The Anniversaries …
Below are the Arsenal (and for historical context, occasionally one or two non-Arsenal) anniversaries for today taken from the files of over 6000 Arsenal anniversaries which appear on the Arsenal History Society website. You will also find links to the month by month listing of anniversaries in the right hand column of this page.
Our headline comes from 1988.
The series
“Henry Norris at the Arsenal” is now complete. The index to all the articles can be found at Henry Norris at the Arsenal. We are now preparing a more concise edition for publication as a book.
Arsenal in the 1930s: the complete history. The most detailed review and analysis of Arsenal in the 1930s ever published. The full index is here.
Arsenal in the 1970s: the complete history. Every game reviewed and analysed. The full index is here.
The Anniversaries for Today
19 December 1896: John Caldwell returned to Arsenal from Third Lanark where he had been playing. His career is somewhat mysterious, as the previous season he had played every league game save one for Arsenal, then for some reason vanished, but now returned.
19 December 1897: James Devlin was transferred from Sunderland to Arsenal for £80 having only been with Sunderland for two months. But he was struck down with pleurisy soon after arriving at Plumstead and so just played one match, on 1 Jan 1898, in which he scored. He moved to Airdrie on 7 August 1898 in exchange for John Dick.
19 December 1903: Arsenal 5 Grimsby 1. The score meant Arsenal had scored 25 goals in six games, which left Arsenal second, two points behind league leaders Preston. In fact the season finished with Preston as champions, just one point ahead of Arsenal as Arsenal gained promotion to division 1.
19 December 1933: Jim Fotheringham born. He joined Arsenal as an amateur in 1949 and after Bill Dodgin was dropped as keeper Jim got 39 games in the 1953/4 season before himself being dropped in favour once more of Dodgin.
19 December 1933: George Cox turned professional with Arsenal, having previously played for Horsham. He made his Arsenal debut on 8 March 1934 against Leicester and went on to play seven league games in this and the next season.
19 December 1959: Jimmy Magill debut. Sheffield W 5 Arsenal 1. He began his career with Portadown but moved to Arsenal in May 1959. He went on to play 116 games before moving to Brighton and Hove, his final club.
19 December 1970: Man U 1 Arsenal 3, making it five consecutive wins in League match 22 of the first Double season. But despite the victories Arsenal’s progress was matched by Leeds who still led Arsenal by two points.
19 December 1988. Alexis Sánchez born in Tocopilla, Chile. He was signed for Arsenal by Arsene Wenger, but ultimate ran down his contract before he was swapped for Mkhitaryan. His subsequent career under Mourinho was disappointing.
19 December 1989: Rangers 1 Arsenal 2, Zenith Data Systems Challenge Cup between the champions of Scotland and England. Arsenal won 2-1. There is a video on You Tube.
19 December 1990: Tony Adams imprisoned for four months for drink driving. He gained 50% remission for good behaviour, and subsequently dedicated much time to his charity which supported sports people with addictions.
19 December 2009: Arsenal beat Hull City 3-0. Subsequently Hull were given a £40,000 fine for the behaviour of their manager and the team’s behaviour during and after the match which included a fracas on the pitch.
19 December 2012: Gibbs, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, and Wilshere, all signed new contracts, as Arsenal spoke about the value of having young British players in the team.
