Why did the 1st division clubs vote Arsenal into the top league in 1919?

 

100 consecutive seasons in the First Division for Arsenal FC.

If you have been reading the Arsenal History Society posts of late, you will know that we have been charting the unique achievement of Arsenal: 100 consecutive seasons in the top division.

These articles were each published on the day written, and given that I am notorious for making slips I am now going through the series again and checking each entry.   But I thought I would also update this article written early on in the series which stresses the uniqueness of this achievement.

Arsenal joined the First Division in 1919 and have been there ever since.  Despite attempts by some Tottenham fans and others to suggest that Arsenal’s election to the First Division upon its expansion was some sort of fix, absolutely no evidence has ever been put forward to support this hypothesis.

Rather, there were several reasons that clubs voted en masse to bring Arsenal into the First Division.

First, there was the universal thanks that the league gave to Arsenal for being a Football League club at a time when other clubs in the area, notably Tottenham Hotspur, spurned the Football League with its national ambitions, but preferred the softer touch and lower travelling costs of the Southern League.

Second the clubs in the Midlands and North knew that their players loved a night out with the rather dubious entertainments offered in the West End of London, and so clubs from the north effectively let their players off the leash after the Saturday afternoon game, and ordered them merely to be ready to get into the coach at 10pm or in later days of luxury at the hotel by 10am on Sunday, for the rail trip back to their homeland.

Third, there was little doubt that Arsenal in north London, at a site next to an underground station, would readily attract big crowds – which would benefit both home and away fans.

And finally, the clubs themselves did not like the journey to Plumstead as it included a trip across the river the likes of which many players with teams outside the capital had never undertaken before.   All things considered, Arsenal in north London was something that clubs across the country welcomed, as they sought to see off the pretensions of the Southern League.  So a reward for Arsenal in terms of election to the top division was proposed.

So Arsenal were elected in 1919 into the first division, having come fifth in the second division the year before, being joined by Chelsea who had been relegated (but only because of the match fixing antics of Manchester United and Liverpool in the 1914/15 season – subsequent seasons not being played because of the war).

And here Arsenal have stayed ever since – the longest run in the top division of any club in England’s professional football history.   Which is how we come to celebrate 100 seasons in the First Division – the one and only club yet to achieve this extraordinary feat.  Especially since in the 100th year, Arsenal won the league!

To avoid any confusion I am omitted the points (which changed from two to three) and goal average (which changed to goal difference), during the 100 years!

	Season	POs	P	W	D	L	F	A
1	1919–20	10	42	15	12	15	56	58
2	1920–21	9	42	15	14	13	59	63
3	1921–22	17	42	15	7	20	47	56
4	1922–23	11	42	16	10	16	61	62
5	1923–24	19	42	12	9	21	40	63
6	1924–25	20	42	14	5	23	46	58
7	1925-26	2	42	22	8	12	87	63
8	1926–27	11	42	17	9	16	77	86
9	1927–28	10	42	13	15	14	82	86
10	1928–29	9	42	16	13	13	77	72
11	1929–30	14	42	14	11	17	78	66
12	1930-31	1	42	28	10	4	127	59
13	1931-32	2	42	22	10	10	90	48
14	1932-33	1	42	25	8	9	118	61
15	1933-34	1	42	25	9	8	75	47
16	1934-35	1	42	22	12	7	115	46
17	1935–36	6	42	15	15	12	78	48
18	1936-37	3	42	18	16	8	80	49
19	1937-38	1	42	21	10	11	77	44
20	1938–39	5	42	19	9	14	55	41
21	1946–47	13	42	16	9	17	72	70
22	1947-48	1	42	23	13	6	81	32
23	1948–49	5	42	18	13	11	74	44
24	1949–50	6	42	19	11	12	79	55
25	1950–51	5	42	19	9	14	73	56
26	1951–52	3	42	21	11	10	80	61
27	1952–53	1	42	21	12	9	97	64
28	1953–54	12	42	15	13	14	75	73
29	1954–55	9	42	17	9	16	69	63
30	1955–56	5	42	18	10	14	60	61
31	1956–57	5	42	21	8	13	85	69
32	1957–58	12	42	16	7	19	73	85
33	1958–59	3	42	21	8	13	88	68
34	1959–60	13	42	15	9	18	68	80
35	1960–61	11	42	15	11	16	77	85
36	1961–62	10	42	16	11	15	71	72
37	1962–63	7	42	18	10	14	86	77
38	1963–64	8	42	17	11	14	90	82
39	1964–65	13	42	17	7	18	69	75
40	1965–66	14	42	12	13	17	62	75
41	1966–67	7	42	16	14	12	58	47
42	1967–68	9	42	17	10	15	60	56
43	1968–69	4	42	22	12	8	56	27
44	1969–70	12	42	12	18	12	51	49
45	1970–71	1	42	29	7	6	71	29
46	1971–72	5	42	22	8	12	58	40
47	1972–73	2	42	23	11	8	57	43
48	1973–74	10	42	14	14	14	49	51
49	1974–75	16	42	13	11	18	47	49
50	1975–76	17	42	13	10	19	47	53
51	1976–77	8	42	16	11	15	64	59
52	1977–78	5	42	21	10	11	60	37
53	1978–79	7	42	17	14	11	61	48
54	1979–80	4	42	18	16	8	52	36
55	1980–81	3	42	19	15	8	61	45
56	1981–82	5	42	20	11	11	48	37
57	1982–83	10	42	16	10	16	58	56
58	1983–84	6	42	18	9	15	74	60
59	1984–85	7	42	19	9	14	61	49
60	1985–86	7	42	20	9	13	49	47
61	1986–87	4	42	20	10	12	58	35
62	1987–88	6	40	18	12	10	58	39
63	1988–89	1	38	22	10	6	73	36
64	1989–90	4	38	18	8	12	54	38
65	1990–91	1	38	24	13	1	74	18
66	1991–92	4	42	19	15	8	81	46
67	1992–93	10	42	15	11	16	40	38
68	1993–94	4	42	18	17	7	53	28
69	1994–95	12	42	13	12	17	52	49
70	1995–96	5	38	17	12	9	49	32
71	1996–97	3	38	19	11	8	62	32
72	1997–98	1	38	23	9	6	68	33
73	1998–99	2	38	22	12	4	59	17
74	1999–2000	2	38	22	7	9	73	43
75	2000–01	2	38	20	10	8	63	38
76	2001–02	1	38	26	9	3	79	36
77	2002–03	2	38	23	9	6	85	42
78	2003–04	1	38	26	12	0	73	26
79	2004–05	2	38	25	8	5	87	36
80	2005–06	4	38	20	7	11	68	31
81	2006–07	4	38	19	11	8	63	35
82	2007–08	3	38	24	11	3	74	31
83	2008–09	4	38	20	12	6	68	37
84	2009–10	3	38	23	6	9	83	41
85	2010–11	4	38	19	11	8	72	43
86	2011–12	3	38	21	7	10	74	49
87	2012–13	4	38	21	10	7	72	37
88	2013–14	4	38	24	7	7	68	41
89	2014–15	3	38	22	9	7	71	36
90	2015–16	2	38	20	11	7	65	36
91	2016–17	5	38	23	6	9	77	44
92	2017–18	6	38	19	6	13	74	51
93	2018–19	5	38	21	7	10	73	51
94	2019–20	8	38	14	14	10	56	48
95	2020–21	8	38	18	7	13	55	39
96	2021–22	5	38	22	3	13	61	48
97	2022-23	2	38	26	6	6	88	43
98	2023–24	2	38	28	5	5	91	29
99	2024–25	2	38	20	14	4	69	34
100	2025-26	1	38	26	7	5	71	27