17 October 1970: Arsenal hammer Everton 4-0 as things look interesting.

By Tony Attwood

League Match 17 in the 1970/71 season on 17 October.  Arsenal beat Everton 4-0.  Kennedy got two, Kelly got one and Storey the penalty.

This was a match of considerable importance.

First, it was a match of swagger and style and a thumping win over the reigning champions.  Second it was the third match since the awful 0-5 defeat away to Stoke; and those three results were

  • Beat Nottingham Forest 4-0 (home)
  • Drew with Newcastle away 1-1
  • Beat Everton 4-0 (home)

Now this in itself was important because the press, always keen to knock Arsenal, had been saying that the 0-5 reverse to Stoke had shown that Arsenal thus far had been flattering to deceive.  The two 4-0 wins and the creditable away draw showed this was not the case.

Third, it was the start of four successive wins as we beat Everton, Coventry, Derby and Blackpool.

Fourth it was part of a 14 match unbeaten run which included 11 wins and just 3 draws.

And fifth it was a period when goals came from everywhere.  In addition to those scoring in this match Armstrong, Graham and Radford all knocked them in, and it looked like even if more injuries came (Charlie George did not return to the side until February) Arsenal could score from all parts of the pitch.

The crowd believed in Arsenal too.  50,000 turned up for the Everton game and 43,000 for the next home game against Derby.  These were high numbers for a club that but a few years earlier had been used to 20,000 more than 40,000

It was in fact, the core of the winning of the double.  Indeed much of the success of the club that season can be put down to the follow up to that 5-0 reverse against Stoke.

Indeed the oddity of that scoreline can be seen from the facts of the matches around that game:

  • September 19 beat WBA 6-2
  • September 26 lost to Stoke 0-5
  • October 3 beat Nottingham Forest 4-0
  • October 10 drew with Newcastle 1-1
  • October 17 beat Everton 4-0

Here’s the table after that Everton game….

P W D L F A GA Pt
1 Leeds United 13 8 4 1 20 9 2.22 20
2 Arsenal 13 7 4 2 27 13 2.08 18
3 Manchester City 12 6 5 1 17 8 2.12 17
4 Tottenham Hotspur 13 6 5 2 19 10 1.90 17
5 Crystal Palace 13 7 3 3 15 9 1.67 17
6 Chelsea 13 5 6 2 16 13 1.23 16
7 Wolverhampton Wndrs 13 7 2 4 26 27 0.96 16

An index to all the anniversary files can be found here

 

 

 

2 Replies to “17 October 1970: Arsenal hammer Everton 4-0 as things look interesting.”

  1. I was there, on the Clock End. In this and the preceding home gain when we beat Forest 4-0, we attacked the North Bank in the first half, which was then, as now, uncommon.

  2. This was my first ever game at Highbury. My uncle took my younger brother and me, I was 8, he was 6. He bought a ticket off a tout and bunged the gateman to let us into the East Upper where we sat on his knees. Don’t remember much about the game as I was watching the trains on the main line out of Kings Cross.

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