Series written by Tony Attwood, AISA Arsenal History Society. For more information about AISA please see here.
We have now codified an index to the series so far, and that full index is published here
The most recent articles in the series are
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In this series of articles celebrating 100 years of Arsenal playing in the top division, the real excitement started in 1929/30 when Arsenal won their first trophy – the FA Cup, and this was followed just one year later by the second trophy – Arsenal winning the 1st division title for the first time.
This set the scene for the 1930s, which perhaps can best be appreciated via this table…
| Season | League position | FA Cup | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929/0 | 14th | Winners | Chapman |
| 1930/1 | Winners | Round 4 | Chapman |
| 1931/2 | 2nd | Runners Up | Chapman |
| 1932/3 | Winners | Round 3 | Chapman |
| 1933/4 | Winners | Quarter finals | Chapman / Shaw |
| 1934/5 | Winners | Quarter finals | Allison |
| 1935/6 | 6th | Winners | Allison |
| 1936/7 | 3rd | Quarter finals | Allison |
| 1937/8 | Winners | Round 5 | Allison |
| 1938/9 | 5th | Round 3 | Allison |
| 1945/6 | — | Round 3 | Allison |
| 1946/7 | 13th | Round 3 | Whittaker |
| 1947/8 | Winners | Round 3 | Whittaer |
| 1948/9 | 5th | Round 4 | Whittaker |
| 1949/50 | 6th | Winners | Whittaker |
Thus, as you may notice, a most extraordinary set of coincidences had arisen. In the first four years in charge of Arsenal, Chapman had transformed the club from being near-relegation-certainties into a club that could win trophies, and under him the club won the league twice and the FA Cup once. A fantastic step forward.
Chapman then tragically passed away midway through the 1933/4 season. Joe Shaw took over and continued the great work as Arsenal won the league again.
At the start of the following season, Allison took over from Shaw who very willingly returned to running the reserve side, and, just like Chapman before him, in his tenure he won the League twice and the FA Cup once.
Although reluctant to do so, Allison kept the club running during the war and for the first season after the war (although he very much wished to leave immediately the war was concluded), and at that point Whittaker took over the reigns, knowing that his two successors had each won the league twice and the FA Cup once, and indeed had made Arsenal just about the most feared, most respected and most famous club in the country – and indeed in most of the world.
And indeed, Whittaker began as his predecessors had done by winning the competitions: the league in 1948 and the FA Cup in 1950. But the question was, could he also do what his predecessors had not done and win one of the two main trophies in the subsequent year?
Sadly, the answer was no. In 1950/51, Arsenal came fifth in the league and went out of the FA Cup in the 5th round. But there was one sign of Arsenal’s constant progress in 1950/51 – finally, all of the repair work at the stadium (which was needed following the Second World War), had been completed. The next step in terms of the ground was to put a cover over the north bank.
On the pitch, the club was doing well and five successive wins up to the end of September had left the team top of the league. But then first, goalkeeper George Swindin, and then inside left Doug Lishman were each seriously injured, and performances, although still enough to keep Arsenal top, were not as confident as earlier in the season.
And yet after 19 games Arsenal were still there, and three points clear (this of course still being the era of two points for a win, and one for a draw).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 16 | 30 |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | 19 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 42 | 22 | 27 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 35 | 26 | 26 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 46 | 24 | 25 |
But injuries then played their part, although unfortunately, many history of Arsenal history books fail to see exactly what part they played. Goalkeeper Swindin was injured during a 1-1 draw away to Aston Villa on 21 October and didn’t play again until 9 December.
Then a second injury to Lionel Smith, the left back, led to a very poor run of results of five defeats and a draw, which took Arsenal down to fourth after Boxing Day. Indeed in those four games up to 26 December, Arsenal had not only suffered four consecutive defeats, but also scored no goals while conceding six.
A recovery began on 30 December with a 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday but after two wins and two draws, there was another run of five games without success, which, after a defeat on 3 March, left Arsenal with the league table looking ominous. Arsenal were fifth, but because Tottenham were top, five points above Arsenal and with a game in hand.
3 March 1951
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 31 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 64 | 38 | 43 |
| 2 | Middlesbrough | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 68 | 43 | 40 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 31 | 16 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 33 | 38 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 29 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 50 | 39 | 38 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 59 | 42 | 37 |
In the remainder of the 1950/51 season, Arsenal won just four games, lost four and drew two. And yet the crowds remained very high, the last three home games each getting between 42,000 and 52,000 in attendance. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that by now some of the troops who had fought in the war were back home – although the occupation of Germany did not end until 1955.
Arsenal finished the league in fifth, and perhaps more galling for Arsenal fans, Tottenham did indeed win the league, having won the League Division 2 the season before. It was their first First Division title, and could stand in their record books alongside their FA Cup wins of 1900–01, 1920–21,
What of course they didn’t know was that it would be another ten years before they won the league again (1961) when they not only won the league but also the FA Cup in the first doube since Aston Villa in 1897. Here’s the top of the table at the end of the season.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 82 | 44 | 60 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 74 | 40 | 56 |
| 3 | Blackpool | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 79 | 53 | 50 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 62 | 53 | 49 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 73 | 56 | 47 |
It was to be hailed by the press as a magnificent triumph, and the following season Tottenham did indeed retain the FA Cup, something that had not been done for ten years, when Newcastle achieved the feat. And what’s more, Tottenham won the FA Cup again in 1967, although the the league proved to be a step too far.
But Tottenham still seemed to be the team of the moment and indeed if one had been able to say to journalists and Tottenham supporters alike that Tottenham would not win the league again after that victory in 1961, at least until 2024, such an idea would have been dismissed as the fantasies of Arsenal supporters. But in fact rather than win the league again, in 1977 they were relegated to the second division, although to be fair they came back to the top tier in the following season, having come third in Division 2.
Since then, their focus seems often to have been more on the FA Cup than the League. Along with Chelsea and Liverpool, they have, at the time of writing, won the FA Cup eight times in all, a total beaten by Arsenal with 14 FA Cup wins, as of December 2025.
The index to the full series on 100 seasons in the top division can be found here
For articles about Arsenal in the present day please do take a look at Untold Arsenal.
