Arsenal march on towards the 1971 double

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By Tony Attwood

By 1 April 1971, Arsenal had secured their place in the FA Cup final, having beaten Stoke 2-0 on March 31st in the semi-final replay. They were due to play Liverpool at Wembley on 8 May in the final.

But between that semi-final victory and the final itself, Arsenal still had a ludicrous ten games to play in the league – all squeezed in between April 1 and May 3. The general consensus at the time was that the notion of the Double was now impossible – the demands on the club and its players were just too much.

The table on All Fools Day read

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Leeds United	35	23	8	4	60	27	54
2	Arsenal	32	21	6	5	57	25	48
3	Chelsea	35	16	12	7	47	36	44

Equal points totals at the time were calculated by goal average, meaning goals scored were divided by goals against, and on that calculation, Arsenal were fractionally ahead of Leeds – although of course they were still six points behind so as yet the issue was irrelevant.

True Arsenal had three games in hand, but it was only two points for a win in these unreformed days. That meant that if Arsenal won all its games in hand at this point, it would indeed be above Leeds on goal average, irrespective of the score. But Arsenal had to keep themselves going with the ten games left – and ensure they had players fit enough to play the Cup Final after that. It was a pretty ludicrous situation, and the media had absolutely no faith at all in Arsenal to be able to pull it off. In short, they were confident that the title was going to Leeds.

And indeed this did not seem too wild a suggestion since Leeds had won the first division title in 1968/9 and had come second in 1969/70. What’s more, their average attendance this season has risen to over 37,000. Why should they not repeat the triumph of 1968/69?

Arsenal on the other hand, had ended their last six campaigns in 13th, 14th, 7th, 9th, 4th and 12th. All they had to show for their recent improvement under Bertie Mee were two League Cup finals, both of which they had lost. Worse still, Arsenal were fighting on two fronts, and there was general agreement in the media, which was displaying its usual anti-Arsenal sentiments, that the Double was now impossible, and any team stupid enough to try it would end up losing on all fronts.

Indeed at this time only three teams had ever won the League and Cup double: Preston in 1989, Aston Villa in 1897 and Tottenham Hotspur in 1961. That Tottenham team had been lauded by the media as the greatest team the league had ever seen, and the notion that this Arsenal team might emulate that achievement was too much for most of the media to accept.

But there were some positive pointers. Arsenal were scoring more and conceding far fewer than in previous seasons, and indeed, although the season was not over yet, it was clear that the difference between goals scored and goals conceded, which last season in the league had stood at a miserly two goals, would this season be completely different.

Of course, many, especially in the media, were saying that Arsenal would fall apart by fighting on two fronts at once, but in fact, Arsenal were heading for a final league total of 20 more goals scored than the season before and again 20 fewer goals conceded. Quite simply, their goal difference, had anybody bothered to look at it, ended up at +42, while in the season it was +2.

Obviously, no one did look because this was still the era of goal average, not goal difference, but those totals tell the story of what Mee did in this season. He managed to improve not just part of the team, but the whole team, from defence to the forwards.

Arsenal entered April having won five and lost one of their last six matches. Better still, in the final three games of March, Arsenal had not conceded a single goal. And this run continued into April with a 2-0 win over Chelsea and a 1-0 win over Coventry, Ray Kennedy getting all three goals.

And although on 10 April Arsenal did concede a goal, they still beat Southampton 2-1.

It was good going, and slowly the gap was closing. Here is the very top of the league after the 10 April games

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Leeds United	37	24	9	4	65	28	57
2	Arsenal	35	24	6	5	62	26	54

But Leeds were showing signs of faltering, perhaps because they were still progressing in the Fairs Cup – the European competition of the day. Leeds had lost to Chelsea on 27 March, giving Arsenal the feeling that anything was still possible, and although on 3 April they had come back and swaped Burnely 4-0, they were still concerned about the Leeds results.

But Arsenal kept on winning, beating Southampton away 2-1 on 10 April. On the same day Leeds drew with Newcastle 1-1, and then on 12 April, with Arsenal not playing, they drew again – a goalless draw with Hudderfield again away.

That meant that as Leeds prepared for a Fair Cup match against Liverpool, Arsenal went into the away game on 13 April against Nottingham Forest as the table top now showed Arsenal just four points behind the leaders, with three games in hand. Arsenal won 3-0 and suddenly it was all moving Arsenal’s way. Arsenal now just two points behind Leeds and still with two games in hand.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Leeds United	38	24	10	4	65	28	58
2	Arsenal	36	25	6	5	65	26	56

Arsenal and Leeds then had a rest in terms of league games until 17 April. On that day, Leeds, undoubtedly distracted by playing in Europe and fighting for the title at home, at the same time, lost 1-2 at home to West Bromwich Albion, who were 18th in the League. Arsenal beat Newcastle 1-0 with a goal from Charlie George.

And at last the table now showed the rewards for all that Arsenal had achieved in their eight consecutive league victories…

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Arsenal	37	26	6	5	66	26	58
2	Leeds United	39	24	10	5	66	30	58
3	Chelsea	39	17	14	8	50	40	48

On 13 April in an away game with Nottingham Forest, the result was a resounding 3-0 win to Arsenal with McLintock, Kennedy and George all scoring. Matters were moving Arsenal’s way, but as everyone knew, there was still the matter of Leeds United v Arsenal to be played on 26 April.

The series continues.

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