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By Tony Attwood
December 1970 opened with the 3rd round of the Fairs Cup, which saw Arsenal duly beat Beveren Waas 4-0 on 2 December at Highbury.
Then on Saturday 5 December, there was a trip to Manchester City which Arsenal won 0-2. Armstrong and Radford score in League match 20.
The following weekend saw Arsenal reach the halfway stage in the campaign, and on 12 December the result was Arsenal 2 Wolverhampton W 1, making it seven goals in the last eight games for Radford.
The return match with Beveren in Belgium was something of a foregone conclusion given the result of the first leg of the tie, but it had a particular significance because 16 December was also Charlie George’s first game since his injury on the opening day of the season. The game ended 0-0, the crowd 16,000 – and that was it as far as the Fairs Cup was concerned until March, when Arsenal would come up against much sterner opposition in terms of FC Koln.
We might perhaps also note that on 18 December the death penalty was abolished in the UK and as Christmas approached, 19 December 1970 saw the result of Manchester United 1 Arsenal 3, making it five consecutive wins. That was League match 22. Charlie George suffered an injury set back however and did not make an immediate return for Arsenal but instead had to wait until February, thus leaving the team throughout December as…
Wilson, Rice, McNab, Storey, McLintock, Simpson, Armstrong, Sammels, Radford, Kennedy, Graham.
But despite the victories that had kept piling up, Arsenal’s progress was matched by Leeds who still led Arsenal by two points at the top of the league.
Then the glorious run in the league came to an end, not with a defeat but with a goalless draw on Boxing Day, at home to Southampton. The story that has forever become attached to this match is that in the dressing room George Armstrong is reputed to have said to his teammates, “I bet we win the Double”.
On the same day, Derby County and Manchester United played out a 4-4 draw which drew the commentators’ attention. Derby were occupying 17th place in the First Division in their second season since promotion, while Man U were one place below them, just two years after being crowned by the press as one of the greatest teams England had ever seen by winning the European Cup.
So Arsenal, who had not won the league since 1953, were second in the table to Leeds. But the commentators seemed to be looking elsewhere. At least for the moment. 19 December 1970 – an away win at Manchester United, but well, these things happen. Arsenal might be second in the league, but no they hadn’t won anything since the 1950s. So now let’s talk about Manchester United….
For details of the videos sorted by club, and videos in the order we published them, plus our 21 golden great videos please see here.
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.
