January 28th 1931
Arsenal 9 Grimsby Town 1
Arsenal goals: Jack 4, Lambert 3, Bastin 1, Holme 1
Attendance 15, 751
The match was originally intended to be played on December 6, but was abandoned after 63 minutes due to fog. This game was thus played mid-week – hence the low crowd for a 2.15pm kick off.
Having lost their previous home league game 1-3 to Sunderland, and having been knocked out of the FA Cup 2-1 away by Chelsea on the previous saturday January 24th, there must have been some gnashing of teeth.
Arsenal had never won the league, and the previous season had come 14th (although they had won their first ever major trophy, by beating Huddersfield in the FA Cup final).
Despite the Sunderland defeat Arsenal were top of the league, and some of the gloom must have been further removed by the way in which Arsenal achieved this position, including three games in November when they scored five, and a 7-1 defeat of Blackpool on December 27.
So the 9-1 was a return to the good life, and in fact the start of a nine game unbeaten run. Indeed Arsenal only suffered one more defeat that season (away to Villa) and were champions with a record 66 points, seven above second placed Villa, and 14 above third place Sheffield Wednesday.
This was Arsenal’s first championship, as I have said, and this game against Grimsby was not only their best ever league win as Arsenal, but also the start of the run into that famous championship.
You’ll find more on this period of this season in this article
The books…
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal – crowd behaviour at the early matches
The sites…
- Untold Arsenal
- Referee Decisions – just what are the refs up to this season?
- The weight loss programme: The only guaranteed wayto stay fit
- Looking for a terraced house in Northamptonshire?
The main series
- Islington 100: celebrating 100 years of Arsenal in Islington
- Arsenal’s Anniversaries
- The Managers index with two managers that no one else includes!
