By Tony Attwood, chairman, Arsenal History Society.
I have been writing recently to the effect that the Arsenal History Society, part of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association, had proposed to Arsenal FC a series of events to commemorate the move from Plumstead of Highbury.
The move started in1912 when Henry Norris began the search for a new ground, and ended in 1913 with the opening of the new Gillespie Road ground in Islington, later to be called “Arsenal Stadium” and ultimately, “Highbury”.
The major dates of the move are now marked in our Anniversary chart. And the full story of Arsenal’s move t0 Islington is to be found in the book Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football.
But we have also made a series of proposals to Arsenal FC about celebrating the special event, and below I outline the third of these, which concerns the club’s AGM.
Obviously the AGM is an event that the club controls and which must follow certain legal procedures. But AISA has suggested that the club could enhance the AGM experience for shareholders by incorporating the exhibition mentioned above. If the timing of the AGM does not allow for this to happen, it might be possible to have just a few of the displays from the exhibition which we have also proposed in place for the AGM.
We would not of course wish to suggest what the Chairman of the club would want to say at the AGM in his speech, but the build up to or the existence of the Exhibition would be a significant item that the Chairman could talk about, and we would imagine that he would certainly want to comment on it being 100 years since the club moved from Plumstead to Islington and the significance of the move.
I am hopeful that for this momentous occasion Arsenal FC will allow the Arsenal History Society, as part of AISA, to have a small stand at the back of the area on club level where the event is held, to display the Woolwich Arsenal book, and our course our series of booklets which chart the history of the club.
By the time of the next AGM we will have the third in the series available, and any shareholder who wishes to purchase the book or join AISA would be able to do so – if the club agree.
Here’s the full list of our proposals so far:
1: Launching Islington 100 – 100 years of football in north London
2: Remembering Lt Colonel Sir Henry Norris – the man who rescued Arsenal in 1910, built Highbury in 1913, and brought in Herbert Chapman as manager.
3: Proposals for a major exhibition to celebrate 100 years of Arsenal in Islington at the Emirates Stadium.
4: The Commemoration of Norris, Hall and Humble – the three men who devoted themselves to ensuring that the club survived the traumas of the move.
