AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews (@Gooner_AK) (@RoyalArsenalMRA) Post World War Two – A tale of two families The vacant position of Arsenal chairman was filled by a man who was as famous as his predecessors. Sir Bracewell Smith had joined Arsenal’s board in July 1938 having recently purchased a considerable slice of the club. …
by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews (@Gooner_AK) (@RoyalArsenalMRA) The first instalment of this series showed that there was a high turnover of chairmen at Woolwich Arsenal during the first 17 years. The next 17 years saw just two men lead the club. The part they played in the club’s history cannot be understated. Woolwich Arsenal …
by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews (@Gooner_AK) (@RoyalArsenalMRA) The Golden Years and the nobility The events of 1927 decimated the Arsenal boardroom with Sir Henry Norris, William Hall, Jack Humble and George Peachey leaving. That left just Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, George Allison and John Edwards to run the club during the 1927-28 season. Sir Samuel …
by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews (@Gooner_AK) (@RoyalArsenalMRA) Following the recent announcement that Sir Chips Keswick had replaced Peter Hill-Wood as chairman we thought it would interesting to look at Arsenal’s previous chairmen. With 22 people having held this position we have broken this down into more readable articles. Royal Arsenal (1886 – 1893) During …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Ingrained within the heritage of The Arsenal is the long standing latin motto “Victoria Concordia Crescit”. Over the years there have been a number of variations of the translation but all are roughly the same: “Victory Grows Through Harmony.” But when was this motto first attributed to The Arsenal, and why? …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Woolwich Arsenal’s final game of the disastrous 1912/13 season was played at home and, thus, was the last game that they played in Plumstead. Earlier on in the year the directors had announced that they would be leaving South London for Highbury. When Henry Norris and William Hall took control of …
Read More “26 April 1913 – Arsenal’s last game in Plumstead”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) I’m sure that you are aware that substitutes were introduced into English football for the 1965-66 season. Before this, if a player was injured and couldn’t play on then his team had to make do with ten men. This happened to Arsenal in the 1952 FA Cup Final when Walley Barnes …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) There has been much speculation over the years about Arsenal’s first game. Was it really played on 11 December 1886 or in October? What name did they play under – Dial Square FC, Dial Square Cricket Club, Royal Arsenal, no name? Was it really played in Millwall? Why travel there for …
Read More “Arsenal’s First Game – The Facts Finally Revealed”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) One of the many myths of Arsenal’s history is that the club has never been relegated. Unfortunately, this is not so. Even worse is that when they were relegated it was with one of the worst records ever. The fateful day when Arsenal were relegated was 12 April 1913. Prior to …
by Andy Kelly with Mark Andrews and Tony Attwood Sometimes when you’re digging through old newspapers you come across something that stops you dead in your tracks. This happened to Mark Andrews and myself as we were doing research for the Arsenal History Society just over a year ago. We looked at each other and …
Read More “5 April 1929 – The Day Herbert Chapman Resigned From Arsenal”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) The issue of appointing a manager to run Arsenal’s team had been a bone of contention for a number of years. The earliest mention of appointing a full-time manager was in 1892 when the club was still known as Royal Arsenal and run by a committee. A sub-committee of five was …
Read More “30 March 1897 – Arsenal’s First Manager Takes Office”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) 1905, that’s when. On 26 September 2010 Arsenal’s history changed. That was the day that Tony Attwood published this article about Bobby Buist, an Arsenal player from the 1890s. I added a comment including a link to a match report of a game that Buist was reported to have played in. …
Read More “The History of Arsenal – Where Did It All Go Wrong?”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) A little over 6 months after moving into their new stadium at Highbury the Arsenal directors took the unilateral decision to shut the ground due to a subsidence problem. It’s unclear whether this was a defect caused by the builder or lack of supervision by Archibald Leitch, the architect. Leitch had …
Read More “20 March 1914 – Highbury closed due to subsidence”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Woolwich Arsenal had been incorporated as limited company in May 1893. The club had had financial problems during the Boer War due to falling crowds but was helped through this lean period with loans from directors such as George Lawrance and George Leavey. A couple of unusual fund-raising events in the …
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) Herbert Chapman is credited with trying to introduce floodlit football to England. Arsenal played a couple of floodlit games behind closed doors during the early 1930s but the football authorities were not favourable to it. Floodlit football was finally given the go ahead in the 1950s and it has been assumed that …
Read More “16 March: Arsenal’s first floodlit game – but what year?”
by Andy Kelly (@Gooner_AK) 100 years ago Woolwich Arsenal were coming to the end of the club’s annus horriblis. Prior to this date the Reds’ league record read: Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Points 29 2 9 18 18 55 13 They were bottom of the First Division table, seven points from safety. The …
Read More “15 March 1913: Woolwich Arsenal’s last win in Plumstead”
by Andy Kelly On Monday 12 March 1900, about 600 people with a free afternoon paid to watch Woolwich Arsenal play Loughborough. The reason it was played on a Monday afternoon was that the game had originally been played on the previous Boxing Day but had to be abandoned after 75 minutes due to fog …
by Andy Kelly 9th March 1935 saw the top two teams in the First Division play each other at Highbury. Free scoring Arsenal were averaging almost 3 goals per game and going for their third consecutive title. They had just beaten neighbours Tottenham 6-0 at White Hart Lane. Sunderland, although not as potent in front …
by Andy Kelly Having turned professional in 1891, Royal Arsenal organised a number of high-profile friendlies against the big clubs from the north and Midlands. They also, contrary to popular belief, continued to play friendlies against clubs from London and the south. The friendlies proved to be lucrative for Royal Arsenal but the committee knew …
Read More “24 February 1892: Arsenal attempt to form the Southern League”
by Andy Kelly On 10 March 1919 the English Football League held a special meeting to decide whether to expand the League from two divisions each with 20 teams to two divisions each with 22 teams. They would also decide which teams would constitute each division. One of those decisions has been a cause of …
Read More “Arsenal’s Election To The First Division In 1919”
by Andy Kelly This weekly series charts Arsenal’s final season in Plumstead and the move to Islington that, effectively, saved the club’s very existence. Saturday 9th November 1912 This week 100 years ago, Woolwich Arsenal took on West Bromwich Albion in the Midlands. Following the debacle of the previous week, manager George Morrell changed the …
Read More “11th November 1912 – Arsenal go nap: 5 straight defeats”
by Andy Kelly This weekly series charts Arsenal’s final season in Plumstead and the move to Islington that, effectively, saved the club’s very existence. Saturday 2nd November 1912 Woolwich Arsenal were visited by a Manchester City team that was in touch with the league leaders. With the Reds’ recent form of six league games without …
by Andy Kelly This weekly series charts Arsenal’s final season in Plumstead and the move to Islington that, effectively, saved the club’s very existence. Saturday 26th October 1912 Woolwich Arsenal travelled to Bradford 100 years ago this week. Angus McKinnon and David Greenaway returned to the team after one game whilst Ernest Hanks made his …
Read More “28th October 1912 – Another defeat, but still above Tottenham”
by Andy Kelly On the 22nd of October 1949 Arsenal’s reserves journeyed to South Wales to play Cardiff City in a Football Combination game. Arsenal’s team included youngsters Jack Kelsey, John Chenhall, Joe Wade, Ray Daniel, Arthur Shaw and Arthur Milton, who would all go on to win honours at the club, along with veteran …
Read More “On this day in 1949 – Arsenal players start the second half with a fag!”
by Andy Kelly This weekly series charts Arsenal’s final season in Plumstead and the move to Islington that, effectively, saved the club’s very existence. Wednesday 16th October 1912 Arsenal had a mid-week game at Crystal Palace in a relatively new competition – the Kent Senior Shield. It had been inaugurated the previous season and was …
Read More “21st October 1912 – Woolwich Arsenal to move to North London”
