The early Arsenal. From zero to 10,000 in five years.

By Tony Attwood There are some days in the history of Arsenal that just ring out with historic importance – and 30 March is most certainly one of those. For 30 March was the day that saw the club play for the very first time at the Manor Field, which became the Manor Ground – …

James Gibb Fotheringham: an Arsenal man of whom we’d like to know more

By Tony Attwood As I mentioned the other day, with over 1000 articles now on this site, we’re getting into the lives of some players who seem to have little said about them in the history books (or indeed in this case on Arsenal.com) And so we turn to James Gibb Fotheringham (known as Jim) …

How Arsenal fell from grace in 1972

March 25 1972: Leeds United 3 Arsenal 0 Football League Division 1: Attendance: 45,055 Through March and April one year before Arsenal had gone through a winning run of nine games.  This had set them up so that even the controversial defeat by Leeds on April 26 1971 had not stopped the club winning the …

Can you help re Arsenal player John Milne (also known as Jack or Jackie)?

By Tony Attwood I am fairly used to struggling in finding out the details of some of the lesser known players in the pre-Chapman era, but generally once we get to the latter part of the 1920s things become clear. So it is a surprise that John Vance Milne known as “Jackie” and perhaps sometimes …

Arsenal and the London Victory Cup – an untold tale

Arsenal and the London Combination Victory Cup – an untold tale by Tony Attwood After the end of the 1914/15 season the Football League and the Southern League in England were suspended (although league football continued in Scotland) until the end of the war with Germany. On 11 November 1918 the ceasefire that ended the …

Arsenal’s lost players: Alex (“Sandy”) Main

Alexander Main (known as “Sandy”) was born in West Calder in Scotland in 1873 although I can find no record of the actual date. His playing career at the first took him across four clubs in one season, but at some stage in his second season he moved south and joined Woolwich Arsenal.   Here’s the …

Today’s Arsenal anniversaries: 21 March

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 …

March 1978, Arsenal pushing for league and cup

By Tony Attwood 21 March 1978 Birmingham City 1 Arsenal 1 Football League Division 1 Attendance: 22,087 The period February 11 to March 27 was unbeaten for Arsenal in the League – involving 9 games, of which this was the sixth.  It was also a period that included wins in the 5th and 6th rounds …

1980: The cup winners’ cup quarter final

5 March 1980: Gothenburg (Sweden) (H) Cup-winners’ Cup 5-1 Attendance: 36,323 Jennings, Devine, Nelson, Talbot, O’Leary, Young, Brady (Hollins), Sunderland (McDermott), Stapleton, Price, Rix. Scorers: Sunderland 2, Young, Brady, Price. It was cold.  Very very cold. Which presumably gave Gothenburg the advantage  The score was gold but Brady Sunderland and Stapleton all hobbled off, either …

How Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1979.

Arsenal in the FA Cup 1979. Tony Attwood In this piece we look back through the FA Cup games of 1979, and also note in passing what happened in the league in between these games, starting with the third round, of course… 6 January: Sheffield Wednesday (A) FA Cup 3rd round 1-1 Attendance: 33,635 Jennings, …

Having got to the FAC semi finals, Arsenal’s most common outcome is to win the Cup

By Tony Attwood Arsenal have appeared in 17 FA Cup finals, a figure only exceeded by Man U with 18.  Arsenal have won the cup 10 times, a figure only exceeded by Man U with 11. Only one manager has won the FA Cup more than once – Arsene Wenger, who has won it four …

The only keeper ever to go a whole season unbeaten. Ever.

Jens Gerhard Lehmann Jens Lehmann was born 10 November 1969 is the only player in the entire history of League football in England to have played through the complete season without ever being on the losing team.   He played in total 200 games for Arsenal. Through his career he was awarded UEFA Goalkeeper of the …

1974: The decline of Arsenal – March and early April

By Tony Attwood 1973/4 is hardly a season to recalled with fun and excitement.  My previous article on the subject took us up to February and has the headline Was this the worth month of Football ever? That piece ended on 23 February with Birmingham City 3 Arsenal 1.  What happened next was that Arsenal …

The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman

The Life and Times of Herbert Chapman by Patrick Barclay Published by W&N.  £20.00 Journalists who write popular histories tend to give the reader facts without the details of how they got these facts.  This approach helps the flow of the text, and makes life easier for the writer.  It is how things are done. …

Today is the anniversary of Arsenal’s biggest ever win

By Tony Attwood Today is the anniversary of Arsenal’s largest ever league win – the 12-0 defeat of Loughborough. The story of the event is recorded by Andy Kelly here. On this site we are building what I hope will be (and probably already is) the largest database of Arsenal anniversaries – there are over …

11 March: when Arsenal should not play in the league (but cups are ok)

By Tony Attwood 11 March 1911.  The start of an 11 match sequence without defeat which saved Arsenal from relegation. But also the last time Arsenal won a home league game on 11 March! It is of course a coincidence – at least I think it is a coincidence – but as far as I …

Brian McDermott: Arsenal occasional, manager, Dylan lover.

By Tony Attwood, AISA Arsenal History Society Brian James McDermott was born on 8 April 1961 and is one of that select group of players who has played for Arsenal and has since gone on to a period of management in the Premier League. Although he has spoken of his sadness that he did not …

The winter of 75: when it was bleak indeed

By Tony Attwood I’ve already covered the cup run from this season with its endless games against Leicester.  Here is the league run for the same period, with the FA Cup matches noted in their chronological position. But beware, it don’t make wonderful reading, at least after the first game. February 1 1975: Arsenal 2 …

7 March 1959: when Arsenal made a bid to be top (again)

By Tony Attwood. AISA Arsenal History Society. 1958/59 was the first season in which ex-Arsenal goalkeeper George Swindin was manager, following the resignation of Jack Crayston at the end of the previous season. When Swindin took over Arsenal had not won anything since taking the league championship on the final day of the 1952/3 season.  …

5 March 1980: Cup winners’ cup quarter final: Arsenal 5 Gothenburg 1

By Tony Attwood Arsenal had won through to the quarter final of the CWC in 1979 with two wins and two draws in earlier rounds: 19 September 1979: Arsenal 2 Fenerbache 0 3 October 1979: Fenerbache 0 Arsenal 0 24 October 1979: Arsenal 2 Magdeburg 1 7 November 1979: Magedebury 2 Arsenal 2 At this …

Peter Goring: one of the XI in Arsenal’s 1953 championship

By Tony Attwood Harry Goring (known as Peter, for a reason that I can’t ascertain) was born on 2 January 1927, was signed in January 1948 for £1000. He played his first match for Arsenal on 24 August 1949.  His final appearance was on 24 February 1959 in a 1-0 victory over Leeds, by which …

The best defence and the worst attack. The origins of Boring Boring Arsenal

By Tony Attwood . 3 March 1993: Norwich 1 Arsenal 1 is the 12th consecutive match in which neither Arsenal nor their opponents scored more than one goal. – 1992/3 is a season well recorded in Arsenal’s history as the season in which the club did the Cup Double – the first ever club to …

1967/68 League Cup Campaign: when the rebirth of Arsenal began

By Tony Attwood 1967/68 League Cup Campaign. This site has produced a number of articles about The Darkness – the era during which Arsenal slipped away to midtable obscurity. This era ended under the command of Betie Mee – and the 1968 league cup was first major sign that we were coming out of that …