Prelude: Having published hundreds of articles on the topic of Arsenal and its early days we have now started to try and put them in some sort of order. The indexes provided are unfortunately not comprehensive, but the process of making this history complete and navigable is now under way.
Producing the website The History of Arsenal has been a hobby for me – Tony Attwood – for many years. And like all my hobbies, I have tended to vere off in my own directions and followed my own interests, rather than strictly follow the club, year by year. Not least because I suspected I might get bored with the idea and never carry it through.
But the first article was published on this site in 2009, over 17 years ago, and on having more or less covered the key issues of Arsenal’s origins I have felt it was time to put together an index – if for no other reason than for me to see what we’ve got, and perhaps find a few holes in the story that need filling in. But then events got in the way.
This most recent attempt was started in September 2026. It is not really being done in any specific order – dates are being added as I find them..
When I have completed the index then I will come back to each year and start putting the articles in some sort of order. But for the moment, articles are simply entered by year. If there is a chronology beyond that, your luck is in.
1886
16 February 1886: the birth of Arsenal’s first great superstar
15 August 1886: Charles Lewis born in Plumstead, (then a small town in Kent). He played for East Wickham, Eltham and Maidstone United before joining Arsenal in 1907 – making his debut on December 28.
1886: To know the origins of Arsenal you must know about life in 1886
Woolwich in 1886 – what was it like?
1886: life at the time of the formation of Arsenal
The ultimate proof of the first match in 1886
The Isle of Dogs
Dial Square FC and the Isle of Dogs story – that is not where it started.
George Lawrence
George Lawrence – first benefactor of the club
The match
25 December 1886: Arsenal possibly played its first game on the Isle of Dogs
On the anniversary of the first ever match
Opening the club to all comers
The moment in history that defined Arsenal
The first ever review of Arsenal’s foundation
All the things you have never been told
Arsenal was born in 1886. What sort of world did this fragile child of football enter?
The first season
To know the origins of Arsenal you must know about life in 1886
Arsenal was born in 1886. What sort of world did this fragile child of football enter?
The 10 moments in history that defined Arsenal. 1: 1st December 1886
Arsenal’s very first season. 1886/7 – the games, the results
16 February 1886: the birth of Arsenal’s first great superstar
The moments in history that defined Arsenal. 1: 1st December 1886
11 December 1886 Arsenal’s birthday, and the birth of a famous early player
11 December 1886: the definitive story of the build up to the very first Arsenal game
11 December 1886: the first game but can we be sure.?
11 December 1886: the definitive story of the build up to the very first Arsenal game
25 December 1886: he men who formed Dial Square met in the Royal Oak pub, on Christmas Day 1886 formally to set the club up. Perhaps.
Arsenal’s very first season. 1886/7 – the games, the results
1887/8
Arsenal’s second season: what really happened in 1887/8?
1890
31 May 1890: Woolwich Arsenal elected to Division II of the Football League. Royal Arsenal won a five a side competition in Islington. It is the first known link between Arsenal and their ultimate long-term home.
1891
25 April 1891 – Arsenal’s First Ever Substitute
2 May 1891: Arsenal vote to become the first professional club in the south
9 May 1891: Arsenal vote to become the first professional team in the south
1891: 23 May 1891: Arsenal kicked out of football… or not?
28 August 1891: “Arsenal Football Notes” by Redshirt commenced its regular commentary on the club and its games in the Woolwich Gazette. By 30 September 1892 he was complaining about the negative way his comments were received.
1892
Why Arsenal joned the Football League rather than the Southern League
1893
Football consumes twice as much as the royal family. The view from 1893.
The crowd at Woolwich Arsenal (1893 onwards)
21 January 1893: The end of Royal Arsenal in the FA Cup
31 May 1893: Woolwich Arsenal FC elected to Division II of the Football League.
1893:: On this day in 1893, Arsenal elected to the Football League
1893: the first Arsenal pre-season
2nd September 1893 – Arsenal’s first league game See also: Woolwich Arsenal from the start. Entering the league in 1893
11 September 1893 – the anniversary of our first ever league win.
30 September 1893: What the papers say: Newcastle v Arsenal 30 September 1893
30 December 1893: Arsenal’s first ever away victory in the league!
1899
Arsenal 1899/1900: keeping professional football alive in the south
1907
31 May 1907 Norman Sidey born. He joined Arsenal as an amateur from Nunhead (in the Isthmian League) in March 1929 before turning professional two years later in February 1931.
1909
1909: Boring, boring, Arsenal. The Football League in 1909
7 October 1909: Notts County v Woolwich Arsenal
1909/10 Ten things you may not know about life in England in the 1909/1910 season.
7 Oct 1909: Notts County v Arsenal,
October 1909 Blackburn Rovers v Woolwich Arsenal
1910
What was football like in 1910?
Saturday 22nd January 1910: The day Arsenal went bust
1910: Why did Arsenal go into liquidation?
1910: Arsenal in liquidation. All the things you didn’t know.
1910: Arsenal vs Blackburn: the story from 100 years ago
1913: The final game at Woolwich 26 April 1913 See also here
1919: The 1919 Affair: How Arsenal were promoted to the first division –
1920
31 May 1920: The Football League and the FA held their AGMs. Hilariously the League overturned their decision of the previous meeting and voted to take over the Southern League Division 1, re-creating it as Division Three. They further agreed that they would also create a second Division Three for clubs in the north, as soon as enough clubs applied.
28 August 1922: Arsenal 1 Burnley 1 in the second game of the season Arsenal director Charles Crisp had some guests at the game including Joan Gamper, founder of Barcelona FC, and other friends from Cataluña.
1925
The changes Chapman made in this first season
28 August 1926: Chapman’s second season began with a 2-1 victory over Derby County with Buchan and Parker scoring in front of 32,990.
28 August 1928: Some suggest the original Arsenal clock was installed on this date – but in fact it wasn’t. It was in fact installed in 1930. See here for the full story – but do read the corrections in the readers’ comments!
28 August 1932: The Times confirmed Charlie Jones had been appointed Arsenal captain. He went on to play 29 games in the title winning season.
31 May 1935: Having re-introduced speed limits on British roads, the government now introduced the driving test for everyone who had not held a licence before this date.
28 August 1937: Everton 1 Arsenal 4 in the opening game. Alex James had now gone but Drake got a hattrick and Bastin the fourth.
31 May 1937: First appearance of Lawrie Scott. George Allison changed him from a winger to a right back, and he played in the reserves for two years, until the outbreak of war, at which time he became a Physical Training instructor for the RAF.
31 May 1937: Arsenal beat Copenhagen 5-1 (Scorers Crayston, Davidson, Lewis, Biggs, Nelson). This was the third match of a five match series taking in Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.
31 May 1941: The wartime season ended with a replay of the Football League War Cup final, at Edwood Park Blackburn. Arsenal lost 2-1 to Preston in front of 45,000 fans.
31 May 1947: George Allison announced he would retire at the end of the season, ending a 37 year association with the club. His final act was to write his autobiography: Allison Calling (a title which makes reference to his long-term work as a radio commentator). In the book Allison’s description of Henry Norris (who Allison knew from 1910 onwards) and his style of work contrasts starkly with that in Knighton’s autobiography, and calls into question many of Knighton’s assertions. Ludicrously it is Knighton’s book, written 22 years after he left the club but published within weeks of the Allison book, which is used as the prime source of history by many writers. Allison, like Chapman before him and Whittaker after him, won two league titles and the FA Cup. On this day Arsenal beat Everton 2-1
31 May 1961: Peter Storey joined Arsenal as an apprentice. He later wrote a most readable autobiography called “True Storey‘s; My life and crimes as a football hatchet man,”
31 May 1967: Don Howe’s final game as a player. After 342 games for West Brom he had played 70 games for Arsenal and scored one goal. He then became reserve team coach under Bertie Mee.
31 May 1972: Arsenal played away to Miami Gatos (USA) and won 3-2 in front of a crowd of 4,725. George, Radford and Kennedy scored. Quite what the point of this single post-season game, no one knew, but it was typical of the club at the time.
28 August 1971: Arsenal 0 Stoke City 1 in front of 37,637. Having won the double Arsenal had started the next season with two wins and three defeats.
28 August 1973: John Matthews moved from being an apprentice to being a professional. He made his debut one year later, and went on to play in 45 league games before leaving in 1978.
14 September 1974: 50 years ago today Chelsea v Arsenal was a bottom of the table clash and hooliganism was the discussion of the day
28 August 1976: Sunderland 2 Arsenal 2 with 41,211 in Roker Park. But despite a win and a draw in successive away games the “news” was that Armstrong was going to leave the club.
28 August 1993: Ian Wright’s single, “Do the Wright Thing” entered the charts!
31 May 1980: Alan Sunderland played for England for the only time: Australia 1 England 2. Brian Talbot won his final cap for England in the same game.
28 August 1982: Lee Chapman made his Arsenal league debut against his old club Stoke City. Arsenal lost 1-2 and in fact lost three and drew one of their first four league games.
28 August 1999: Nicolas Anelka transferred to Real Madrid after playing just 50 games and scoring 23 goals. It was said that the profit paid for the new training centre Mr Wenger wanted built.
28 August 2004: Robin van Persie arrived from Feyenoord for £3m. He had played 61 times for the club and scored 15 goals, but had gained a reputation as a difficult player to manage.
28 August 2011: Arsenal lost 2-8 to Man U. See also: Ref Review
28 August 2015: Manuel Almunia was forced to retire from football due to a heart condition. He had just signed for Cagliari Calcio but was unable to play for them. He played 405 games for all his clubs in all competitions. He then became Al Jazira’s goalkeeping coach,
28 August 2016: Arsenal signed Lucas Pérez for £17.1m from Deportivo de La Coruña by activating his release clause.
28 August 2021: Arsenal lost to Manchester City – their third straight defeat, leading to claims in the media of this being Arsenal’s worst start to the season since… The date chosen varied in different outlets, but it was always a long time. The club was described as being in a state of panic and disarray and thoughts of relegation were mentioned.
31 May 2013: Arsenal reported that Freddie Ljungberg had taken on an ambassadorial role with the club.
31 May 2023: The BBC ran a “Who had the youngest average starting XI?”. report. Arsenal were shown to be 19th, with only relegated Southampton having a younger average age to their starting teams in the season.
