By Tony Attwood
If you ever want to see an amazing run up to Christmas, consider 1932.
28 August 1932: The Times confirms Charlie Jones appointed captain
3 September 1932. Arsenal start an amazing 18 match run in which they won 15, drew 2 and suffered one defeat scored 66 goals in the process (3.66 a game)
15 October 1932: George Male’s first appearance as a right back v Blackburn
29 October 1932: Arsenal 8 Leicester 2, continuing a run of 9 wins, drawn 2 and lost 1 in the league.
31 October 1932: Racing club de Paris 2 Arsenal 5. Four goals from Cliff Bastin
5 November 1932: Following the 8-2 win one week before Arsenal beat Wolverhampton 7-1 away.
12 November 1932: Arsenal make it 11 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in the opening of the season with a 1-0 win over Newcastle.
19 November 1932 Arsenal let in five!
3 December 1932: Arsenal score 3+ goals for the fifth match running – not repeated until 2008/9
24 December 1932: Arsenal 9 Sheffield Wed 2. It meant thus far in the season Arsenal had in different games scored 6, 7, 8 and 9 goals.
27 December 1930: George Male first game for the first team. Arsenal 7 Blackpool 1 The fourth game of the season with five or more goals by Arsenal Nov 19 1932
Here’s the full set of results…
As you can see from the final column on the right Arsenal had started poorly but climbed to top position. Here is the league table for Christmas day 1932.
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Result | Pos |
| 27 Aug | Birmingham City | away | W1-0 | 1 |
| 31 Aug | West Bromwich Albion | home | L1-2 | 9 |
| 3 Sept | Sunderland | home | W6-1 | 7 |
| 10 Sept | Manchester City | away | W3-2 | 5 |
| 14 Sept | West Bromwich Albion | away | D1-1 | 5 |
| 17 Sept | Bolton Wanderers | home | W3-2 | 4 |
| 24 Sept | Everton | home | W2-1 | 2 |
| 1 Oct | Blackpool | away | W2-1 | 2 |
| 8 Oct | Derby County | home | D3-3 | 2 |
| 15 Oct | Blackburn Rovers | away | W3-2 | 2 |
| 22 Oct | Liverpool | away | W3-2 | 2 |
| 29 Oct | Leicester City | home | W8-2 | 1 |
| 5 Nov | Wolverhampton W | away | W7-1 | 1 |
| 12 Nov | Newcastle United | home | W1-0 | 1 |
| 19 Nov | Aston Villa | away | L3-5 | 2 |
| 26 Nov | Middlesbrough | home | W4-2 | 1 |
| 3 Dec | Portsmouth | away | W3-1 | 1 |
| 10 Dec | Chelsea | home | W4-1 | 1 |
| 17 Dec | Huddersfield Town | away | W1-0 | 1 |
| 24 Dec | Sheffield Utd | home | W 9-2 | 1 |
68 goals in 20 games had led to something of a gung-ho attitude in the defence, but I doubt that too many people were complaining.
Just to emphasise the fact, take a closer look at the run up to Xmas Eve
| 26.11.1932 | Middlesbrough | home | W4-2 | 1 |
| 03.12.1932 | Portsmouth | away | W3-1 | 1 |
| 10.12.1932 | Chelsea | home | W4-1 | 1 |
| 17.12.1932 | Huddersfield Town | away | W1-0 | 1 |
| 24.12.1932 | Sheffield United | home | W9-2 | 1 |
Five straight wins, 21 goals scored, six let in. We were six points clear at the top of the league in an era of only two points for a win.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | G.D. | Pts | ||
| 1 | Arsenal | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 68 | 31 | 2.19 | 34 |
| 2 | Aston Villa | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 50 | 30 | 1.67 | 28 |
| 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 45 | 29 | 1.55 | 27 |
| 4 | Derby County | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 32 | 1.41 | 26 |
| 5 | Leeds United | 20 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 29 | 22 | 1.32 | 26 |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 36 | 24 | 1.50 | 23 |
| 7 | Everton | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 38 | 31 | 1.23 | 22 |
| 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 38 | 34 | 1.12 | 22 |
| 9 | Sunderland | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 37 | 37 | 1.00 | 22 |
| 10 | Huddersfield Town | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 26 | 1.08 | 21 |
| 11 | Blackburn Rovers | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 42 | 45 | 0.93 | 19 |
| 12 | Bolton Wanderers | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 43 | 49 | 0.88 | 19 |
| 13 | Sheffield United | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 38 | 50 | 0.76 | 19 |
| 14 | Portsmouth | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 39 | 44 | 0.89 | 18 |
| 15 | Manchester City | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 41 | 39 | 1.05 | 17 |
| 16 | Birmingham City | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 30 | 0.97 | 17 |
| 17 | Liverpool | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 37 | 42 | 0.88 | 17 |
| 18 | Chelsea | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 0.73 | 16 |
| 19 | Blackpool | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 32 | 45 | 0.71 | 16 |
| 20 | Middlesbrough | 19 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 29 | 45 | 0.64 | 10 |
| 21 | Leicester City | 20 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 26 | 49 | 0.53 | 10 |
| 22 | Wolverhampton Wndrs | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 34 | 59 | 0.58 | 9 |
24 December 1932 – a staggering Xmas present to the fans.
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