by Tony Attwood
Day by Day: the videos – An Arsenal video for (almost) every day of the year in order.
Day by Day: the stories– a key moment in Arsenal and footballing history for each day of the year
Arsenal in June – all the anniversaries day by day
The Arsenal videos: club by club
Clive Allen was signed by Arsenal from QPR on 12 June 1980 in one of the strangest transfers ever. He never played for Arsenal in the league (although he played in three pre-season friendlies) and moved to Crystal Palace in a swap deal for Kenny Sansom before the season began.
Allen was Palace’s top scorer for the 1980–81 season with nine goals in the league as Palace finished bottom of the First Division by a long way. Here’s the final league table…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aston Villa | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 72 | 40 | 32 | 60 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 77 | 43 | 34 | 56 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 61 | 45 | 16 | 53 |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 60 | 42 | 18 | 52 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 42 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 62 | 42 | 20 | 51 |
| 6 | Southampton | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 76 | 56 | 20 | 50 |
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 62 | 44 | 18 | 50 |
| 8 | Manchester United | 42 | 15 | 18 | 9 | 51 | 36 | 15 | 48 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 47 | -8 | 44 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 70 | 68 | 2 | 43 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 51 | 60 | -9 | 42 |
| 12 | Manchester City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 59 | -3 | 39 |
| 13 | Birmingham City | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 38 |
| 14 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 53 | 61 | -8 | 37 |
| 15 | Everton | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 58 | -3 | 36 |
| 16 | Coventry City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 48 | 68 | -20 | 36 |
| 17 | Sunderland | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 35 |
| 18 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 43 | 55 | -12 | 35 |
| 19 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 54 | 67 | -13 | 35 |
| 20 | Norwich City | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 49 | 73 | -24 | 33 |
| 21 | Leicester City | 42 | 13 | 6 | 23 | 40 | 67 | -27 | 32 |
| 22 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 47 | 83 | -36 | 19 |
It was Terry Venables who had signed Allen for Palace, and who then signed him again for QPR, where he played in their first-ever cup final.
He then won the second division with QPR and after one season with QPR in the top league he moved to Tottenham, scoring ten goals in 18 games in his first season with them before getting the record for a Tottenham player with 33 league goals in 1986/7. He moved on to Bordeaux in March 1988, at a time when it was rare for English players to venture overseas. Later he returned to England playing for Manchester City, Chelsea, and West Ham leaving them in 1994 for Millwall before finishing his English career at Carlisle.
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.
100 Years: 100 Years in the First Division
Arsenal today: Untold Arsenal
