Prelude: The detailed review of the history of Arsenal is indexed through a series of articles relating to issues that affected the club. You can find an index to this series here There you will find a link to indexes for each decade, each index itself linking to articles for that decade in date order.
However prior to this we produced what might be called a summary index and you can find the details to this below. This gives you an index to some of the major article published here, in chronological order – but this is not as complete as the series index linked above.
Producing the website The History of Arsenal has been a hobby for me – Tony Attwood – for many years. And like all my hobbies, I have tended to vere off in my own directions and followed my own interests, rather than strictly follow the club, year by year. Not least because I suspected I might get bored with the idea and never carry it through.
But the first article was published on this site in 2009, over 17 years ago, and on having more or less covered the key issues of Arsenal’s origins I have felt it was time to put together an index – if for no other reason than for me to see what we’ve got, and perhaps find a few holes in the story that need filling in. But then events got in the way.
This most recent attempt was started in September 2026. It is not really being done in any specific order – dates are being added as I find them..
1886
16 February 1886: the birth of Arsenal’s first great superstar
15 August 1886: Charles Lewis born in Plumstead, (then a small town in Kent). He played for East Wickham, Eltham and Maidstone United before joining Arsenal in 1907 – making his debut on December 28.
1886: To know the origins of Arsenal you must know about life in 1886
Woolwich in 1886 – what was it like?
1886: life at the time of the formation of Arsenal
The ultimate proof of the first match in 1886
The Isle of Dogs
Dial Square FC and the Isle of Dogs story – that is not where it started.
George Lawrence
George Lawrence – first benefactor of the club
The match
25 December 1886: Arsenal possibly played its first game on the Isle of Dogs
On the anniversary of the first ever match
Opening the club to all comers
The moment in history that defined Arsenal
The first ever review of Arsenal’s foundation
All the things you have never been told
Arsenal was born in 1886. What sort of world did this fragile child of football enter?
The first season
To know the origins of Arsenal you must know about life in 1886
Arsenal was born in 1886. What sort of world did this fragile child of football enter?
The 10 moments in history that defined Arsenal. 1: 1st December 1886
Arsenal’s very first season. 1886/7 – the games, the results
16 February 1886: the birth of Arsenal’s first great superstar
The moments in history that defined Arsenal. 1: 1st December 1886
11 December 1886 Arsenal’s birthday, and the birth of a famous early player
11 December 1886: the definitive story of the build up to the very first Arsenal game
11 December 1886: the first game but can we be sure.?
11 December 1886: the definitive story of the build up to the very first Arsenal game
25 December 1886: he men who formed Dial Square met in the Royal Oak pub, on Christmas Day 1886 formally to set the club up. Perhaps.
Arsenal’s very first season. 1886/7 – the games, the results
1887/8
Arsenal’s second season: what really happened in 1887/8?
1888
11 February 1888: Arsenal play Millwall at the Sportsman’s Grounds.
1889
FA Cup Match Number 1: 5 October 1889
Beating Tottenham 10-1. Royal Arsenal season 4: 1889/90
5 October 1889: Arsenal play their first FA Cup match – but against who?
1890
31 May 1890: Woolwich Arsenal elected to Division II of the Football League. Royal Arsenal won a five a side competition in Islington. It is the first known link between Arsenal and their ultimate long-term home.
1891
25 April 1891 – Arsenal’s First Ever Substitute
2 May 1891: Arsenal vote to become the first professional club in the south
9 May 1891: Arsenal vote to become the first professional team in the south
1891: 23 May 1891: Arsenal kicked out of football… or not?
28 August 1891: “Arsenal Football Notes” by Redshirt commenced its regular commentary on the club and its games in the Woolwich Gazette. By 30 September 1892 he was complaining about the negative way his comments were received.
1892
Why Arsenal joned the Football League rather than the Southern League
1893
Football consumes twice as much as the royal family. The view from 1893.
The crowd at Woolwich Arsenal (1893 onwards)
21 January 1893: The end of Royal Arsenal in the FA Cup
31 May 1893: Woolwich Arsenal FC elected to Division II of the Football League.
1893: On this day in 1893, Arsenal elected to the Football League
1893: the first Arsenal pre-season
2nd September 1893 – Arsenal’s first league game See also: Woolwich Arsenal from the start. Entering the league in 1893
11 September 1893 – the anniversary of our first ever league win.
30 September 1893: What the papers say: Newcastle v Arsenal 30 September 1893
30 December 1893: Arsenal’s first ever away victory in the league!
1894
14 July 1894: The first “Woolwich Arsenal Football Day Excursion” to Hastings
After one year in the lea
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 2: 1894/5 to 1896/7 and what happened to Arsenal? Football and Arsenal in 1894
1895
26 January 1895: Arsenal first club to have ground closed because of crowd behaviour
Arsenal’s greatest achievements: part 3 – marginal improvements 1895/6
13 April 1895: the first ever Arsenal player to get representative honours
1896
29 January 1896: Arsenal’s general meeting calls for appointment of a manager
21 March 1896: Arsenal’s “Victorian Souness” plays for Wales
28 March 1896: the 18th Arsenal local derby!
1897/8
Arsenal’s early seasons: 1897/8
1898
1898/9: Home form is great but why is away form so dodgy?
1899
Arsenal 1899/1900: keeping professional football alive in the south
On this day Arsenal introuced the idea of numbering players. The FA imnmediately banned the idea.
1900
Fred Coles, Arsenal 1900-1904 before moving to Sweden
Roger Ord – Arsenal keeper who made his last appearance 17 March 1900.
12 March 1900: Arsenal’s Biggest League Win
Arsenal at the start of the 20th century: the first promotion to Division 1
1901
Were Luton a pro football team before Arsenal? Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 1901/2
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 1898-1901
1902
Woolwich Arsenal in the Cup 1902/3: one of the great shocks
1 February 1902 Jack Leed born (probably)
1903
1903: the pre season and Arsenal’s greatest ever start to a campaign
The crowd at Woolwich Arsenal: Arsenal in the 2nd division 1893/4 to 1903/4
Woolwich Arsenal in the cup 1903/4. Arsenal and Norris meet for the first time.
Henry Norris other job: the Fulham house builder
1904
1904/5: Arsenal’s first season in Football League Division One, and a record crowd
Fred Coles, Arsenal 1900-1904 before moving to Sweden
Arsenal in the FA Cup: 1904/5
1905
1905/6: Arsenal profitable and stable while representing the south
10 March 1905: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and the battle of the grounds
Season Ticket Prices 1905/1906
Season Tickets On Sale at Arsenal, (24th July 1905)
1906/7
1906/7: the unexpected arrival of another team from the south
Woolwich Arsenal in the Cup 1906/7. Semis again!
1907
31 May 1907 Norman Sidey born. He joined Arsenal as an amateur from Nunhead (in the Isthmian League) in March 1929 before turning professional two years later in February 1931.
1908
Season 15: Arsenal in 1907/08; relegation avoided by just two points
Season 16: 1908/09 – the highest position in the league so far
14 March 1908: Arsenal fans set fire to stadium
14 March 1908 Torpedo Boys set fire to stand after letting off fireworks
30 April 1908: The end of the craziest Arsenal tour ever!
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup: playing at the final stadium 1908/09
1909
1909: Boring, boring, Arsenal. The Football League in 1909
7 October 1909: Notts County v Woolwich Arsenal
1909/10 Ten things you may not know about life in England in the 1909/1910 season.
1909/10 Disaster as the Arsenal as the finances get worse
7 Oct 1909: Notts County v Arsenal,
October 1909 Blackburn Rovers v Woolwich Arsenal
1910
What was football like in 1910?
Saturday 22nd January 1910: The day Arsenal went bust
1910: Why did Arsenal go into liquidation?
1910: Arsenal in liquidation. All the things you didn’t know.
1910: Arsenal vs Blackburn: the story from 100 years ago
1912
The game that shows Arsenal and Spurs did not fall out over Arsenal’s move north
1913: The final game at Woolwich 26 April 1913 See also here
1913: 1 March. The League issued at statement on Saturday 1 March, saying that it was recognised the for clubs to move was unusual (they cited last big move as being Manchester Utd going to Old Trafford in 1910) but it was a matter that was up to the club, and not to the League or the FA.
1914
8 September 1914: there might be war, but football continues
9 November 1914 Arsenal in wartime:
21 November 1914: The Times reports the Arsenal game that never was
21 November 1919 The 1919 Affair: How Arsenal were promoted to the first division –
Arsenal in November 1921: the fog, the goal rush, the resignation.
Arsenal anniversaries 26 November 1910. Fans are invited to buy the club
100 Seasons in the top division part 5: slippling down the league 1921/2
28 November. Unbeaten Arsenal lose 2-6.
1919
21 November 1919 The 1919 Affair: How Arsenal were promoted to the first division –
1920
31 May 1920: The Football League and the FA held their AGMs. Hilariously the League overturned their decision of the previous meeting and voted to take over the Southern League Division 1, re-creating it as Division Three. They further agreed that they would also create a second Division Three for clubs in the north, as soon as enough clubs applied.
1922
28 August 1922: Arsenal 1 Burnley 1 in the second game of the season Arsenal director Charles Crisp had some guests at the game including Joan Gamper, founder of Barcelona FC, and other friends from Cataluña.
1925
The changes Chapman made in this first season
1926
28 August 1926: Chapman’s second season began with a 2-1 victory over Derby County with Buchan and Parker scoring in front of 32,990.
1928
28 August 1928: Some suggest the original Arsenal clock was installed on this date – but in fact it wasn’t. It was in fact installed in 1930. See here for the full story – but do read the corrections in the readers’ comments!
1932
28 August 1932: The Times confirmed Charlie Jones had been appointed Arsenal captain. He went on to play 29 games in the title winning season.
1934
28 April 1934: A 2-2 away draw with Chelsea in front of 65,344 was enough to give Joe Shaw the championship and make it two titles in a row for Arsenal. Charlie Jones last game. More on Joe Shaw here
1935
31 May 1935: Having re-introduced speed limits on British roads, the government now introduced the driving test for everyone who had not held a licence before this date.
1937
28 August 1937: Everton 1 Arsenal 4 in the opening game. Alex James had now gone but Drake got a hattrick and Bastin the fourth.
31 May 1937: First appearance of Lawrie Scott. George Allison changed him from a winger to a right back, and he played in the reserves for two years, until the outbreak of war, at which time he became a Physical Training instructor for the RAF.
31 May 1937: Arsenal beat Copenhagen 5-1 (Scorers Crayston, Davidson, Lewis, Biggs, Nelson). This was the third match of a five match series taking in Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.
1941
31 May 1941: The wartime season ended with a replay of the Football League War Cup final, at Edwood Park Blackburn. Arsenal lost 2-1 to Preston in front of 45,000 fans.
1947
31 May 1947: George Allison announced he would retire at the end of the season, ending a 37 year association with the club. His final act was to write his autobiography: Allison Calling (a title which makes reference to his long-term work as a radio commentator). In the book Allison’s description of Henry Norris (who Allison knew from 1910 onwards) and his style of work contrasts starkly with that in Knighton’s autobiography, and calls into question many of Knighton’s assertions. Ludicrously it is Knighton’s book, written 22 years after he left the club but published within weeks of the Allison book, which is used as the prime source of history by many writers. Allison, like Chapman before him and Whittaker after him, won two league titles and the FA Cup. On this day Arsenal beat Everton 2-1
1961
31 May 1961: Peter Storey joined Arsenal as an apprentice. He later wrote a most readable autobiography called “True Storey‘s; My life and crimes as a football hatchet man,”
1967
31 May 1967: Don Howe’s final game as a player. After 342 games for West Brom he had played 70 games for Arsenal and scored one goal. He then became reserve team coach under Bertie Mee.
1971
28 August 1971: Arsenal 0 Stoke City 1 in front of 37,637. Having won the double Arsenal had started the next season with two wins and three defeats.
1972
31 May 1972: Arsenal played away to Miami Gatos (USA) and won 3-2 in front of a crowd of 4,725. George, Radford and Kennedy scored. Quite what the point of this single post-season game, no one knew, but it was typical of the club at the time.
1973
28 August 1973: John Matthews moved from being an apprentice to being a professional. He made his debut one year later, and went on to play in 45 league games before leaving in 1978.
1974
14 September 1974: 50 years ago today Chelsea v Arsenal was a bottom of the table clash and hooliganism was the discussion of the day
1976
28 August 1976: Sunderland 2 Arsenal 2 with 41,211 in Roker Park. But despite a win and a draw in successive away games the “news” was that Armstrong was going to leave the club.
1980
31 May 1980: Alan Sunderland played for England for the only time: Australia 1 England 2. Brian Talbot won his final cap for England in the same game.
1982
28 August 1982: Lee Chapman made his Arsenal league debut against his old club Stoke City. Arsenal lost 1-2 and in fact lost three and drew one of their first four league games.
1993
28 August 1993: Ian Wright’s single, “Do the Wright Thing” entered the charts!
1999
28 August 1999: Nicolas Anelka transferred to Real Madrid after playing just 50 games and scoring 23 goals. It was said that the profit paid for the new training centre Mr Wenger wanted built.
27 November. 2001: After only 17,000 turned up, Arsenal cut their prices
28 August 2004: Robin van Persie arrived from Feyenoord for £3m. He had played 61 times for the club and scored 15 goals, but had gained a reputation as a difficult player to manage.
28 August 2011: Arsenal lost 2-8 to Man U. See also: Ref Review
31 May 2013: Arsenal reported that Freddie Ljungberg had taken on an ambassadorial role with the club.
28 August 2015: Manuel Almunia was forced to retire from football due to a heart condition. He had just signed for Cagliari Calcio but was unable to play for them. He played 405 games for all his clubs in all competitions and the then became Al Jazira’s goalkeeping coach,
2016
28 August 2016: Arsenal signed Lucas Pérez for £17.1m from Deportivo de La Coruña by activating his release clause.
2021
28 August 2021: Arsenal lost to Manchester City – their third straight defeat, leading to claims in the media of this being Arsenal’s worst start to the season since… The date chosen varied in different outlets, but it was always a long time. The club was described as being in a state of panic and disarray and thoughts of relegation were mentioned.
2023
31 May 2023: The BBC ran a “Who had the youngest average starting XI?”. report. Arsenal were shown to be 19th, with only relegated Southampton having a younger average age to their starting teams in the season.
