The last I heard of Phillipe Senderos he was playing for Houston Dynamo in the USA but I suspect he finished his contract there last year and has now retired. His reputation among Arsenal fans was not of the highest, but I saw him in a more positive light, as obviously did the Swiss national team as he won 57 caps for his country. He played 64 times for Arsenal, and I have no information on what he is doing now that his football career is over. But he does speak five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, so one imagines he will not find it too hard to get work.
Here are the anniversaries.
8 June 1899: Duncan McNichol signed from Scottish junior club St Bernards. He became a regular at full back and played in the record breaking 12-0 victory over Loughboro. For the context in the club see here
8 June 1905: Jimmy Sharp signed for Woolwich Arsenal from Fulham, then of the Southern League. He had won a runners-up medal with Dundee, and Scottish caps before moving on to play for Arsenal.
8 June 1910: Henry Norris, Arsenal’s new owner, told manager George Morrell that his job was safe despite missing relegation by just one place and two points, in the season just finished. For all the events of this period see here.
8 June 1914: Frank Bradshaw signed from Everton. In 1907, he played in Wednesday’s FA Cup winning team and got an England cap before moving to Northampton, and then Everton for whom he played 66 times.
8 June 1925: The Football League voted to change the offside rule to two men behind the ball rather than three, leading to numerous experiments with variant “WM” formations in the following season. Chapman’s approach helped Arsenal come second in 1925/6. For the momentous events of this summer which changed Arsenal forever see here.
8 June 1936: Arsenal fined £250 for fielding weakened teams in order to protect their FA Cup squad (which won the cup the previous April). For the story of the summer of 1936 see here.
8 June 1954: Lionel Smith sold to Watford. Although a regular in the title winning 1952/3 team he only played ten games in 1953/4 and left on a free transfer. He played just seven times for Watford before moving onto Gravesend.
8 June 1982: Tony Woodcock signed from Cologne. He had been in Germany for three seasons, scoring 28 goals in 81 games.
8 June 1995: Bruce Rioch appointed manager of Arsenal from Bolton. In 1994/5 Bolton were losing League Cup finalists, and beat Reading in the Division One play off. It is said Bolton supporters think of him as one of their best managers.
8 June 2010: Philippe Senderos joined Fulham from Arsenal on a free. He played 57 times for them before moving on to Valencia and then in 2014, Aston Villa. In all he won 57 caps and was included in the Swiss squads for three World Cups.
8 June 2011: Carl Jenkinson signed for £1m. He showed great promise and was loaned to West Ham for 2014/15 where he became a regular with the side but his career was later hampered by injury.
Publications and articles
“Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football” and “Making the Arsenal” are now available as printed books, and on Kindle. Please see here for more details.
Henry Norris at the Arsenal: There is a full index to the series here.
Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever
Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.
Senderos took us right to the champions league final. Campbell played the final hut senderos’ contribution to get there was absolutely epic.