by Tony Attwood
In what is becoming a bit of a series, I’m selecting a few events involved this weekend’s opponents that took place in the early part of the season.
It gives us a chance to remember the last of the 49, as much as anything else.
The Prelude…
1952
23 August 1952: Arsenal 2 Villa 1 starts the march to the last ever championship… until Mee wins the double in 1971.
1955
23 August 1955: Arsenal 1 Cardiff 0. First home win of the season. The next came on 1 October, in a defeat of Aston Villa.
1991
24 August 1991: Aston Villa 3 Arsenal 1. As league champions Arsenal had opened the season with two defeats and a draw – scoring three and letting in 7.
2003
27 August 2003: Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 0. The 3rd league match of the unbeaten season
2006
19 August 2006: Gilberto scores his first league goal for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in 1-1 draw with Villa.
2013
17 August 2013: Arsenal lose first match of the season to Villa at home amid referee decisions so odd that even the press start mentioning them.
And in September itself
1910
17 September 1910: Aston Villa v Arsenal
1912
16 September 1912: Arsenal lose 0-3 at home to Villa. Crowd: 6805
1964
2 September 1964: John MacLeod sold to Villa
1988
3 September 1988: Having won the first match of the season 5-1 away to Wimbledon, Arsenal lose the first home match 2-3 to Aston Villa.
1996
7 September 1996: Final match of Stewart Houston’s reign as temporary manager; 2-2 draw with Aston Villa
The Aftermath
2004
16 October 2004: The last of the great 49, a 3-1 home win over Villa
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
