The event
Normally I drop straight into a review of the anniversaries, but something a little different today as the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association (AISA) is inviting all its members to an audience with Mark Pougatch.
Mark Pougatch, the TV and radio football broadcast journalist is also an Arsenal fan, and has agreed to join us for an evening of chat and reflection.
The event is open to all AISA members and will take place at 7.30pm on Monday next, June 15th just ahead of the PL season’s restart.
If you are an AISA member you will receive details of how to log into the Zoom event in your email on Monday afternoon so for now all you need do is set yourself a reminder on the calendar.
If you have questions that you would like put to Mark then please send them directly to AISA’s chair drewdgray17@gmail.com
Today’s anniversaries
And now the anniversaries for today… and if you know for sure where Nelson Vivas is currently managing please do write in and let me know.
12 June 1945: Pat Jennings born. In his early years he played for Shamrock Rovers and Newry Unite, and had a spell playing Gaelic football before joining Watford in 1963.
12 June 1946: Bobby Gould born. He started his career with Coventry, making his debut for them at the age of 16, before joining Arsenal in 1968. In all he played for nine and managed 11 major clubs. He was last reported as assistant manager at Western League side Portishead Town.
12 June 1951: Final appearance for Ian McPherson. He played 152 games for Arsenal before moving back to Notts County – the club from which he had been signed in 1946. He was a regular in the championship team of 1948.
12 June 1974: Death of Peter Dougall who played 21 league games for Arsenal in the 1930s. He later played for Everton and Bury before retiring from football.
12 June 1977: Even a full-back pairing of Rice and Nelson could not stop N Ireland being beaten by Iceland 2-0 in the World Cup.
12 June 1980: Clive Allen was signed by Arsenal from QPR in one of the strangest transfers ever. He never played for Arsenal in the league (although he played in three pre-season friendlies) and moved to Crystal Palace in a swap deal for Kenny Sansom before the season began. He played three games for Carlisle in 1995/6 and NFL for the London Monarchs in 1997.
12 June 1998. Emmanuel Petit played for France in their opening world cup game. He played 63 times for France and scored three goals including one in the world cup final. He is reportedly now working as an online trading broker and a pundit on French TV as well as being an ambassador for the Homeless World Cup.
12 June 2001: Nelson Vivas moved to Inter on a free transfer. He played 69 times for Arsenal scoring one goal, moving first to Celta de Vigo on loan before moving on to Italy. He later moved into management but in 2013 attacked a fan in the stands and then resigned. Wiki has him noted as Argentina manager of the year in 2017 but we have no more details on that.
12 June 2008: Derek Tapscott died. After retiring from playing football he worked in the sporting goods business until retiring in 1997. He also wrote an autobiography, “Tappy”.
12 June 2009: Fabianski signed a four year contract with Arsenal which ended with him lifting the FA Cup. He then moved on a free transfer to Swansea having refused to sign a new contract with Arsenal and in 2018 moved on to WHU.
12 June 2018: Yassin Fortune joined FC Sion after rejecting new Arsenal deal
