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It all started in [...]]]> This article repeats a little of the article on Henry Norris and the Southern League.  I have included the info about the start of the Southern League again, so you don’t have to keep zipping backwards and forwards.  If you know about the Southern League bit, just skim down the page.

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It all started in 1891.

In 1891 Woolwich Arsenal was formed as a professional club.  The FA then told everyone not to play them, because of the professional issues, and Arsenal were reduced to playing friendlies against northern teams.

So in 1891 Arsenal called a meeting to discuss the idea of a southern league 26 clubs attended, the new league was agreed and 12 clubs elected:

• Chatham,
• Luton Town,
• Millwall Athletic,
• Marlow,
• Swindon Town,
• Reading,
• West Herts,
• Ilford,
• Woolwich Arsenal,
• Chiswick Park,
• Old St Marks
• Crouch End.

Crouch End then withdrew.  One of the unsuccessful applicants was Tottenham H who got one vote (their own).

There were several more attempts to form the Southern League and in 1894 the  Southern League, proposed by Millwall Athletic (which became Millwall) finally got going with two divisions.

Division 1

• Chatham
• Clapton
• Ilford
• Luton Town
• Millwall Athletic
• Reading
• Royal Ordnance Factories
• Southampton St Mary
• Swindon Town

Division 2

• Bromley
• Chesham
• Maidenhead
• New Brompton
• Old St Stephen’s
• Sheppy United
• Uxbridge

You will note there was no Tottenham H.  What they were up to can be best quoted (so there is no argument of bias) from their official Tiny Totts web site

1895
Spurs adopt professionalism.

1896
A record crowd of 6,000 spectators watch the friendly match with Aston Villa. Spurs elected to the Southern League Division One. Club colours changed to chocolate and gold.

1897
We reach our first Cup Final, losing 0-2 to hosts Wellingborough in the local Charity Cup competition.

1898
The Club becomes a limited company and a match against Woolwich Arsenal attracts a record crowd of 14,000 spectators.

[end of quote from the Tinies web site]

So the key point is this, Woolwich Arsenal were professionals before Tottenham, and entered the mainstream Football League (there being no Southern League).  Tottenham (as is there wont) trotted along later, having been rejected very clearly in the original meetings.  They became pros in 1895, and joined the Southern League a year later.

But why did Tottenham get just one vote initially? And why did they fail to get in, in 1894?  Of course it was because they were a little amateur club whose only claim to fame is that they played a local cup final against  the sixth eldest football club in the country and who claim to be the first ever club to play under floodlights in 1879 when they played Bedford.

What’s more, there was already a football team in their area – Leyton Orient formed in 1881.

When Tottenham played Woolwich Arsenal in 1898 they were playing a solid middle of the table second division team in the Football League – no wonder the crowds turned up.

In 1908 Tottenham joined the second division (by which time Arsenal were in the first).  Now skip forward five years and in 1913 Woolwich Arsenal moved to Highbury.  Tottenham Hotspur led the objections to Arsenal’s move – even though as the League and FA had both said time and again before, there is nothing in the rule books that allows them to dictate where a club plays.  Besides which if anyone ought to have an objection it was Orient.  The Os are the second oldest Football League club in London behind Fulham.

Besides, the argument against location was old and discredited, as Norris knew full well. Fulham had done much the same in objecting when Chelsea opened up in their quadrant of the city in 1905, and if anything the Chelsea issue was much more of a scandal – there was no club, no support, no team, no history, no background.  Just an old athletics stadium that was about to be turned into a coal dumping yard for the railways.

So the Tottenham protestation was all show and no substance.  They must have known there was not a single rule for them to object to.But they made a lot of it, not least to cover the fact that despite all their protestations, there was no way that they were not even a London team.  They were in Middlesex.  The Arsenal however was now in London – and Tottenham did not like that.

What’s more Tottenham had only been in the league for a mere five years - they could hardly claim the territory as theirs in just five years, even if there was a rule to allow them to.

The matter got worse when football resumed in 1919 after the war.  Tottenham had had one of their regular dreadful seasons in 1914-15 – the final season prior to war, and had ended up bottom, going down with Chelsea.

But after the war the league decided to extend the first division from 20 to 22 clubs.  They demanded their regular reward for failure, and expected to be kept in the league.   The clubs were required to vote – as they always were.

The Arsenal objected on the grounds that the deal proposed by Tottenham H hushed up the big issue of the 1914/15 season – the match fixing by Manchester United and Liverpool (Man U had fixed a game with Liverpool, and so ended up one point above Chelsea, and thus safe from relegation).

The Arsenal demanded that Manchester United and Liverpool be relegated to the second division, along with the two bottom clubs.  Tottenham fought the proposal, but eventually lost.   There were some behind the scenes deals and ultimately, in return for dropping the demand that Liverpool and Man U go down Arsenal got Liverpool’s vote and Man U’s vote, the league got its way, and Arsenal were voted into the first division.

Tottenham got annoyed.

For the record, Tottenham H went down and Arsenal, Preston and Derby went up, along with Chelsea who retained their position.  This was done through a secret ballot.

The reason Tottenham had once again got virtually no support was simple – they were a johnny-come-lately who were trying to make up rules to suit themselves.  It had always been the case that when clubs were ejected from the league, or the league was expanded, there should be a secret ballot.  For years and years this is how clubs came into the football league from non-league football until 1987.

So Tottenham’s argument against a secret vote (which ultimately resulted in them going out of the first division and Arsenal coming in) was ludicrous – expansion, and removal from the league was always sorted out like this, and would be for another 68 years.   This was the most outrageous piece of special pleading ever.

And yet somehow Tottenham have managed to write this period in history as if somehow Arsenal “stole” their place in the league.  It beggars all belief.

Worse – they have continued to do this.  And worse again through their friends in the media and elsewhere they have continued to be successful in undermining the good name of Arsenal.

I’ll explain how in the next article.

More on Woolwich Arsenal

Read the story of how Arsenal went bust, and rose from the ashes, 100 years ago, in the most amazing football book ever: “Making the Arsenal”

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Today we think of [...]]]> This article continues from the one published yesterday – it explores the fact that by the summer of 1910 Henry Norris owned three clubs – Croydon Common in the Southern League, Fulham in Division 2 and Woolwich Arsenal in Division One.   The first part of the article can be read here.

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Today we think of the non-league pyramid as being very much low key – a long way behind the Football League.  But in the early part of the century this was far from the case.

First we need to remember that anything resembling automatic promotion from outside the League to inside was still well over half a century away.  Second, the Football League, despite its name and its inclusion of Bristol City, Woolwich Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham was still basically a northern league with no pretensions of being national.

The only reason Woolwich Arsenal did not enter the Southern League is that as they were the first team outside the north and midlands to go professional there was no Southern League for them to enter and the reactionary London FA banned Arsenal from playing teams outside the Football League.

So when it came along the Southern League collected up a number of teams who could have held their own in the Football League.   Thus when club historians celebrate the fact that for three years there was a Southern League team in the FA cup final Southampton (1900) Tottenham (1901) and Southampton again (1902) it sounds a real David and Golliath thing, it wasn’t.

So the claim that Tottenham are the only club from outside the Football League to have won FA Cup should be considered in the light of events – it is perhaps like having a Championship club get into the Final today – nothing more special than that.

One of the reasons why the Southern League became strong so quickly was that it had different rules from the Football League.

From the 1893-94 season the League introduced a system known as “retain and transfer” which effectively put footballers into a form slavery.  A player registered with a club could never play for another club without the permission of the club with whom he was registered.

That might not seem too bad until you note that this applied for all time and in all circumstances.  The club did not have to play to player, and they did not have to pay the player.  They could effectively sign a player and then end his career by just leaving him to rot. They didn’t have to renew a contract even – they really could just leave him.

The only incentive the club had to release a player was if they could get a transfer fee.   However the Southern League did not introduce this system until 1910, so many players liked the Southern League for its more liberal approach. The Scottish League also did not have this system, so again that was attractive to players – and after 1900 both of these leagues started to pay higher salaries.

Not content with treating players like dirt the football league then introduced the £4 a week maximum wage.  The league was helped in this regard by the abolition of the footballers trade union at the same time.

So this is the league Croydon Common were in, playing at the Nest – later to be the home of Crystal Palace.   They then suffered some set backs with stands blowing down and catching fire (an issue recounted in “Making the Arsenal”) but by 1908 they were in the first division for one season before going back down.  But they won the second division again in 1913-14, but in 1914-15 (the final year before the war) they again ended up bottom.

All the clubs were suspended during the war, and then returned in 1919 to start again.  As we know Arsenal managed to get their promotion at this time, but Croydon Common did not return – in fact they were the only club from the Southern League not to return after the war.  There are reports that they actually were wound up in 1917 which is curious, since there were only unofficial matches, and there was no real reason to wind them up.

Unless… Henry Norris had had enough. If he was paying to maintain the ground, he might have felt that with Highbury taking up all his finances, and Fulham.  Sad to say, it seems that Arsenal were indirectly responsible for the demise of this team who today we would call a solid middle of the table second division side.

Among the players who had connections with Croydon Common and Arsenal were Arthur Box and Earnie Williamson.  Several Croydon Common players also played for England including Willam Balmer, Harry Hadley, Earnie Williamson and Sam Wolstenhome.

So, to summarise Croydon’s existence, they were Champions of Southern League Division 2 in 1909 and again 1914.

Here’s the details of their Southern League history, followed by their FA Cup history.

SEASON    LEAGUE     P    W    D    L    F    A    P      POS

1907-08   SOUTH-2   18   10    3    5   35   25   23      3/10
1908-09   SOUTH-2   12   10    0    2   67   14   20      1/7
          WEST-1A   12    5    2    5   16   24   12      5/7
1909-10   SOUTH-1   42   13    5   24   52   96   31     21/22
1910-11   SOUTH-2   22   11    3    8   61   26   25      5/12
1911-12   SOUTH-2   25    8    2   15   43   45   18     11/14
1912-13   SOUTH-2   24   13    4    7   51   29   30      4/13
1913-14   SOUTH-2   30   23    5    2   76   14   51      1/16
1914-15   SOUTH-1   38    9    9   20   47   63   27     19/20

F.A. CUP

1908-09   4Q    NORTHFLEET UNITED                   A    1-1
          4Qr   NORTHFLEET UNITED                   H    4-3
          5Q    BRADFORD PARK AVENUE                A    2-1
          1     WOOLWICH ARSENAL                    H    1-1    @ Crystal Palace
          1r    WOOLWICH ARSENAL                    A    0-2
1909-10   5Q    LEYTON                              H    0-1
1910-11   5Q    WORKINGTON{1}                       H    3-1
          1     GRIMSBY TOWN                        A    0-3    Ordered to be replayed
          1     GRIMSBY TOWN                        A    1-8
1911-12   5Q    RIPLEY TOWN & ATHLETIC              H    4-1
          1     LEICESTER FOSSE                     H    2-2
          1r    LEICESTER FOSSE                     A    1-6
1912-13   5Q    LUTON TOWN                          H    2-0
          1     WOOLWICH ARSENAL                    H    0-0
          1r    WOOLWICH ARSENAL                    A    1-2
1914-15   6Q    BARNET ALSTON                       H    4-0
          1     OLDHAM ATHLETIC                     H    0-3

http://www.fchd.btinternet.co.uk/indexc.htm F.C.H.D.

Woolwich Arsenal index

Making the Arsenal – the story of 1910

What was he doing?  Well, it seems he thought of himself as the man who could build football in the south of England into something as powerful as the football league in the north [...]]]> By the summer of 1910 Henry Norris owned three football clubs: Woolwich Arsenal (division 1), Fulham (division 2) and Croydon Common (Southern League).

What was he doing?  Well, it seems he thought of himself as the man who could build football in the south of England into something as powerful as the football league in the north – and so he fancied himself as chairman of a new football league of the south.  It never happened and in the end he focussed on Arsenal, but there was a time when alternatives were possible.

Norris left no diaries or notes so we study his life through his actions and the activities of those around him.  And in this sense there is quite a lot of data.  The idea of a southern rival to the football league had a series of false  starts as I will show below, and this is exactly the sort of situation that would lead Norris to push his way in and shout, “OK I am taking this shambles over.”

He was in many ways a sort of Lord Sugar character but without the humour and self-deprecation.

So, to turn for a moment to Croydon Common.

Croydon Common FC was formed in 1897 as a local league amateur team, and they turned pro in 1907, just as Norris was starting to get into his full football mode – three years before he bought Arsenal.

When Norris took over Croydon Common is not at all clear but they went into the Southern League divsion 2 on turning professional, and such evidence as there is suggests that Norris put in the money at this point, even if his name was not on the books at Companies House.

The London FA had decided to have a bash at forming a new ‘Southern League’ as early as 1890 but the motion to form the new league was lost by one vote.

Woolwich Arsenal became seriously interested in the prospect in 1891 when the side was transformed as a professional club.  The authorities had told everyone not to play them, because of the professional issues, and Arsenal were reduced to playing friendlies against northern teams.

When Arsenal called a meeting to discuss the idea of a southern league 26 clubs attended, the new league was agreed and 12 clubs elected:

• Chatham,
• Luton Town,
• Millwall Athletic,
• Marlow,
• Swindon Town,
• Reading,
• West Herts,
• Ilford,
• Woolwich Arsenal,
• Chiswick Park,
• Old St Marks
• Crouch End.

Crouch End then withdrew.  The unsuccessful clubs were:

Chesham, Wolverton, City Ramblers, Woodville, Uxbridge, St Albans, Erith, Westminster Criterion, Old St Stephens, Upton Park, and Tottenham Hotspur who came bottom of the poll with one point.   Why Tottenham could get no votes other than their own vote for themselves is a matter for another day.

But then no sooner were the celebrations over than some of the clubs had a change of mind, and in total five clubs dropped out.  I can’t find any reason why this was so other than that it was “considered by the committee who refused to endorse the decision” and that suggests underhand skulduggery.  The London FA had raised the fuss about Arsenal’s professionalism, and was almost certainly at the heart of the lobbying, threatening all sorts of actions if the clubs formed this league.

So in the end the matter was dropped by Arsenal.

Then Milwall Athletic had a go in 1894.  At their meeting they attracted  Chatham, Clapton, Ilford, Luton Town, Milwall Athletic, Reading, and the 2nd Scots Guards.   At a later meeting they also managed to attract Casuals, Crouch End, Crusaders, Old Carthusians, Old Westminsters, Royal Ordnance Factories, and Swindon Town.

But now with the cat (which I assume was the London FA) being out of the bag there was still there was a lack of enthusiasm.   More teams came and went, the Scots Guards opted out, Southampton came in and eventually there was a second division of Bromley, Chesham, Maidenhead, New Brompton, Old St Stephens, Sheppey United, and Uxbridge. Woolwich Arsenal suggested their reserves could play in this league (by now having got into the second division of the football league), but the other clubs would have none of it.

But now the drive for another league outside the football league was too strong and so the 1894 Southern League, proposed by Millwall Athletic (which became Millwall) got going with two divisions.

Division 1

• Chatham
• Clapton
• Ilford
• Luton Town
• Millwall Athletic
• Reading
• Royal Ordnance Factories
• Southampton St Mary
• Swindon Town

Division 2

• Bromley
• Chesham
• Maidenhead
• New Brompton
• Old St Stephen’s
• Sheppy United
• Uxbridge

The story of Norris and Croydon Common continues in the next article

Woolwich Arsenal Index

Untold Arsenal

If you want to know more about Norris and his personality, and what he did 100 years ago, you will enjoy “Making the Arsenal”

The club had gone into administration. A new club (Arsenal Football and Athletic Club) had been formed and the shares had gone on sale, but the requisite number had not been sold.  As with today, shares in a [...]]]> The days between 13th and 16th May, 1910 were a poker game as far as Woolwich Arsenal were concerned.

The club had gone into administration. A new club (Arsenal Football and Athletic Club) had been formed and the shares had gone on sale, but the requisite number had not been sold.  As with today, shares in a new company can only be offered for a short amount of time.  If they are not sold by then, then the share offer has to be withdrawn.  The company can only launch if all the shares are sold – and then after that, trading in the shares can begin.

Henry Norris, canny old bird that he was, was jostling for position.  He clearly wanted the club, but at his price and on his terms – and there is little doubt that in terms of negotiation he held all the cards.

He was an experienced hard man when it came to doing deals (he was after all a property developer from London, and he was up against a gentleman’s outfitters in a small town in Kent), and he had little to lose.  While Leavey, owner of Woolwich Arsenal had a club to which he was devoted, and which was about to cease playing in the league, Norris had only one problem.

The previous season Fulham FC (which Norris already owned) had lost £700, which would equate to just under £1m in today’s money.

Norris’ scheme was to reduce that debt by having Woolwich Arsenal play on alternate Saturdays at Craven Cottage.  Whether Arsenal, under that guise, would be able to stay in Division I for another season is difficult to say, but that was the plan.

(We should also say that Norris wanted to get one over Chelsea FC, who had just gone down to Division II.  Norris’ thought that Woolwich Arsenal playing in the First Division, would draw away a fair bit of the crowd from second division Chelsea.)

So, when the Woolwich Arsenal share issue failed, Norris knew he was almost there.  But… then a spanner flew into the works.

Norris’ plan was not secret.  Anyone who read Athletic News or the daily papers would see the speculation.  So Tottenham and Chelsea got involved.  How much they really wanted to buy Arsenal, and how much they were just mucking about, we can’t tell.  But there were certainly enquiries from both clubs, and it was probably this that made Norris finally make a move.

By Saturday 14th May, 100 years ago, the Times was covering the story , saying that the new Arsenal club had failed.  By 16th May it was clear that Tottenham and Chelsea were trying to get involved.

It was then made clear that on 18th May 1910 Woolwich Arsenal’s board would meet the Football League, at the Imperial Hotel in central London, with a view to explaining if the club could go forward for next season. The Imperial Hotel was one of many luxury hotels in London being built at the beginning of the century. Today there are 6 Imperial London Hotels spread across prime locations in Central London. The League were anxious to know because they wanted to settle down and draw up the fixtures for the coming season.   If Arsenal were going out of existence then they would have to decide if Chelsea should stay up in the First Division, and if a new club should be promoted to the Second Division from without.

18th May became the new decision day.  Everyone waited to see what was going to happen, and there was feverish speculation.

Woolwich Arsenal: The Index

Woolwich Arsenal: The book

Untold Arsenal: Arsenal today and every day

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May 2010: some Arsenal supporters are expressing discontent.  Equally many are very happy with the progress of the team, seeing the progress as reaching a moment of great excitement with so many of the youngsters who joined us six or seven years ago [...]]]> Today’s Sponsor: Gooner Gifts – everything for the real Arsenal fan

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May 2010: some Arsenal supporters are expressing discontent.  Equally many are very happy with the progress of the team, seeing the progress as reaching a moment of great excitement with so many of the youngsters who joined us six or seven years ago coming through.

April 1910: what did everyone feel?

Of course we don’t know because 100 years ago there was little thought of recording the thoughts of everyday people who went to football and supported their teams.  History was still very much the history of the ruling classes.

But we can guess – and we might well guess there was a lot of dismay among the support.

The prime reasons for misgivings were…

The club had escaped relegation, but only just, through a series of 1-0 victories at the end of the season.  It did not auger well for next year.

The club was broke, and up for sale. The only buyer on the horizon was Henry Norris who clearly was interested in taking Woolwich Arsenal and turning them into Fulham Arsenal.  The fund raising committee was raising money but nowhere near enough.

As a team Arsenal had lost the knack of scoring goals. They were the lowest scorers in the first division.

Crowds were poor. Big numbers had turned up for the home and away games with Chelsea and Tottenham, but otherwise there was no major interest.

In many ways the club was going backwards. The high point had been two cup semi-finals earlier in the decade, but that now seemed in the distant past.

The locality was a problem as well, with the announcement in January 1910 of the closure of the Woolwich torpedo factory.  The Woolwich workers were being laid off, and with no unemployment pay, the unemployed certainly would not go to football matches.

If Woolwich Arsenal were doing anything, they were hanging on.  Nothing more.

So what of Arsenal today.

The prime reasons for misgiving now, among those who take that particularly negative view of proceedings can be considered in the same way…

The club has been in the top four of the EPL for 10 years and with more players coming through and a young team on the pitch there is every reason to expect further improvement.

Rather than being the club most likely to go bust, the modern day club is the club most likely to succeed.  We are just about the only club in profit (at least the only one not using either a Virgin Islands accounting system or a benefactor).

We spent much of the season scoring goals for fun, and looking like we might reach 100.  Then we lost all our goal scorers, and things slipped away, but we are still there with the top three, and with a new goalscorer joining the team next season, this could be something.

Every game sells out. While it looks like Man U will fail to sell all its season tickets next year, our 10 year waiting list remains.

The club is clearly progressing when we consider the youth team formed six years ago who are about to burst on the scene. Last season we got to two semi-finals, this year we slipped back on that, but there’s no reason not to expect a good position next season.

The stadium is widely considered one of the best in the world - and offers a way of watching football far superior to most venues.  If you don’t like the Ems then I guess you would prefer terracing – and that decision is a governmental one, not a club one.

So, taken by the criteria that caused dismay 100 years ago, things are looking rather fine.

Tony Attwood

You can read the whole story of Arsenal in 1910 in Making the Arsenal, the story of Arsenal’s most amazing year.

Back to the index of recent articles and special features

Contemporary Arsenal news is on Untold Arsenal

In the league itself, Bolton Wanderers were already relegated, and Aston Villa had won the title.

At the bottom several of the [...]]]> With one more saturday of the season to go, but no game to play, Woolwich Arsenal could watch the rest of the world of football, and look at the shambles of their own finances, and wonder.

In the league itself, Bolton Wanderers were already relegated, and Aston Villa had won the title.

At the bottom several of the clubs in the relegation zone were playing each other on the final day, so there was a lot of uncertainty.  Tottenham and Chelsea were both there, along with Middlesbrough and Bristol City – it looked impossible to say who would fall.

In Division II it was equally close: Manchester City, Derby, Oldham, and Hull all had a chance to go up.  But at the bottom Grimsby and Birmingham City were adrift of the pack, and would have to reapply for membership of the league.

Their futures were certainly not assured since almost every year at this time, one or more teams dropped out of the league, although in the odd way these things worked, they were more than likely to come back a year or two later.

In 1908 for example Lincoln had left the league, only to return one year later, and then to be voted out again in 1911.

As for London and those near London clubs (such as Tottenham and Woolwich Arsenal), it was not a good time.  The three clubs in the first division could well be reduced to two, and both of those had only just missed relegation.  The two London clubs in division II (Fulham and Orient) were hardly setting the world alight, and had spent the season in mid-table (Fulham) and the lower reaches (Orient.)

And there were not even any new clubs on the horizon except possibly for West Ham, and they did not get league status until after the war, when the league was extended in 1919.

In an attempt to bring in a few pounds more Arsenal arranged a couple of friendlies once the season was over – against Colchester and Ilford.

But for now the main interest turned to Henry Norris.

Tony Attwood

Index of recent stories

1910 through the eyes of a Fleet Street football correspondent

All today’s Arsenal news on Untold Arsenal

How an underhand strategy and a desire to rewrite history has transformed how people think about football in London.

To begin, somewhere near the start…

In 1882, the Hotspur Football Club was formed by a group of school boys attending a Bible class at All Hallows Church.

Tottenham’s aim early on, like so many clubs [...]]]> Tottenham Hotspur: the dark history

How an underhand strategy and a desire to rewrite history has transformed how people think about football in London.

To begin, somewhere near the start…

In 1882, the Hotspur Football Club was formed by a group of school boys attending a Bible class at All Hallows Church.

Tottenham’s aim early on, like so many clubs was to join a league and win it, and so they were interested in the attempt by Woolwich Arsenal to form a Southern League to rival the northern based Football League in 1892.

Indeed there was no reason why they should not apply to join the league – along with 21 other clubs, which they did.  But Tottenham had the ignominy of being the only club not to get any votes.

Which suggests either that between 1882 and 1892 Tottenham had remained totally obscure, or else they had managed to annoy the rest of football in the south so much that everyone hated them.

Which was it?

I’ll pull all this together in a moment and give an answer, but we may note to start with that whatever the reason, Tottenham’s longer term development was not hindered for they went professional at the end of 1895 and joined the Southern League.

In 1900, Tottenham won the Southern League title and in 1901 the FA Cup, but despite the fact that other London teams such as Chelsea and Clapton Orient were in the Football League, and Woolwich Arsenal from Kent were also there, Tottenham did not get admitted to the Football League until 1908, when they came in and won the second division.

So again we have an interesting situation.  Tottenham, with great success, ruling the Southern League, winning the FA Cup no less (and lets not be churlish, this was years before Arsenal even managed to get to the semi finals,) could not get out of the Southern League and into the Football League.   Again, why?  Even Clapton Orient got in, when they didn’t.

Here’s another drop of history and it is this which starts to give us the idea.

Tottenham were relegated in 1919 when Arsenal were promoted.  Tottenham argued that although they had ended up bottom in 1915 (the previous year of the league) the league was being extended by two clubs and precedent would mean that they should stay up with the top two in division 2 being promoted.  This plea was rejected.

Again, the League did Tottenham no favours.  Again, why was this?

So to summarise our question…

Why did Tottenham get zero votes when they tried to join the Southern League in 1892, why did it take so long for them to join the Football League despite some early success and why did they get kicked out of the first division in 1919?  What had everyone got against them?

I think the answer is to do with attitude, style and approach.  In essence the rest of football really didn’t like Tottenham very much because of their behaviour.

Let’s go back to the very name Hotspur.   Tottenham found a playing area near Northumberland Park, an area which by repute was owned by the family of Sir Henry Percy, alias Hotspur, made famous by Shakespeare in Henry IV.  (And remember we are talking 15th century history here – not present day stuff).

The name Hotspur was a powerful name – it was a name that had come to symbolise British strength and determination, plus flamboyance, risk taking and the like.  (Actually history paints a different reality, but this is how the word “Hotspur” was seen in the late 19th century).

But London already had a Hotspur club that laid claim to an inheritance of Sir Henry Percy – London Hotspur.   The Percy family lived at Syon Park, which is south of the river, and that is where London Hotspur played.

What Tottenham were doing in adopting this name was several things.  Firstly they were trying to find a romantic link through the Northumberland Park region to the hero Harry Hotspur.  Second they were trying to take the name of the club London Hotspur, who themselves were getting a reputation.  Third they were trying to give themselves instant fame, an instant reputation.

It would be rather like a club newly formed at the time of the death of Winston Churchill calling itself Tottenham Churchill.  Popularist but ultimately a bit of a cheek.

The Duke of Northumberland’s family, who are the descendants of Harry Hotspur had not direct claim over the name “Hotspur” but they would undoubtedly have been concerned to see a general use of the name here there and everyone.  One club, London Hotspur, playing by their ancestral home, perhaps with permission to use the name, might be one thing.  But suddenly another one turning up, would be something else.  How many more “Hotspurs” would arise?

One can imagine them getting irate, and writing a letter.  Legend has it that a letter was indeed received at Tottenham, which caused them to change their name from Hotspur FC to Tottenham Hotspur, although the legend now says it was a wrongly delivered letter – intended for London Hotspur.

I believe this to be highly unlikely, for the simple reason to the club which was to become Tottenham Hotspur was not in London at the time – and in fact was not in London for a very long time to come.

The chances of a letter for London Hotspur, from Syon Park, south of the river, ending up with a team not even in London is too remote to give credence to.

Tottenham (which incidentally was where I grew up as a child, living in Devonshire Hill Lane which runs parallel to White Hart Lane) was part of Middlesex from 1850 to 1965.   True, it was part of the London postal area (London N17) and the Met Police District, but in terms of administration and local government it was in Middlesex, not London.

In 1934 the urban district was incorporated as a municipal borough (still part of Middlesex) and it was only when this was abolished in 1965 following the London Government Act in 1963 and it became part of the London Borough of Haringey.

These facts were discovered by readers of the Woolwich Arsenal site “Making the Arsenal” and I am very grateful to them for the discussion which brought this to light.

So Tottenham Hotspur were formed, but they were already known as a club that pushed its luck, usurping the name “Hotspur” from another club, already using that name.  That explains why they started getting rejected from early ballots for entry into leagues.

But then Tottenham made matters much worse for themselves.  In 1905 when Chelsea was created out of nothing (see the special feature article on this topic) they (Chelsea) applied for a place in the Southern League.   And Tottenham Hotspur objected on the grounds that London already had too many clubs!

Now that was cheek and a half.  Tottenham had no right to speak on London, because it was clearly in Middlesex, not London.   Woolwich Arsenal (in Kent) made no such objection.   It was widely seen as the uppity Middlesex club sticking its nose into things again.

However Tottenham made so much fuss that Chelsea was rejected by the Southern League, with support from clubs like Brentford, and Croydon Common.  So Chelsea applied for a place in the Football League and got in.

But the Football League would not forget Tottenham’s negative and arrogant behaviour in trying to speak for London, so from then on , no matter that they had won the cup, they were kept out of the League.

Eventually they did get in, but then they jumped back on the bandwagon in 1913 when Woolwich Arsenal moved to Highbury.  Again they led the arguments again, and forgetting their previous PR disasters they used the “London clubs” argument.  Henry Norris, a master at this sort of tactic, pointed out that this might well be a matter for London clubs, but not a matter for clubs from “other counties.”

“Maybe Lancashire and Yorkshire have an opinion,” he said, “and certainly if we listen to the opinion of Middlesex, we must listen to Yorkshire and Lancashire.”

Norris made the point that if the Football League were to be a national league, then the capital – the real LONDON – not the adjacent counties – needed football teams, and at that moment it only had Chelsea.  Adding Arsenal to the list would at least give London two – as Middlesex had two (Orient and Tottenham).

This is why Tottenham, the Middlesex club, had no friends in 1919 when Arsenal applied for a place in the first division to represent LONDON.   Tottenham claimed that by coming bottom in 1915 they should have stayed in the 1st division when it was expanded.  But on what grounds?

Their only grounds were the fact that they were NEAR LONDON.

That was it – and indeed when Tottenham Hotspur make references to Woolwich Arsenal, we should always remember, they endlessly tried to manipulate London football from without – and that is why the Football League lost patience with them, and told them to shut up.

Woolwich Arsenal could become Arsenal, and Arsenal could have their place in the 1st division.

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This is one of several special features on the history of Arsenal.  Others are to be found on the Making the Arsenal web site.  You can also read the history of Arsenal in 1910 in the book Making the Arsenal

On that day Woolwich Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.  I don’t think anyone had invented the phrase “four pointer” at that time, but that is exactly what it was.   Chelsea had had a good Easter programme and had pulled ahead of Woolwich Arsenal – whose dreadful run had left them [...]]]> 28th March 1910.  100 years ago.

On that day Woolwich Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.  I don’t think anyone had invented the phrase “four pointer” at that time, but that is exactly what it was.   Chelsea had had a good Easter programme and had pulled ahead of Woolwich Arsenal – whose dreadful run had left them lingering in the bottom two.

With Bolton already looking dead and buried there was just one relegation spot up for grabs and with six games left, and Woolwich Arsenal were heading straight for it unless they could turn their form around.

Since the start of February their form was won 1, drawn 3 lost 4 – and they had been knocked out of the FA Cup as well.

Now they were playing Chelsea away.  At the start of the game Tottenham and Chelsea were on 25 points and Woolwich Arsenal on 23.   A win for Chelsea would put them four points ahead of Arsenal, and leave Woolwich chasing Tottenham – who had games in hand.  It was not a good prospect.

40,000 turned up at Chelsea for the game – despite problems at the ground, with whole sections cordoned off because the terracing was crumbling.  (Something that is noted in some detail in “Making the Arsenal” – see below).

And Woolwich Arsenal won 1-0.

That left the table reading…

• Middlesbrough played 32, points 26
• Tottenham played 32 points 25
• Chelsea played 33, points 25
• ———————————————-
• Woolwich Arsenal played 33, points 25
• Bolton played 33, points 19.

So Arsenal were by no means out of the mire, but they were still in with a chance of survival.  What’s more, of the five remaining games, three looked winnable – the matches against Bristol City, Bury and Tottenham – the clubs placed 14th, 15th and 17th in the division.

But why should this moment go down in history as the start of the modern Arsenal?

My thinking is this.  Henry Norris had made noises about buying Woolwich Arsenal since mid January, but he had not made a positive move.  Indeed there was a lot of resistance in Woolwich and Plumstead to his take over which came with the fear that he would move the club.

Norris already owned a second division team – Fulham, and a Southern League team (Croydon Common) and what he wanted was to have a first division outfit, not another lower league club.  The value of Woolwich Arsenal would be far less if they went down.

While it was still mathematically possible for Arsenal to stay up even if they had lost to Chelsea, the situation would have looked very bad indeed…

• Chelsea played 33, points 27
• Bury played 32, points 26
• Middlesbrough played 32, points 26
• Tottenham played 32 points 25
• ———————————————-
• Woolwich Arsenal played 33, points 23
• Bolton played 33, points 19

So this result gave Arsenal hope, and kept Norris interested.  Of course I can’t prove that Norris would have walked away if Arsenal had lost, but this was the moment that Arsenal started to pull themselves out of the mire.  And a study of Norris’ activities (which I’ll report here as the events of 100 years ago unfold) shows that it was after this game that he started to get seriously interested.

But what would have happened if Norris had walked away, instead of buying the club?

The club would have gone into administration.   The rescue committee was bereft of ideas and was raising only a fraction of the money that the club needed.  The current owner had said he had run out of cash, and there was no other bidder on the horizon.   The debts were huge, the club was in real trouble, and the likes of Abramovich were still 95 years away.

This really was the last chance saloon.

And there’s one other snippet that makes this day worth noting in the history of Arsenal.   On this day the goal that gave Arsenal victory was scored by a newcomer to the team.  One Charles Edward McGibbon.   Now totally forgotten by Arsenal – but his story should be writ large in our history.

I will tell more in the next entry.

Chelsea 0 Woolwich Arsenal 1.  The start of the modern era.

—————

The full story of Arsenal in 1910 is told in “Making the Arsenal” which is available on Amazon and via the publishers.

There’s news about Arsenal in the present day on Untold Arsenal

And there’s a series of special features on this site.  Here’s one, just for starters…

Why did Arsenal move to Highbury and not somewhere else? Tottenham Hotspur led a who group of clubs in objecting to the move (even Birmingham clubs objected, which somehow lessened Tottenham’s case).  But Arsenal claimed that neither the League nor the FA rules covered the location of the ground.

All three were having a tough time of it, and the only things that were keeping all three from being relegated were

a) In those days, only two clubs went down

b) Bad as [...]]]> 100 years ago London had three Division I clubs – Woolwich Arsenal (who were actually in a small town in Kent), Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

All three were having a tough time of it, and the only things that were keeping all three from being relegated were

a) In those days, only two clubs went down

b) Bad as the London teams were, Bolton was worse.

So Chelsea v Arsenal on Easter Monday 1910 was a big one. When the three London teams played each other the crowds were always much bigger than for other games, and when relegation was an option, this added to the tension.

Chelsea’s position in the league was one of the most disgraceful that there could be, for they were one of only three teams (Bradford City and Thames were the only other two I know of) who were simply given a place in the league for political reasons.   When Chelsea fans try and point the finger at Arsenal over the promotion in 1919 they not only ignore the facts of the 1919 situation (the match fixing etc) they also like to “forget” their own origins.

In 1904 the Mears brothers bought the freehold of Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground as a speculative venture when the previous owner died.  Their aim was to get Henry Norris at Fulham to move his club to the ground.   Norris however was always more interested in intrigue than straight opportunities, and when he announced in 1904 that Fulham was leaving Craven Cottage, it was a ploy to get the rent on his ground (owned by the Church Commissioners) reduced.

When Fulham did a new deal with the church for a lower rent on the Cottage the Mears brothers they did a deal with Great Western Railway who wanted it as a coal dump but then renaged on that and decided they could make more money out of the football club.   (There is a story, almost certainly untrue, about a dog causing the change of mind, but there’s no real evidence of anything quite so bizarre.  Money was almost certainly the key).

So Chelsea Football Club were founded on 10 March 1905 and they applied to play in the Southern League.  Tottenham objected – which was bizarre in the extreme, and shows the oddity of Tottenham’s approach at the time.  There was no reason why the existence of Chelsea in the Southern League could help Tottenham, and the objection was well noted when Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1913.   “Tottenham object to everything” was the call, and the club’s reaction in 1913 was treated with derision.  Tottenham in fact, shot themselves in both feet.

Stuck with a ground and no league to play in Chelsea applied for a place in the Football League, and got in.  One might wonder how and why the League was so willing.  Certainly the League wanted to extend its influence and ensure that the Southern League became weaker – so having more London clubs in was helpful.   Certainly Chelsea had a big (although very badly built) ground.  And certainly the League was a highly corrupt organisation – even then.

On 29 May 1905, having no players, no history, no supporters, no nothing save a ground, they got a place in the league.

Stamford Bridge, September 1905.  The club is just a few weeks old.

Despite a lack of real success, the crowds would turn up, and the first Chelsea Arsenal match got 55,000 in the ground.

But there was never any thought of Chelsea winning anything, any more than there was of Woolwich Arsenal winning something, and Chelsea against Woolwich Arsenal on Easter Monday 1910 was nothing but a relegation match.

—————

The book “Making the Arsenal” covers the history in 1910, including the role of Archie Leitch who was the architect for the stand at Woolwich Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham.   There’s quite a bit of detail in the book about the state of the Chelsea ground in 1910, and for the game against Arsenal sections of the terracing were roped off because of problems.  You can read more in the book, which takes the form of a diary of a football journalist.

(c) Tony Attwood 2010