Davor Šuker: a passing whim, a giant among players, or something sinister?

On Arsenal.com Davor Šuker is a stat: 39 (15 starts, 24 as a sub) , 11 goals For Real Madrid he was a more successful stat playing 109 games and scoring 49 goals.   As a Croatian he is an absolute hero and if you want to know what he means to Croatia take a look here …

The June 2014 Arsenal departures, and what they achieved

Every season there are player releases from Arsenal as contracts come to an end on 30 June.   For 2014 the list was headed by Nic Bendtner who played 171 times for Arsenal, making his final appearance on Sunday 2 February 2014 at home to Crystal Palace.  He came on as a sub in the …

Stuart Taylor: league winner with Arsenal, but never a regular club man

By Tony Attwood Stuart Taylor made 26 starts for Arsenal in league and cup, and came on four times as a substitute between 1997 and 2005.  Which when you come to think of it means an awful lot of bench sitting over an eight year period.  But such is the lot of the second keeper. …

If we ever create “Arsenal Day” it has to be 22 June

By Tony Attwood OK I am biased – because 22 June is my birthday.  But it is also the day that made me think of creating the Anniversary Files of Arsenal – files that now contain over 5000 important Arsenal events, the largest collection ever gathered together. Of course it is a nerdy sort of …

Steve Williams. Never gave less than his all, never short of an opinion.

Steven Charles Williams known to the world as Steve was born on 12 July 1958 in Romford, Essex and is number 38 in the list of the 50 greatest players of Arsenal, as elected by Arsenal supporters. He was loved because he was very much a man who loved Arsenal and he was never anything but committed …

Len Julians of Arsenal: a lost history re-found

By Tony Attwood Leonard Bruce Julians played 18 times for Arsenal and scored a remarkable 7 goals.    Try to find out about him through Wiki or Arsenal.com or even the “Where are they now” site, and you get a line or two, if you are lucky. They will tell you his other clubs perhaps, (Leyton …

Arsenal in the Charity Shield – an update

Rather oddly, Arsenal.com doesn’t actually acknowledge that Arsenal are playing in the Community Shield this summer. Or maybe we are not?  Has it been cancelled?  Details of the date are how it fits into the calendar are at the end of this piece. I was pondering this point when I remembered that the article here …

What happened to David Bentley part 2

By Tony Attwood A while back in an article I traced the footballing life of David Bentley under the Whatever happened to…? heading. Now we have found out what did happen, thanks to an article in the Guardian on 13 June 2014 which tells us that, “David Bentley broke down in tears as he announced …

Today in history: Herbert Chapman and Liam Brady joined Arsenal on 11 June

If you’ve had a look at the Anniversary Files on this site you might have noticed that the expansion of the Files continues day by day. We’re now approaching the 5000 event mark – and all this done without simply recording individual matches of no particular significance, each international that our players and have been …

Tommy Rudkin; Arsenal in total desperation.

By Tony Attwood In the first post-war season Arsenal, still managed by George Allison, came 13th in the league and were knocked out of the FA Cup in the Third Round.  It started badly with three defeats and a draw in the first four and then carried on just as badly.  By the 9th league …

When Margate was part of Arsenal

By Tony Attwood This article was updated 19 August 2020. During the inter-war period many first division clubs hit on the idea of taking over non-league sides and running them as “Nurseries”. Perhaps by coincidence or perhaps as a result of some copycat activities, all three of the north London teams in the 1930s had …

Dr Jimmy Paterson: unravelling a curious tale and pack of lies

Dr James Alexander Paterson was an Arsenal player.  In many regards he was an Arsenal player who deserves a mention, both as a player as for his service to his country in the first world war.  But there is more, for Dr Paterson helps us further unravel the allegations of an Arsenal manager which over the …

When Arsenal were fined for fielding a weakened team

By Tony Attwood On February 29 1936 Arsenal beat Barnsley 4-1 at Highbury in the 6th round of the FA Cup.  With other clubs playing League matches that day Arsenal now had a couple of games in hand, but clearly had little chance of winning the League.  However being in the semi-final Arsenal had every chance of …