Arsenal edging closer to perfection

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society.

Today’s headline story comes from 28 September 2002 with the 1-4 away win against Leeds United.  There are details below, and more on the article that is linked from the piece in today’s selection of stories.

Below are the Anniversaries from 28 September.

28 September 1907: Preston 3 Woolwich Arsenal 0.  First league game for Joe Shaw.  He started out with first division Bury, his home town club, and then moved on to non-league Accrington Stanley, before reaching Plumstead in 1907. The result made it four defeats in the first six games.

28 September 1924: Death of Arsenal’s first successful manager Harry Bradshaw.  After leaving Arsenal he was Fulham’s first professional manager, won the Southern League twice in succession and election to the Football League. He then went on to become secretary of the Southern League, where he stayed until his retirement in 1921.

28 September 1946: Final appearance for Cliff Bastin.  After retiring from football he ran a cafe, wrote for the Sunday Pictorial and went on to be a publican, and died aged 79 back in his home county of Devon.

28 September 1946 International debut for Laurie Scott.  In all he played 17 times for England and four times for England B while at Arsenal.

28 September 1963: Having been 21st in the league after four games Burnley 0 Arsenal 3 made it five consecutive wins, lifting the club to sixth.  During the run Strong got four and Baker six goals.

28 September 1965: Alan Skirton became Arsenal’s first substitute of the modern era in a 1-1 draw with Northampton

28 September 1966: Tommy Baldwin final appearance. He then became part of the deal that brought George Graham to Arsenal.  After falling out with the Chelsea management over his social life he was loaned out before playing for Gravesend, Seattle Sounders and Brentford.

28 September 1985: David Rocastle debut in 0-0 draw with Newcastle.  He went on to make 13 starts in his first season.  Also here

28 September 1991.  Southampton 0 Arsenal 4.  Ian Wright scored both his first league goal and his first hat trick for Arsenal and went on to score 24 goals in 30 games in his first Arsenal season.

28 September 1992.  Arsenal 1 Manchester City 0, the first win after 2 draws and 2 defeats.  Ian Wright scored in front of just 21,504.

28 September 1996: Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0 made it three wins out of three for Arsène Wenger, six undefeated for Arsenal.  Hartson and Parlour got the goals in the second of a sequence of six in which Arsenal did not concede a single goal.

28 September 2002:  Leeds 1 Arsenal 4.   Arsenal beat Nottm Forest’s record of 22 away games without defeat.  Olivier Dacourt of Leeds commented on the team,”We’re all fighting for second place now. It was demoralising. They just pass and move, pass and move. You find yourself working for nothing.”    Arsène Wenger called the performance as “edging nearer to perfection… We are playing great, Total Football.   Danger comes from everywhere.” Leeds manager Terry Venables said: “Manchester United have been exceptional for 10 years – but I’ve not seen anything as good as that.”   Arsenal also beat Chesterfield’s 72 year old record of scoring in 47 consecutive league games set between December 1929 and December 1930 in the Third Division north.  Arsenal player Jack Lee, who was transferred to Chesterfield in 1928, was very much part of Chesterfield’s run.  

28 September 2007: Despite a period of privation as Arsenal work to pay off the debt arising from building the stadium, Arsène Wenger said if he was handed £100m transfer fund he’d hand it back.

28 September 2013: Arsenal made it a record breaking 12 consecutive away wins beating Swansea 2-1, as they also equal all time record of 8 consecutive away PL wins, set by Arsenal on 11 May 2002.

Yesterday’s anniversaries were:

When one of our greatest players suffered life threatening injuries

Our most recent article on Arsenal’s history…

Arsenal, February 1916: the 2nd league and a terrible tragedy on the pitch

 


Elsewhere on this day, in 48BC the general of the Roman Republic, Pompey the Great was assassinated by the troops of Ptolemy XIII of Egypt.  After  Pompey had sided with the Senate of the Republic against Caesar, Caesar had marched on Rome and Pompey fled to Egypt where Ptolemy had offered him protection.  But Ptolemy (age 15) had  the incredibly popular Pompey killed in order to gain favour with Caesar and get Caesar’s help in Ptolemy’s civil war against his sister Cleopatra (age 21).  Rather miffed by these matters Caesar then invaded Egypt, little knowing that the glorious Roman Republic that had lasted over 300 years was about to fall (after Caesar declared himself to be a god) to be replaced by the far less glorious Roman Empire, led by his adopted son who was to overthrow Caesar and become the first Emperor.  I hope that is clear.    TA.


 

The current series from the Arsenal History Series being developed on this site is  Henry Norris at the Arsenal, covering all aspects off the life and work of the man who rescued Arsenal from extinction, secured the club’s future by moving it to Highbury, and then brought in Herbert Chapman as manager.

The previously untold tale of how it was that Norris came to choose Highbury as the suitable location for Arsenal’s new ground.

The series is being worked on daily, and the articles thus far are here.

Among the many other series we have run are…

There are details of many other series covered by this site on our home page.

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