Here are the Anniversaries from 4 September – part of our regular daily look at Arsenal’s history.
Our most recent article on Arsenal’s history is
4 September 1891: Fred Pagnam born. He was one of those rare men who while playing for Liverpool refused to be involved in the match fixing scandal of 1915 and testified against Liverpool at the subsequent hearing. Not surprisingly Liverpool sold him as football resumed in 1919.
4 September 1893: First game for Frederick Davis -a friendly against Doncaster Rovers. He went on to play 137 league games for Arsenal – the only league club he ever appeared for.
4 September 1923 Jock Rutherford – the oldest man ever to play for Arsenal, joined the club for the second time, after a short period managing Stoke. Even after leaving Arsenal aged 41 he went on to play for Clapton Orient.
4 September 1926: Jimmy Dunne played his first game for Sheffield Utd… a 4–0 win against Arsenal. It would have been the first time the Chapman saw the man who became his last big money signing.
4 September 1937 – Arsenal beat Wolverhampton 5-0 to give a dream start of three straight wins and 12 goals, but then it started to go wrong with just one win in the next five, before Arsenal recovered and went on to win the league.
4 September 1946: Football League resumed at Highbury after the war although this match (Arsenal 1 Wolverhampton 6) showed that Arsenal were not the powerhouse they had been before the war.
4 September 1948: First game for Doug Lishman. He had served in the Royal Marine Commandos during the Second World War and took part in the Walcheren Island landing in Holland. He signed as a professional for Walsall after the second world war in August 1946 and in May 1948 moved to Arsenal for £10,500.
4 September 1956: Final match for Don Roper. He got two league winner’s medals, and played as a regular for Arsenal until 3 December 1955 – his final match being a 1-2 home defeat to Preston on 4 September 1956. He played 321 matches for Arsenal in total, scoring 95 goals.
4 September 1963: WBA 4 Arsenal 0. This made it three defeats in the opening four games with a goal record of scored six, conceded 16. The result left Arsenal 21st out of 22 – with the 22nd team having a game in hand.
4 September 1968: Jim Furnell sold for £8,000 to Rotherham United; he having played 167 league and cup matches for Arsenal. He moved to Plymouth Argyle in 1970, retiring from playing in 1976. In 2003, Jim Furnell was named as goalkeeper in Plymouth’s greatest all-time team, by the club supporters.
4 September 1975 – Walley Barnes died aged 55. Towards the end of his playing career he was also manager of Wales, and then moved on to work for the BBC, and was commentator on the very first edition of Match of the Day in 1964.
4 September 1979: Arsenal’s biggest league cup win beating Leeds 7-0 after a 1-1 draw at Elland Rd. Alan Sunderland got a hat trick and Liam Brady scored two penalties, Nelson and Stapleton the other scorers.
4 September 1986: Perry Groves signed from Colchester whom he had joined in 1981. He played 142 league games for them and scored 26 goals before moving for £50,000: the first Arsenal signing of George Graham.
4 September 2000: Igors Stepanovs signed from Skonto Riga for £1.35m as cover for the injured Tony Adams. He had played 129 times for the Latvian team. He retired in 2011 having played 100 times for Latvia and became manager of the national under 17 squad.
4 September 2009 Johan Djourou underwent surgery on his left knee cartilage after injury on international duty. Apart from one game he did not feature again until 2011..
Elsewhere on this day, in 1791 King Louis XVI approves the new constitution which recognises him… as a civil servant.
- Arsenal day by day – over 5000 anniversaries of the club
The current series from the Arsenal History Series being developed on this site is Henry Norris at the Arsenal, covering all aspects off the life and work of the man who rescued Arsenal from extinction, secured the club’s future by moving it to Highbury, and then brought in Herbert Chapman as manager.
The previously untold tale of how it was that Norris came to choose Highbury as the suitable location for Arsenal’s new ground.
The series is being worked on daily, and the articles thus far are here.
Among the many other series we have run are…
- Arsenal in the 30s
- Arsenal players in the 30s
- Arsenal in the summer
- The First League Season, including a review of each player who played in that season
- Arsenal day by day – over 5000 anniversaries of the club
- Arsenal in the 70s
There are details of many other series covered by this site on our home page.
