This website has been built sometimes in a logical chronological sequence and sometimes because a subject turns up, we do some research, and write an article – just because it was an interesting thing to do.
So although there is some order to the articles, that order is not completely adhered to. And thus eventually, years and years later, we felt maybe a chronological order was needed.
But as you may know we have already researched and written up a whole load of series on specific issues such as the founding of the club, the move to Highbury and so forth. But what we are trying to do here is bring some extra order to the site, so that if a search using the usual “search” box doesn’t turn up what you are looking for this page might.
So far it is in the early days of construction, but hopefully over time it will grow. Please report any errors you find to me: Tony@schools.co.uk
And please don;t forget two things: one is there is a search box on the right side of this page, and the other is that this page is still being worked on, and we may not yet have got to the year you are looking at!
1886
The History of Arsenal: putting it in order Part 1. 1886
1887/8
Arsenal’s second season: what really happened in 1887/8?
28 March 1887: Royal Arsenal ended Season 1 with an away defeat to 2nd Rifle Brigade. During this short season the club won 7, drew 1 and lost 2. Royal Arsenal scored 36 and conceded 8. 28 March 1896: Millwall 1 Arsenal 3. This was the 18th
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?
Arsenal 1899/1900: keeping professional football alive in the south
1890
25 January 1890: Arsenal’s first ever trophy
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.
The Invicta Ground – Arsenal’s home 1890/3 – the untold tales.
8th March 1890 – Royal Arsenal Players: Richard Horsington, the injury prone businessman
1891
25 April 1891 – Arsenal’s First Ever Substitute
9 May 1891: Arsenal vote to become the first professional team in the south
23 May 1891: Arsenal kicked out of football… or not?
25 April 1891 – Arsenal’s First Ever Substitute
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.
Why Arsenal joned the Football League rather than the Southern League
1892
Why Arsenal joned the Football League rather than the Southern League
13 February 1892: Anniversary of the first Arsenal song sung by the crowd
24 February 1892: Arsenal attempt to form the Southern League
5 March 1892: the Southern Alliance formed, leading to Arsenal joining the Football League
1893
Season 1893/1894
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
After one year in the league what happened to Arsenal? Football and Arsenal in 1894
14 July 1894: The first “Woolwich Arsenal Football Day Excursion” to Hastings
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 2: 1894/5 to 1896/7
1895
13 April 1895: the first ever Arsenal player to get representative honours
26 January 1895: Arsenal first club to have ground closed because of crowd behaviour
Arsenal’s greatest achievements: part 3 – marginal improvements 1895/6
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!
Arsenal’s greatest achievements: the strugle to break even and rise up the league
1897
Arsenal’s early seasons: 1897/8
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 2: 1894/5 to 1896/7
Arsenal’s early seasons: 1897/8
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 1897/8
30 March 1897 – Arsenal’s First Manager Takes Office
Arsenal’s greatest achievements: the strugle to break even and rise up the league
1898/9
1898/9: Home form is great but why is away form so dodgy?
Woolwich Arsenal in the FA Cup 1898-1901
The History of Arsenal’s early days in the Football league
1899
Arsenal 1899/1900: keeping professional football alive in the south
Arsenal v Blackpool 1899 report (slightly delayed)
1898/9: Home form is great but why is away form so dodgy?
25 February 1899: The Arsenal manager who never was
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.
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.
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
1913: The final game at Woolwich 26 April 1913 See also here
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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,”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
28 August 1993: Ian Wright’s single, “Do the Wright Thing” entered the charts!
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.
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.
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.
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
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. He then became Al Jazira’s goalkeeping coach,
28 August 2016: Arsenal signed Lucas Pérez for £17.1m from Deportivo de La Coruña by activating his release clause.
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.
31 May 2013: Arsenal reported that Freddie Ljungberg had taken on an ambassadorial role with the club.
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.
