By Tony Attwood
One of the most interesting things about gathering together all these anniversaries is that there can be a very curious mix of connections emerging on one particular day.
And of course a lot of the time I am discovering these things as I go along. The court case mentioned in the headline took place in 1927 as one the final acts of the gang directed by the Hill-Wood clan who are hi-jacked the Arsenal board and wanted to oust Henry Norris, the man who had rescued the club.
The courts had already ruled that attempts by the board to get rid of Arsenal’s finance director were illegal, but the FA were never a body to be worried about the mere law of the land, and told the directors at Arsenal that if they did not get rid of their finance director, who was a friend of Sir Henry Norris, the club would be kicked out of the league.
In fact the FA had no legal power to make such a move, but the tactics won, and the new clique that had taken over the club, won the day. They continued to run the club until they sold out to the Kroenke family.
Meanwhile it is Gilles Grimandi’s birthday – we wish him happy returns. He was last heard of working with Patrick Vieira. And we can note the fact that our ex keeper Szczesny named his son Liam.
Plus this was the day in 2001 that the BBC reported that Arsenal had barred Bin Laden from Highbury adding that he had been regularly seen at the Clock End. After that, the song became. He’s hiding in Kabul, He loves the Arsenal.
Here are the anniversaries.
11 November 1916: After four goals against Watford the previous week Arsenal showed that they really were starting to pull things around in the wartime league, with their third successive win: a 4-0 home victory over Clapton Orient.
11 November 1921: The first ever Armistice Day arranged by the British Legion – the first official “Poppy Day”. It had taken three years to formulate, since the end of the war, but this most moving of remembrances has continued ever since.
11 November 1922: Everton came to Highbury and won 2-1, making it four defeats and one draw in five games, and as a result Arsenal were now bottom of the table with by far the worst defence in the League.
11 November 1927: With the courts having ruled that the FA could not remove George Peachey (Arsenal’s financial adviser on the board) as a director the FA informed Arsenal that if it did not remove him the FA would expel Arsenal from membership. Thus on this day the anti-Norris faction on the board bought enough shares in the club to vote Peachey off the board, and thus kowtowed to the FA’s demands.
11 November 1930: Racing Club de Paris 2 Arsenal 7. This was the first in the series of games to honour and raise money for those who gave their lives in the first world war, each game played on or close to Armistice Day.
11 November 1931: Having won the game against Racing so easily last year this time Chapman left Lambert, Roberts and John behind. Arsenal still won but only by 3-2.
11 November 1933: Arsenal went to Wolverhampton who had slipped from their position at the top of the league, and gained a 1-0 away win. Alex James dropped out and Bowden returned, and scored the goal. But Tottenham once again edged beyond Arsenal with a 4-0 home win against Newcastle.
11 November 1935: Racing Club de Paris 2 Arsenal 2
11 November 1946: Racing Club de Paris 1 Arsenal 2 – the Arsenal side including Albert Sigurður Guðmundsson in his last match for the club as he was refused a work permit. Racing then tried to sign him.
11 November 1947: Racing Club de Paris 4 Arsenal 3
11 November 1958: John Devine born in Dublin. He played for Arsenal from 1974 to 1983 at a time when the Irishmen associated with Arsenal included Liam Brady, David O’Leary and Frank Stapleton.
11 November 1970: Gilles Grimandi born in Gap. He played for his home town club from 1988-91 and Monaco from 1991 to 1997 before playing his first Arsenal game on 9th August 1997 along with Overmars, and Petit. In March 2019, Grimandi left Arsenal to become technical director at OGC Nice, to work with Patrick Vieira
11 November 1972: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Arsenal 3 before 25,988 fans. Wolverhampton dominated the first half but in the 47th minute Ball took the ball from Bailey, made a perfect long pass to George who crossed equally perfectly to Radford who scored. Arsenal scored two more in the last five minutes.
11 November 1978: Leeds United 0 Arsenal 1, with 33,961 watching on in Elland Road as Arsenal made it four wins in a row. Pat Rice put in one of his best performances ever, Brady was sublime, and with the certain knowledge that the defence was on its game, the midfield and forwards explored every blade of grass.
11 November 1998: Arsenal Reserves 0 Chelsea 5, league cup fourth round. It was the last time that Arsenal charged full price for league cup tickets and included the league cup in the season ticket cup allocation.
11 November 2000: John Lukic played against Derby C aged 39 years 336 days and became Arsenal’s oldest player of the post-war era.
11 November 2001: The BBC reported that Arsenal had barred Bin Laden from Highbury adding that he had been regularly seen at the Clock End. Bin Laden’s support for Arsenal was subsequently noted in a North Bank song: He’s hiding in Kabul, He loves the Arsenal. Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on 2 May 2011,
11 November 2010: Szczesny signed a five year deal. He progressed to be the clear first choice keeper until early 2015 when a poor performance and disciplinary issues saw him replaced by David Ospina. In the summer of 2015 he went out on loan. On 30 June 2018 Szczesny’s wife gave birth to a boy, who was named “Liam”.
11 November 2018: Arsenal 1 Wolverhampton 1 made it ten undefeated, but the last three games had been draws. However Arsenal did go on to get through four more games before a defeat was encountered.
The board should also think of making a history UEFA champions league troffi which clubs like Chelsea are now bragging around us for only winning one.