on 16 August 2008 for earth-shattering non-football reasons. First, I wasn’t there – I was on holiday in Slovenia, and very pleasant it was too, overlooking Lake Bled. But fortunately (again) the hotel had free internet connection. Only two computers but, still they were there, and fortunately most …
15 August 2009 Tony: I remember this so well, because it was on Satanta, and the whole thing took them utterly by surprise. They packed the studio with old Evertonians, and towards the end, unable to find anything else to do showed shots of ex-Everton players in the ground, saying how sad it was that …
By Tony Attwood I got this hopelessly wrong the other day through getting my notes inside out… but hopefully we are right this time – Arsenal’s final season at Highbury played in the redcurrent shirts. For this game the words “‘Highbury 1913-2006” were marked on the grass. Jermaine Jenas got a red for attempting to …
By Tony Attwood George Eastham was not only an Arsenal captain but also the man who did more to reform the transfer system than anyone with the possible exception of Jean-Marc Bosman. To understand exactly how important George’s stand was, we need to take in a little history. At first, professional footballers were allowed to …
By Tony Attwood Total cock up of my notes this morning. Sincere apologies – note to self, try not to write an article the morning after. I’m deleting much of this article because I got everything back to front. The bits about earlier history were right, but not about the last season at Highbury. …
Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong was born in Cameroon on 9 September 1987 – one of 28 children in the family. At 16 he moved to France and signed for Bastia becoming part of the team after one season, and was selected for France Under 16s. Bastia loaned him to Arsenal for 2005/6 and he made …
By Tony Attwood For the north-west centric media it was a non-event, a north London charity shield. Arsenal had won the First Division for the second time in three years, and Tottenham had won the cup, beating Forest in the final. The fact that Arsenal had only lost one match all season in 1990/1 was …
Joe Mercer, OBE was born 9 August 1914 and died on his birthday 9 August 1990. He played 247 games for Arsenal in a nine year stretch post war during the Whittaker era. His father played for Tranmere and Nottingham Forest, but he died in 1928 from injuries sustained during a gas attack in the …
Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain was born 15 August 1993, the son of Southampton’s Mark Chamberlain. His uncle Neville was also a footballer (mostly with Port Vale) and was not Prime Minister of England. He (Alex) signed for Arsenal on 8 August 2011 from Southampton for whom he had been Southampton’s second-youngest player. Their youngest was …
By Tony Attwood Let me admit it from the start, with Christopher Wreh I just don’t get it. Here was a man who kept Ian Wright out of the Cup Final, and then was… well, in football terms, nothing. How come? I’m not a footballer, never have been. I work in the arts, as a …
Harry Woods was born on March 14, 1894 in St Helens and trained as a glass worker while initially playing football as a centre forward with St Helens Town. He then joined Norwich City and played for them before the first world war, serving his country in the Tank Corps in France. After the war …