1922: Arsenal’s end of the season tour and summary of games

by Tony Attwood

On 6 May 1922, after a dismal season which included 5 consecutive defeats Arsenal rounded the league off with four wins and a draw in the last five to finish with Arsenal 1 Bradford C 0 and 17th place in the league.  Here is the final table…

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAvg Pts
1 Liverpool 42 22 13 7 63 36 1.750 57
2 Tottenham Hotspur 42 21 9 12 65 39 1.667 51
3 Burnley 42 22 5 15 72 54 1.333 49
4 Cardiff City 42 19 10 13 61 53 1.151 48
5 Aston Villa 42 22 3 17 74 55 1.345 47
6 Bolton Wanderers 42 20 7 15 68 59 1.153 47
7 Newcastle United 42 18 10 14 59 45 1.311 46
8 Middlesbrough 42 16 14 12 79 69 1.145 46
9 Chelsea 42 17 12 13 40 43 0.930 46
10 Manchester City 42 18 9 15 65 70 0.929 45
11 Sheffield United 42 15 10 17 59 54 1.093 40
12 Sunderland 42 16 8 18 60 62 0.968 40
13 West Bromwich Albion 42 15 10 17 51 63 0.810 40
14 Huddersfield Town 42 15 9 18 53 54 0.981 39
15 Blackburn Rovers 42 13 12 17 54 57 0.947 38
16 Preston North End 42 13 12 17 42 65 0.646 38
17 Arsenal 42 15 7 20 47 56 0.839 37
18 Birmingham City 42 15 7 20 48 60 0.800 37
19 Oldham Athletic 42 13 11 18 38 50 0.760 37
20 Everton 42 12 12 18 57 55 1.036 36
21 Bradford City 42 11 10 21 48 72 0.667 32
22 Manchester United 42 8 12 22 41 73 0.562 28
Date Opposition H/A Competition Score Attendance
06/05/1922 Bradford City H League 1-0 32,000
08/05/1922 Crystal Palace (final) N LFACC 1-0 12,000
09/05/1922 Southend United H Friendly 2-1
14/05/1922 IFK Gothenburg A Tour 3-2 11,000
16/05/1922 Gais A Tour 4-1 7,000
19/05/1922 Orgryte IS A Tour 2-0 7,033
21/05/1922 Helsingborg A Tour 1-0 3,500

Below is the table of players who played 10+ league games for Arsenal in 1921/2 showing also their FA Cup games and in the final columns the number of games they played and goals scored for the club in their careers.

  League 21/2 FA Cup 21/2 League career FA Cup career
Player Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls Apps Gls
A Baker 32 4 6 86 6 6
WN Blyth 25 1 5 2 106 15 7 2
R Boreham 22 10 22 10
F Bradshaw 32 2 6 115 14 10
JD Butler 25 2 3 52 3 5
FF Cownley 10 15
JA Graham 21 3 5 1 124 15 11 3
J Hopkins 11 3 1 19 5 1
AV Hutchins 37 3 94 4
A McKinnon 17 211 4 6
EJ North 11 3 23 6
J Rutherford 36 1 4 1 151 20 9 2
JS Toner 24 1 6 51 5 8
HA White 35 14 6 5 90 39 8 5
TJ Whittaker 36 1 6 42 1 6
EC Williamson 41 55 6 6 100 142 8 10

These figures are derived from data in TheArsenalHistory website.  The site records 13 players who also played between one and nine league matches for the club during the season in addition to the 16 players who got into double figures in the league – a total of 29 players.  This was on the high side – but not impossibly high.  Chapman by way of comparison in his third season ended up with 24 players being used.

So it probably wasn’t the sheer number of players that were used that was the issue but the regular chopping and changing of the team – which as noted in the commentaries was probably as much to do with injuries and the second flu epidemic as it was to do with footballing decisions.

Henry Norris at the Arsenal – the series

Perhaps the most popular element in the Norris story is that of Arsenal’s promotion to the first division in 1919.  The most complete review of this, which puts right the numerous misunderstandings of the events of that year appears, and most importantly cites contemporary articles and reports, such as the minutes of the FA meeting where the promotion was confirmed, and the reports in local papers thereafter, here in these two sets of articles…

There is a full index to the series here.

The preliminaries

The voting and the comments before and after the election

The Second Libel

The Third Allegation

The Fourth Allegation

Did Henry Norris really beg Leslie Knighton to stay and offer him the hugest bonus ever?  And if so, why were there no new players?

The Fifth Story:

The Sixth Allegation

4 Replies to “1922: Arsenal’s end of the season tour and summary of games”

  1. Hello. I am a writer and a Charlton supporter and have thoroughly enjoyed browsing your site and have learned a lot from it. I was especially interested to read about Arthur Hutchins and his part in the match against Spurs in 1923 which caused so much trouble between your two clubs. He, of course, went on to play for Charlton.

    I wonder if you can help me with a book project as I am seeking any information about Ford Currie, who was an Arsenal player from at least 1922, probably until he joined Charlton in 1925.I know he did not play in your first team, but any detail you have concerning him would be helpful. I know he was a left back (later wing half), his height and weight and that he was born in Inverleithen, but I know nothing more.Can you help at all. He must have appeared in your reserves. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
    Regards Ian

  2. Thank you for getting in touch Ian, and your kind words about the site.

    I regret I don’t have many details on players beyond those whose were in the first team and, as you may have seen, the political and economic issues behind the club’s activities. But you could get in touch with the guys who run a site called “TheArsenalHistory” They don’t have any mention of this player but they might have other sources that can help – you can contact them at this page
    http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?page_id=7715

    Tony

  3. Ian Wallis.
    I have found a reference to a F. Currie in ‘Arsenal a Complete Record 1886-1990’ by Fred Olsen.
    On page 375 they have Arsenal’s record in the London/Football Combination, which was for the reserve team, and in the years they won the championship of that league they show the appearances and goal scorers. In season 1922-23 F. Currie is credited with fifteen appearances but with no goals so I would assume that is the Ford Currie you are enquiring of. Interestingly I think that was enough games to be awarded a championship medal out of forty four but not certain.
    I have checked other sections of friendly games and other competitions but could not find any other mention of him. Hope this helps and good luck with your project.

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