Johann Djourou was always a reserve player at Arsenal and in his ten years registered with the club only made 86 first team appearances. After loans to Hannover (January 2013) and Hamburger SV (1 July 2013) and in April 2014, Hamburg confirmed that they had signed Djourou on a permanent deal
He played 74 times for the club until on 7 August 2017 he moved to Antalyaspor of Turkey before moving onto SPAL of Serie A, but only played for them six times. The last club we have a note of him at is Sion in his native Switzerland for whom he signed on 23 January 2020 with a contract running to the end of the season.
Here are the anniversaries.
8 February 1902: First game for Thomas Tindal Fitchie – the man who signed five times for Arsenal. Known as the prince of dribblers he signed for clubs seventeen times in his career as he combined being a travelling salesman with being a footballer.
8 February 1905: Arsenal lost 0-1 to Bristol City (away) in the FA Cup in front of 10,000. City were on the way up and in the latter part of the decade were league runners’ up and cup finalists.
8 February 1913: Debut for Stephen Stonley who was signed from Newcastle City, having never played a league game. The selling club was probably in Staffordshire, and his signing either shows that Arsenal’s scouting system was widespread or that the player travelled to Woolwich looking for work.
8 February 1913. First match for Joseph Fidler – one of the men who played the last game in Plumstead and the first game at Highbury. The game was a goalless draw; Arsenal’s first point after four defeats.
8 February 1919: Arsenal played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and won 2-1 in the final season of the London Combination wartime league. The crowd however was only 12,000 as the weather and the flu epidemic took their toll.
8 February 1929: Up to this point there was uncertainty whether Lambert or Halliday was Arsenal’s best centre forward but a Lambert hattrick against Everton, following one earlier in the season against Grimsby seemed to settle the issue for Chapman. Lambert finished the season with 18 goals in 20 games.
8 February 1936: Last game for Frank Moss v Blackburn. Frank took over from Charlie Preedy in goal and was nearly ever present for four years playing in the title winning teams of the triple years (1932/3, 1933/4, 1934/5).
8 February 1940. By this date all the games in the wartime Football League South “A” Division for 1939/40 were played, save one – which for some curious reason was left until 3 April!
8 February 1947: First team debut for George Curtis. He did play in two of the league matches in the abandoned 1938/9 season but those are discounted. He played 11 games in 1946/7 before transferring to Southampton on 11 August 1947.
8 February 1941: Arsenal 15 Clapton Orient 2 (London War Cup, 10 goals for Leslie Compton).
8 February 1956: Leyton Orient manager Alec Stock publicly announced his intention to join Arsenal as assistant to Tom Whittaker.
8 February 1979: Brian McDermott became full professional (for his life in management see here). After his management career ended in the chaos of Leeds he returned to Arsenal as a scout.
8 February 1980: Rhys Wilmot turned pro. He played eight league games for Arsenal in goal and then later played for Hereford, Leyton Orient, Swansea, Plymouth, Grimsby, Crystal Palace and Torquay Utd.
8 February 1987: Arsenal 0 Tottenham 1; League Cup semi-final 1st leg. A defeat but the match became famous as the opening game in the sequence of one nil down, two one up games as Arsenal started to win things again.
8 February 1995: Milan 2 Arsenal 0 in Super Cup second leg after a goalless first leg.
8 February 1998: Arsenal 2 Chelsea 0. (Hughes 2). 25th league game of the 2nd Double season The second double: part 1, part 2, part 3.
8 February 2007: Mark Randall signed professional terms with Arsenal. He never hit the heights and drifted in the lower reaches of the Italian league before returning to England and playing with MK Dons.
8 February 2009: 350 days on from his horrific injury Eduardo was named as a sub for game v Tottenham. He did play again, but never reached his earlier standard.
8 February 2012: Johan Djourou signed a contract extension to 2015 but left before the end to go to Hanover, having played 86 games over a ten year period. He later moved on a permanent deal with Hamburg.
8 February 2014: The run of 6 wins and 2 draws in 8, since the 6-3 defeat to Man C ends with a 5-1 defeat to Liverpool. Arsenal were four down in 20 minutes. It was one of three big defeats (the third was the loss to Chelsea) which came to define the season.
I feel that I have to stand up for Brian McDermott. His record as a manager, compares well, to some who routinely get handed top jobs. Alan Pardew, springs to mind. Getting Reading into the Premier League, was no mean feat.