Click on that link to see one of the all time magnificent Arsenal performances, and one of the most brilliant Henry goals. Better still it was against Tottenham, on this day.
You can find the latest video each day on the home page of this site. You can also find videos for previous days by clicking the articles in the left column of this page under “Recent Posts” or by clicking on the mauve headline at the top of the screen on the right, which will take you to yesterday’s selected video – and so on back to the start of the series in August. There is more about who we are and other things we do, at the foot of the page. First here are the anniversaries for today in Arsenal’s history…
17 November 1902: Woolwich Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1. London League Premier Division. The result saw Arsenal firmly in place at the top of the league after five straight victories.
17 November 1914: Ernie Collett was born on 17 November 1914 in Sheffield. He joined Arsenal in April 1933 and won the Football Combination six times with the team in the 1930s, as well as playing 20 league games from 1933 onwards.
17 November 1917: Arsenal’s severe wartime decline in form was further confirmed with the home defeat to Tottenham by a single goal to nil. The only respite from the gloom was that the crowd was slightly up, at 9000.
17 November 1919: The Arsenal Football and Athletic Company Limited published its annual report for its AGM. Loans to the club from Henry Norris and William Hall: £17264 (getting on for £1m today) while owing to Humphreys Ltd for building the stand: £16,918 – which was guaranteed by Henry Norris.
17 November 1923: The away game to Tottenham in the previous season had led to an FA enquiry. With the clubs just 2 points apart this time 50,000 turned up at Highbury but the fireworks were now missing, and the game ended 1-1, Townrow scoring.
17 November 1961: Eddie Clamp signed from Wolverhampton for £34,500. He lasted for less than one season being transferred to Stoke in 1962 having played 22 league games and two FA Cup games.
17 November 1969: Arsenal beat Wimbledon 2-0 to win the London Challenge Cup. Arsenal appeared in the final 16 times, winning the competition 11 times. This was Arsenal’s last appearance in the final.
17 November 1973: Only 38,677 came to Highbury to see a goalless draw with Chelsea; a general admission that the glory days at the start of the decade were over.
17 November 1979: Arsenal, beat Everton 2-0 with a crowd of 33,450. Vaessen kept his place, as did Devine and Price. Stapleton volleyed home the first and Brady produced an astonishing killer pass for Stapleton to score again and finish the match.
17 November 1980: Pat Rice moved to Watford for £8000 after 391 league games, six appearances as a sub and 12 goals. According to Wiki “After making a recovery from cancer in March 2014 he returned to The Emirates at half-time during an FA Cup game against Everton, making a joke about Spurs. The Gunners went on to win the game 2–0.”
17 November 1984: Arsenal 1 QPR 0. Tony Adams started his first long series of games as Arsenal gained their first win in five attempts.
17 November 1990: The deduction of two points from Arsenal following the Man U game appeared in the league table for the first time.
17 November 1993: Ian Wright scored four goals for England in a World Cup match v San Marino. The evening was not helped by the fact after nine seconds San Marino had scored.
17 November 2001: Tottenham 1 Arsenal 1. League match 12 of the third Double season. Pirès put Arsenal ahead on 81 minutes but Tottenham equalised in the fourth minute of injury time. It meant Arsenal had failed to win in any of three league games in a row.
17 November 2004: George Curtis died. Having played for Arsenal, he went to Southampton in 1947 and gained the nickname “Twinkletoes”. He then followed up his wartime Indian connections by coaching the Indian Olympic squad of 1948 before moving to be Chelmsford City’s player-coach, later coaching Sunderland, Brighton, Cambridge University, Hastings, Stevenage Town, Hull City, San Diego Toros, and Rosenborg in Norway, the Norwegian national team and finally in Qatar.
17 November 2009 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’ loan to Blackpool ended. It was his first of three loans while at Arsenal, after which he played for Ipswich, Bristol City and QPR, for whom he scored three goals in his first six games in 2015.
17 November 2012: After defeat to Man U and home draw with Fulham, Arsenal beat Tottenham 5-2. The goals came from Mertesacker, Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and Walcott.
The Arsenal History Society is part of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association – a body which gives positive support to the club, and has regular meetings with directors and senior officials of the club to represent the views of its members to the club. You can read more about AISA on its website.
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For all other issues please contact Arsenal History Society at Tony@schools.co.uk
- 100 Years in the First Division: the absolute complete story of Arsenal’s promotion in 1919.
- 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.