The History of Arsenal Year by Year: day one of building our chronology

This is the start of a chronology of Arsenal FC built by Andy Kelly, Mark Andrews and Tony Attwood, of the AISA Arsenal History Society.  There is a long way to go, but every journey starts with a single step (Lao-Tzu).

So here we go – please write in the comments and add the ones you think should be added.

And don’t say, “how could you miss The Unbeaten Season?” etc etc.  Like we said, we’ve only just started.

————————

 .

1886 1 December: Club formed at Royal Oak, Woolwich, and named Royal Arsenal FC.
Oct or December: Played first game – won 6-0 v Eastern Wanderers (A).
1887 8 January: First home game played on Plumstead Common – won 6-1 v Erith.
Close season: Home games now played at the Sportsman’s Field.
Reserve team formed.
29 October: First competitive game.
1888 30 March: Home game v Millwall Rovers played at Manor Field due to Sportsman’s Field being unfit.
Close season: Home games now played at Manor Field.
1889 5 October: First FA Cup game – won 11-0 v Lyndhurst (H).
1890 22 March: won Kent Senior Cup.
5 April: won London Charity Cup.
Close season: Home games now played at Invicta Ground.
1891 17 January: Played first game in FA Cup proper – lost 1-2 v Derby (H).
7 March: Won London Senior Cup.
May: Club turned professional.
May: Resigned from London FA and Kent FA.
1892 First signs of disquiet amongst ex-committee members who go on to form Royal Ordnance Factories FC
1893 April: Limited Liability Company formed – changed name to Woolwich Arsenal Football And Athletic Company Limited. 1552 shares sold to 923 applicants by July.
May/June: Manor Field purchased and home games now played there.
31 May: Entry to Football League accepted.
2 September: First Football League game – drew 2-2 v Newcastle United (H).
14 October: Biggest FA Cup win – 12-0 v Ashford United (H).
1894  
1895 26 January: Referee attacked after game v Burton Wanderers (H).
Manor Field closed for 6 weeks after FA enquiry.
23 February: home game v Burton swifts played at New Brompton (Gillingham).
9 March: home game v Leicester Fosse played at Leyton.
1896 November: Joe Powell died shortly after breaking arm in game against Kettering.
12 December: Biggest league defeat: 0-8 v Loughborough (A).
1897 March: First manager appointed – Thomas Mitchell.
1898 10 March: Manager Thomas Mitchell resigned.
30 March: William Elcoat appointed manager.
1899 20 February: Manager William Elcoat resigned, Arthur Kennedy appointed caretaker-manager for remainder of season.
30 June: Harry Bradshaw appointed manager.
1900 12 March: Biggest league win – 12-0 v Loughborough (H).
1901 First club benefactor dies while a director – George Lawrance
1902  Archery Tournament raises approx £1200
1903  
1904 26 January: Harry Bradshaw resigns but stays on until end of season.
4 April: Phil Kelso joins the club and takes over as manager in 1 May.
May: Promoted to Division One.
3 September: first Division One game – lost 0-3 to Newcastle United (A).
5 December: beat Paris 26-1 in a friendly at home.
1905  
1906 31 March: played in first FA Cup semi-final – lost 0-2 to Newcastle United at Stoke.
30 April: won Southern Professional Charity Cup.
1907 23 March: played in second FA Cup semi-final – lost 1-3 to Sheff Weds at Birmingham.
October: Manager Phil Kelso tenders resignation but remains in charge until 10 February 1908
1908 10 February 1908: George Morrell takes over as manager .
Club sell Coleman and then Ashcroft.
1909  
1910 Club liquidated and new company formed. Henry Norris and William Hall take control of the club. Torpedo Factory moved to Scotland.
Jack Humble returns as director
1911  
1912  
1913 26 April: last game played at the Manor Ground – drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough.
Relegated to Division Two.
Close season: moved to Highbury.
1914 Last game of Woolwich Arsenal – “The Arsenal FC” formed
1915 13 April: George Morrell resigns as manager. James McEwen appointed caretaker manager.
Football suspended at end of season for duration of first world war.  Arsenal FC formed prior to last match of season.
1916  
1917  
1918  
1919 Elected to Division One starting the longest ever period for a club in the first division.
April: Leslie Knighton appointed manager
1920  
1921  
1922  
1923  
1924  
1925 16 May: manager Leslie Knighton leaves the club.
11 June: Herbert Chapman appointed manager
1926 May: Club finishes 2nd in Division One – highest position ever by a southern team
1927  
1928 13 October: David Jack joins Arsenal from Bolton Wanderers for a world record transfer fee of £10,890.
1929  
1930  First FA Cup victory; first top level trophy since foundation 44 years before
1931  Club wins its 1st league championship (Chapman as manager)
1932  
1933  Club wins its 2nd league championship (Chapman as manager)
1934  6 January: manager Herbert Chapman dies, Joe Shaw takes over as caretaker-manager.
Club wins its 3rd league championship (Chapman /Shaw as manager)
30 May: George Allison appointed manager
1935 Club wins its 4th league championship (Allison as manager)
14 December: Ted Drake scores 7 goals in the league game at Aston Villa.
1936  
1937  
1938 Club wins its 5th league championship (Allison as manager)
4 August: Bryn Jones joins Arsenal from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a world record transfer fee of £14,500.
1939 League suspended after 3 matches for duration of the war
1940  
1941 8 February: Leslie Compton scores 10 goals in the game against Clapton Orient.
1942  
1943  
1944  
1945  
1946  Football resumes with George Allison still manager at Arsenal
1947  31 May: manager George Allison retires. Tom Whittaker takes over as manager.
1948  Club wins its 6th league championship (Whittaker as manager)
1949  
1950 Win FA Cup beating Liverpool 2-0 in the final at Wembley. Last FA Cup win until 1971
1951  
1952 Lose in FA Cup Final to Newcastle United 0-1.
1953 Club wins its 7th league championship (Whittaker as manager)
1954  
1955  
1956  24 October: manager Tom Whittaker dies, Jack Crayston appointed caretaker manager.
16 November: Jack Crayston appointed acting manager.
21 December: Jack Crayston appointed permanent manager.
1957  
1958  19 May: Manager Jack Crayston resigns.
21 July: George Swindin becomes manager
1959  AFC finish 3rd in league, the last top four finish or Cup win until 1971 – a period labelled in this blog as The Darkness
1960  
1961  
1962  16 March: Announced that manager George Swindin’s contract will not be renewed at the end of the season.
1 May: Billy Wright becomes manager.
1963  25 September: Club plays its first competitive European game beating Staevnet 7-1 (A) in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
1964  
1965  
1966  13 June: manager Billy Wright resigns.
20 June: Bertie Mee appointed acting manager, and then manager
1967  
1968  Lose League Cup Final to Leeds United
1969  Lose League Cup Final to Swindon Town
1970  28 April: Club wins its 1st European trophy – beating Anderlecht 4-3 on aggregate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final.
1971  Club wins its 8th league championship (Mee as manager)
First FA Cup/League double
22 December: Alan Ball joins Arsenal from Everton for a British transfer record fee of £220,000.
1972  
1973  
1974  
1975  
1976  23 March: Manager Bertie Mee announces that he will retire at the end of the season.
9 July: Terry Neil appointed manager
1977  
1978  Lose FA Cup final v Ipswich
1979  Win FA Cup final v Manchester United
1980  Lose FA Cup final v West Ham
Lose European Cup-winners Cup
1981  
1982  
1983  15 December: Manager Terry Neill sacked, Don Howe appointed caretaker manager.
1984  28 April: Don Howe appointed permanent manager.
1985  
1986  28 March: Manager Don Howe resigns, Steve Burtenshaw appointed caretaker manager.
14 May: George Graham appointed manager
1987  
1988  
1989  Club wins its 9th league championship (Graham as manager)
1990  
1991  Club wins its 10th league championship (Graham as manager)
1992  
1993 FA Cup and League Cup Winners – first team to do the Cup Double (Graham as manager)
1994  European Cup Winners Cup Winners (Graham as manager)
1995 14 February: Manager George Graham sacked, Stewart Houston appointed caretaker manager.
8 June: Bruce Rioch appointed manager.
21 June: Dennis Bergkamp joins Arsenal from Inter Milan for a record British transfer fee of £7,500,000.
1996  12 August: Bruce Rioch sacked, Stewart Houston appointed caretaker manager.
13 September: Stewart Houston resigns, Pat Rice appointed caretaker manager.
1 October: Arsene Wenger appointed manager.
1997  
1998  Club wins its 11th league championship (Wenger as manager)
1999  
2000  
2001  
2002  Club wins its 12th league championship (Wenger as manager)
2003  
2004  Club wins its 13th league championship (Wenger as manager) remaining unbeaten throughout the league season.
2005  Club wins its 10th FA Cup (Wenger as manager) beating Manchester United on penalties after the game finished 0-0.
2006  
2007  
2008  
2009  
2010  
2011  

 

This is the regular blog of the AISA Arsenal History Society   You will now find all our statistics on http://stats.woolwicharsenal.co.uk  

This site represents very much a forum for knocking around ideas and seeking out issues that can be debated.  As such we openly acknowledge that some of the notions expressed here might be wrong, and will need correcting.  Indeed if you can help us do that, please do either comment on an article, or write a new article for us.  Some citation of sources would be good however, rather than just saying “you’re wrong”.

———————————-

Latest History Society News…

Christmas scheduling: when Arsenal played four games in five days

History in the Making: why we keep changing the Arsenal story

After the 125 celebrations – when is the next significant anniversary for Arsenal FC

Previous news items

—————————-

Some of our series of articles

Reference points

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *