Ray Bowden: the final member of the brilliant forward line of the 1930s.

By Tony Attwood Edwin Raymond Bowden was born on 13 September 1909 in Looe in Cornwall and played for his local team as an inside forward.  Throughout his life he was known as Ray. On leaving school he started out as a solicitor’s clerk but his goal scoring with Looe (in one match he scored ten) …

Injury problems as great as those ever faced by an Arsenal manager

Saturday 28 February 1959 Arsenal v Manchester United – the programme The programme is shown as being Volume XL number 20 (ah those were the days when they actually kept count) and as always it started with the Voice of Arsenal. And this is how it went.  (I would add that in those days they …

The day Henry and Pires tried a fancy penalty – and screwed it up

By Tony Attwood It is reported that sometime in the 1982-83 season, Ajax got a penalty, Johan Cruyff strode up to take it, but instead of taking it as a shot passed the ball to Jasper Olsen who scored past the bemused keeper. On 22 October 2005 Pires and Henry tried the same thing. But …

Arsenal v Northampton: the forgotten Chapman friendlies

By Tony Attwood We have recorded on this site the way in which Herbert Chapman set up a series of friendly matches with Racing Club de Paris, and then with Rangers of Glasgow. Of far less glamour and lasting just for three consecutive years there was another recurring friendly series: Northampton Town v Arsenal. I …

Chapman had gone but we still won the 2nd of the 3 consecutive league championships

By Tony Attwood On 28 April 1934 Arsenal went into their penultimate match as firm favourites to win their second trophy in a row, but still needing a point to secure the championship. P W D L F A G Av Pts 1 Arsenal 40 24 8 8 71 45 1.58 56 2 Huddersfield Town …

Arsenal and Hull: the fun and games through history

By Tony Attwood It’s Arsenal against Hull on 18 October so I thought I would take a wander back through the events that we have recorded in the Anniversary Archives for events linking these two clubs. Perhaps the most memorable event of recent years had nothing to do with the actual 90 minutes but came …

Les Jones – the career alongside Reg Cumner

Leslie Jenkin Jones wa born on 1 July 1911 in Aberdare in Aberdare and started playing with Aberdare Athletic.  This is the same club that the subject of my last article Reg Cumner played for (the club also known at times as Aberaman Athletic).  The two players had paths that crossed several times. Les worked for his father …

Reginald Horace Cumner: the player historians trip over

When I write about 19th and early 20th century players I expect to have difficulties in finding much out about them.  Sometimes even the name can be a problem, such as John George Coleman (known as Tim).  Sometimes we know nothing beyond the dates he played for Arsenal. Reginald Horace Cumner however causes all sorts of …

Leigh Roose; war hero, dare-devil Arsenal goalkeeper

By Tony Attwood Dr Leigh ‘Dick’ Roose was born 27 November 1877 and died in action on 7 October 1916 He joined Woolwich Arsenal as a goalkeeper from Aston Villa in September 1911 – it was his final season in football.   His transfer was as much a publicity stunt as anything else, for Dick …

How relegation loomed just four years after the Double

By Tony Attwood It is easy to forget both how hard it is to keep a team that has not been used to playing at the top, at the top, and how easy it is to slip into the relegation mire. Such is the way of football memory.  Arsene Wenger is berated by a small …

Richard Wright: the accident prone keeper.

By Tony Attwood Richard Ian Wright was born in Ipswich on 5 November 1977 and gained a league winners’ medal with Arsenal as a goalkeeper in a season when we had three keepers get a medal. Here’s his list of clubs… Years Team League Games 1995–2001 Ipswich Town 240 2001–2002 Arsenal 12 2002–2007 Everton 60 …

Horace Cope: an important early Chapman signing, but now lost to history.

Horace Walter Cope, who played at left back for Arsenal in the Chapman era,  was born on 24 May 1899 in Treeton, a village in South Yorkshire. He started his working life as a miner while playing also for Treeton United and then moved to Notts County (although I can’t find any dates or details) before …