By Tony Attwood
I have mentioned in the past that I was working with Arsenal on line and the Arsenal shop to have the book “Making the Arsenal” sold through the shop.
I am pleased to say that has now happened, although at the moment there is no description of the book showing on the store. But the book is there, and you can buy it along with your replica shirts etc etc.
Making the Arsenal is the story of our club in 1910. In that year Woolwich Arsenal FC went into liquidation, and it looked for a while as if London’s first league club, and the oldest professional club south of Birmingham was about to go under.
But then in stepped the most unlikely of people: Henry Norris. He was the mayor of Fulham at the time, and already owner of two clubs: Fulham FC of the second division, and Croydon Common of the Southern League.
Norris was also known to be looking to buy Reading FC at the time, but he dropped that idea and focussed on Woolwich Arsenal, eventually going to the Football League with the most audacious plan: to merge Arsenal and Fulham into one club – Fulham Arsenal.
The League turned him down, so he came up with a second deal – to ground share the two clubs at Craven Cottage.
Eventually he did take over the club, paid off all the debts, and ultimately move Arsenal to Highbury, where he brought in Herbert Chapman.
Curiously this most extraordinary story in the history of our club has never been told in detail in any form before. “Making The Arsenal” now tells the tale through the eyes of a young Fleet Street reporter who is given the job of covering the developments in Plumstead.
Here’s the link, if you would like to buy it through the Arsenal store.
