A salary cap is what was proposed by Ivan Gazidis on this day in 2009, but it was turned down the the Premier League clubs. Had it been accepted the explosion of expenditure by Chelsea would have been kept under control as would that subsequently at Manchester City. It is also likely that the availability of Newcastle United would not have attracted the operators of the Saudi Arabian national wealth fund.
Here are the anniversaries.
2 July 1970: Steve Morrow born. He joined Arsenal just after his 17th birthday in July 1987 and went out on loan to Reading, Watford and Barnet, playing his first Arsenal game proper on 8 April 1992. In 2008 he returned to Arsenal as International Partnerships’ Performance Supervisor, managing Arsenal’s international partnerships, including Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer in the United States, BEC Tero of Thailand and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai of Vietnam, and assisting Arsenal’s academies overseas.
2 July 1975: Charlie George ludicrously sold to Derby by Bertie Mee who put his own authority above the good of the team.
2 July 1977: Bob Wilson, the goalkeeping hero of the first Double season, re-signed for Arsenal as emergency cover, but didn’t give up his TV work.
2 July 1990: While preparing to show the full force of their wrath to Arsenal over a spot of handbags at 50 paces at Old Trafford, in 1991/2 the FA inexplicably reduced Swindon Town’s punishment for an illegal payment scandal and let them stay in Division II. The reasons for this change of heart have never been fully revealed (other than the fact that they beat Arsenal in a League Cup final).
2 July 1999: Steve Bould sold to Sunderland for £500,000. He had played 287 league games for Arsenal. He returned in July 2001 as youth team coach, became head of the under 18s, and then Arsene Wenger’s assistant.
2 July 2009: Ivan Gazidis proposed a salary cap in the PL. It was rejected and alternative versions were put forward – but it proved unable to stop Manchester City’s explosion in expenditure. Uefa started to water down its expenditure limitation process in 2015 and as a result failed to stop PSG. However Uefa returned to the problem in 2019 in relation to Manchester City’s finances.
2 July 2014: Ben Sheaf joined Arsenal from West Ham for an undisclosed fee.
2 July 2015: Ainsley Maitland-Niles loaned to Ipswich for the forthcoming season. He played 30 times for the club but was reportedly dropped after his mother made what was called an “X rated” phone call to the club. However by 2018 he was a full blown first team member.
