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
Today at the Arsenal: Why do some clubs have their players fouled so much more than others?
Arsenal anniversaries today
18 January 1894: Arthur Worrell’s first game in a friendly against Accrington which Arsenal won 2-0 in front of a crowd of 2,000. This was the start of three appearances in five friendly matches before on 3 February he got his League debut in a game away to Lincoln which Arsenal lost 3-0.
18 January 1896: Last game for Bob Buchanan. He moved on to Southampton St Mary’s of the Southern League and was part of their championship winning unbeaten season, and a second championship season, before moving onto Sheppy Utd.
18 January 1897: Henry Boyd, Arsenal’s most prolific goalscorer of all time sold to Newton Heath. He scored 32 goals in 41 games between September 1894 and December 1896.
18 January 1906: James Bigden, Roderick McEachrane and Charles Satterthwaite – all ex-WHU players, played for Arsenal in the replay of the first round of the Cup at West Ham on 18 January 1906. Arsenal won 3-2.
18 January 1908: Woolwich Arsenal made it 16 goals conceded in four games between Dec 31 and January 18 with a 0-4 away defeat to Manchester City. A run of just two defeats in the last 11 games helped the club end the season 14th equal.
18 January 1913: John Peart’s final appearance for Arsenal before moving to Croydon Common: against Sheffield United, at the Manor Ground in front of 6000. He returned to Arsenal after the war, with Croydon Common having ceased to exist, and his first game of his second spell was also against Sheffield United on 13 March 1920, which Arsenal won 3-0 in front of 35,000.
18 January 1919: Arsenal played Brentford as the London Combination wartime league continued through its final season. But what made this match so memorable was the crowd: 30,000 at Highbury, compared to 8000 for the same match at Highbury on 28 September.
18 January 1927: This was one of the dates on which Charlie Buchan was paid £125 bonus in respect of his goalscoring. In 1929 Sir Henry confirmed that he paid Buchan the money he was due, out of his own pocket and not via the club.
18 January 1936: Two days before the King died Arsenal suffered another league defeat this time 2-3 to Sheffield Wednesday. For this game Bowden was replaced by Alex James making one of his increasingly occasional appearances for the side. Drake and the centre half Roberts scored the goals, but that was not enough.
18 January 1947: Last game for Ernie Collett, a 0-2 home defeat to Aston Villa. After his retirement from playing, he became a member of the club’s backroom staff — he was at first George Male‘s assistant in coaching Arsenal’s youth team, eventually becoming the club’s chief scout. It was also the first game for Tommy Rudkin
18 January 1960 – Arsenal lost to Rotherham United 0-2 in the 3rd round of the FA cup in a match played at Hillsborough after two replays. Rotherham finished the season 8th in the second division that season.
18 January 1964: Arsenal 2 Fulham 2 (Baker, Strong). John Barnwell’s 151st and last game. Although a highly talented player, he had the misfortune of playing for Arsenal during a very bleak period for the club. He went on to play 186 games for Nottingham Forest and in 1977 started a 15 year career in club management.
18 January 1975: Jeff Blockley sold to Leicester whom he rescued from the threat of relegation, becoming club captain and a firm favourite. He later played for Notts County and in non-league football, before moving into business and running his own company, Transmech.
18 January 1977: Birmingham 3 Arsenal 3. Francis of Birmingham and Macdonald both got hat tricks. Arsenal then went four league matches without scoring a single goal.
18 January: 1978: Arsenal were away to Manchester City in the League Cup with the home team sitting second in the league. 42,435 came to Maine Road, but were not best pleased to see a goalless draw, the star of the show being Pat Jennings. As the match progressed no one was left in doubt as to why Arsenal had achieved seven wins in the last eight away games. They had Brady, and as a team had perfected the counter attack.
18 January 1987: Arsenal 0 Coventry 0. The game concluded a 17 match unbeaten run including 13 wins, as part of George Graham’s first season. Arsenal finished fourth.
18 January 1995: Arsenal 0 Millwall 2. FA Cup. Millwall finished the season 12th in the second division, Arsenal 12th in the first. It was one of George Graham’s darker moments as manager.
18 January 1999: Death of Reg (Horace) Cumner. The Margate “academy” graduate had a very rapid rise to fame, but his career was interrupted by the war, after which he played for Notts County, Watford and Scunthorpe. Coincidentally, like Jackie Henderson he then went on to play for Poole Town in Dorset.
18 January 2004: Henry used the instant free kick (without the whistle) approach to score in 2-0 away defeat of Villa. Indeed Henry scored both, and Arsenal went to the top of the league. It was the 22nd league match of the unbeaten season
18 January 2011: Ryo loaned to Feyenoord. He showed enormous promise early on, but injuries led to a loss of form and he never made it at Arsenal. In 2015 he moved to FC St. Pauli in the 2. Bundesliga.
18 January 2011: Jay Emmanuel Thomas loaned to Cardiff. After one league appearance for Arsenal he went on to Ipswich and Bristol City for whom he played 82 league games before moving on to QPR. In 2019 he signed for PTT Rayong in Thailand.
18 January 2013: Theo Walcott signed a new long term deal, but one year later his progress was halted by an injury that took him out of football for 12 months. It was upon his return he started to play some games as centre forward, and indeed scored the opening goal in the 2015 Cup Final.
18 January 2014: Arsenal 2 Fulham 0 made it five straight wins for the club. Although the run continued to eight undefeated including six wins, the subsequent defeat by 5-1 to Liverpool was used by commentators to define the season.
18 January 2015: Manchester City 0 Arsenal 2. It was a match which stunned critics of Arsenal, not just for Arsenal’s victory (Giroud and Cazorla scored) but the style of play in which Arsenal conceded possession to Man C for much of the game. Having lost to Southampton on the 1 Jan this was Arsenal’s third win in a row without conceding. It was part of a run of eight wins in nine games and just three defeats in the last 26 games of the season.
18 January 2020: A 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield United was one of three successive draws in the League, but more to the point continued the revival that had begun on the first day of the year and continued for 10 games unbeaten.
18 January 2022: Sead Kolašinac left the club by mutual consent and signed with club Olympique de Marseille, joining up with Arsenal loanees Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba. Saliba returned for the 2022/3 season becoming one of the stars of the Arsenal campaign.
100 Years: the complete story of Arsenal’s promotion in 1919 which launched 100+ consecutive years in the top division.
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.
