Below are the anniversaries of Arsenal for 8 April
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The latest article on Henry Norris at the Arsenal is…
Arsenal in November 1921: the fog, the goal rush, the resignation.
The current series:
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, our current series of articles is on Henry Norris at the Arsenal. The series is being worked on daily, and the articles thus far are here.
A list of many of our major series (including complete detailed reviews of Arsenal in the 30s and Arsenal in the 70s, and links to the anniversaries throughout the year, is given on the AISA Arsenal History Society home page.
Today’s headline story from April
8 April 1891: Arsenal 2 Old Carthusians 2 in the replay of the London Charity Cup semi-final. It was in effect the County Cup for London teams, for which Arsenal had made it to the final the previous season.
8 April 1898: With Arsenal in the Football League and Tottenham in the Southern League the only place the clubs could meet was in the United League and on this day a United League game at White Hart Lane attracted 14,500 fans.
8 April 1899: Arsenal 4 New Brighton Tower 0; the first win in five, after a promising season. A goal from Hunt gave him 15 for the season, and secured the position of being top league scorer.for the club.
8 April 1910: Arsenal revealed the club’s debt to be £6200 including £1630 to Mr Leavey, who had kept Arsenal going with his loans, and £1347 to Archie Leitch the architect and ground developer who had designed the Manor Ground’s grandstand years earlier. Even though this latter debt had been hidden from earlier accounts Henry Norris settled it.
8 April 1911: Arsenal 2 Tottenham 0. Division 1. 24,583 turned up for the game which was part of an 11 match unbeaten run lasting to the end of the season. Chalmers and Common got the goals.
8 April 1922: Last senior game for Angus McKinnon. He played 211 games for Arsenal – his only senior club. He spent some of his post-playing years as trainer and coach for New Brighton FC.
8 April 1933: Arsenal beat lowly Middlesbrough 3-4. Hulme got three and Bastin the other. Sheffield Wednesday, our rivals at the top of the league however had a catastrophe of a day losing 4-0 at Huddersfield.
8 April 1939: Last senior game for Alex Wilson. He was signed as cover for Frank Moss and won the FA Cup with Arsenal, but was ultimately replaced by George Swindin. He later worked as a trainer and physio in England and America.
8 April 1947: George Curtis played his last game for Arsenal. He spent time playing for the nursery club Margate but after 13 games for Arsenal moved to Southampton, later managing teams across the world including the Norway national side.
8 April 1961: Brian McDermott born. He played 61 league games for Arsenal, and played for 10 other clubs before managing Reading and Leeds, later returning to Arsenal as chief scout.
8 April 1970: Arsenal 3 Ajax 0. Fairs Cup semi final first leg. (George 2, Sammels) on the road to the first trophy since 1953. 46,271 came to Highbury
8 April 1972: George Graham nodded in two headers to give Arsenal a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton who having taken the lead on the half hour then played a 10 man defense for the rest of the game until Graham scored on 78 and 80 minutes.
8 April 1975: With six games to go Arsenal could still be drawn into the relegation mix but a 2-0 win over Coventry City eased the worries, although the accountants would have been unhappy with only 17,291 in the ground.
8 April 1978: Arsenal 3 Orient 0. 13th FA Cup semi final, played at Stamford Bridge. Macdonald scored two, continuing his run of scoring in each round. Rix got the other.
8 April 1986: Last senior game for Paul Mariner – Arsenal 1 Nottm Forest 1. In his final season he made just five starts and seven sub appearances in league and cup but failed to score.
8 April 1987: In Graham’s first season WHU 3 Arsenal 1 made it 10 without a victory. It did however end the even worse run of six games without scoring. Arsenal’s goal was a penalty from Martin Hayes.
8 April 1992: Stephen Morrow’s first game: Arsenal 3 Norwich 1. He had joined from Bangor and went on to make 39 starts in the League scoring one goal.
8 April 2001: Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1. FA Cup semi final. Tottenham had just sacked George Graham as their manager, and brought in Glen Hoddle, but it did them no good in this game at Old Trafford. Tottenham took the lead on 14 mins but Vieira and Pires gave Arsenal the victory.
8 April 2008: Liverpool knocked Arsenal out of Champions League winning 4-2 (5-3 on aggregate). After a 1-1 draw at Highbury, Diaby’s goal on 13 minutes gave everyone hope, but Liverpool got two and when Adebayor got Arsenal’s second, Liverpool immediately restored their lead.
8 April 2009: Luke Freeman, the youngest ever player to play in the FA Cup (on 10 November 2007) signed professionally for Arsenal. After Arsenal he played over 100 games for Stevenage before joining Bristol City.
