AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
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 12th October 1912 Arsenal hosted fellow Londonders Chelsea. Chelsea were a relatively new club having been formed in 1905. They gained admission into the Second Division of the Football League …
By Andy Kelly 84 years ago today Arsenal broke the world transfer record by paying a reported £10,890 to Bolton for David Jack. I’m sure that you, dear reader, will have read the story of Jack’s transfer many times. But, did you know that there actually two versions how Arsenal came to sign one of …
Read More “13 October 1928: Arsenal Smash The World Transfer Record – But what REALLY happened?”
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 5th October 1912 The Woolwich Arsenal team journeyed up to the north-west to play Oldham. Captain Percy Sands and Charlie Randall returned to the team after missing one and two …
Read More “7th October 1912 – Title winning form from Woolwich Arsenal”
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. During the final week of September, Arsenal’s first team played one league game and a charity match whilst the reserves also played a league game. There was also an interesting appointment …
Read More “30th September 1912 – Another week, another point”
by Andy Kelly Arsenal have been busy promoting their new lottery which launches on 29th September 2012. It looks like the Arsenal Foundation will be the big beneficiaries of this lottery. However, 110 years ago Woolwich Arsenal organised their first lottery, but in different circumstances. You can read the full story here in one of our …
Read More “Arsenal launch new lottery – 110 years after their first one”
By Andy Kelly Our series plotting Woolwich Arsenal’s move from Plumstead to Islington 100 years ago continues. On Saturday 21st September, the first team ventured north to play Sheffield United. Arsenal’s mis-firing front line was once again changed. McLaughlan returned to the team and Randall came in for his first game of the season; Flanagan …
By Andy Kelly Woolwich Arsenal had two games in the week following their 0-3 defeat at Liverpool. Both games were at the Manor Ground against opposition that they had beaten (Bolton) and drawn against (Aston Villa) the previous season, so hopes were high. First up were Bolton on Saturday 14th September. The Arsenal team lined-up …
Read More “16th September 1912 – Woolwich Arsenal struggle on and off the pitch”
Updated 9 October 2018 Please note that we have been kindly provided with more information by Colin MacKenzie of the website Scottishsporthistory. What I have done here is left Andy’s original article for Arsenal History Society as it was written, and added extracts from Colin’s work at the end. The new material is published from …
Read More “Henry Boyd, Arsenal’s top goal scorer on a goals per game ratio: an update”
by Andy Kelly 7th September 1912 Having drawn their opening game, the first team travelled north to Liverpool for their next fixture. Arsenal had never won at Anfield, having drawn two and lost seven, with Liverpool winning the corresponding fixture 4-1 the previous season. Arsenal lined-up as they had on Monday: Crawford Shaw Peart Thomson …
by Andy Kelly This article is appearing one day late, because there was an even bigger anniversary on 2 September, and we felt the need to cover that. Full list of anniversaries and links to the stories behind them appears on the Anniversary site. ————————— Now, on with the show… To celebrate 100 years of …
Read More “2nd September 1912 – The beginning of the end in Plumstead”
——————————————– There is much more on the background to this extraordinary day in the book “Woolwich Arsenal: the club that changed football“ ——————————————- by Andy Kelly 119 years ago today on 2nd September 1893, Woolwich Arsenal played their first ever Football League game. The opponents were Newcastle United and the match was played in front …
Read More “2nd September 1893 – Today’s MASSIVE Anniversary”
by Andy Kelly And here we are, the final set of answers to the quiz. Thank you to all of you that entered. The two deserving winners are Jamie H and Sampat Prabhudesai who got 16 and 14 questions correct respectively. 16. Arsenal’s longest serving captain is Tony Adams between 1988 and 2003. Which Arsenal player was/is the second longest …
by Andy Kelly We’re nearly there. Today we have the answers to questions 11 to 15: 11. Which player won a league title medal even though he wasn’t an Arsenal player at the start or end of that season? George Hunt who joined Arsenal from Tottenham on 1 October 1937, played 18 games and then left for Bolton …
by Andy Kelly Following on from yesterday’s answers, today we have the answers to questions 6 to 10: 6. Which famous referee and football administrator was president of Arsenal during the 1980s? Sir Stanley Rous. 7. Who was the first player to play 100 league games for Woolwich Arsenal? Gavin Crawford on 3rd Aprl 1897. 8. Of …
by Andy Kelly The winners of the quiz where the prizes were two copies of Woolwich Arsenal: the club that changed football will be announced shortly. We’re going to give the answers over the next four days, with five answers each day. So, here we go with answers to questions 1 to 5: Who captained Arsenal …
—————— Hint: This article contains help in answering the Great Arsenal Competition in which you can win a copy of Woolwich Arsenal the club that changed football – or one of our other books. —————— By Andy Kelly Some players are great. Some – a few – are beyond greatness. We may think in the …
Read More “Alex James: great player and fantastic (but forgotten) captain”
by Andy Kelly I recently read a post on the angryofislington blog which asked why no one likes Tottenham. I think Phil’s post is supposed to be light-hearted but there is a ring of truth to it. I should explain: I’m in the middle of a final read through of Woolwich Arsenal: the club that …
Read More “Why Don’t Tottenham Have Any Footballing Friends?”
Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. New info on publication date. Updated information here When Arsenal and Fulham were within moments of merging into one club… full details in “Making the Arsenal” We are on Twitter @Untold Arsenal ——————————— By Andy Kelly 26th April is a special day for Arsenal FC. On this …
by Andy Kelly “Why on Earth are you writing about Leroy Rosenior on an Arsenal history site?” you are probably thinking. Well, whilst putting together Woolwich Arsenal – The Club That Changed Football I put it to my co‑authors that if one of Woolwich Arsenal’s directors hadn’t died at the young age of 28 then …
Read More “A tribute to Leroy Rosenior: the man who did so much for Arsenal”
————————————————————– Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. Have your name in the book as an official sponsor. Updated information here The day when Fulham tried to take over Arsenal – the full story in “Making the Arsenal” We’re on Twitter @UntoldArsenal —————— by Andy Kelly Following on from my last article celebrating Arsenal’s first …
Read More “121 Years ago today – Royal Arsenal’s last trophy”
By Andy Kelly 122 years ago today Arsenal won the Kent Junior Cup – the first ever trophy that the club won. Having played only friendlies during 1886-87, Royal Arsenal entered the London Senior Cup the following season. They received a bye in the first round and were soundly beaten 0-4 by Barnes. This season …
Read More “122 years ago today – Arsenal’s first Silverware”
by Andy Kelly Last Friday I was one of three people (Tony Attwood and Mark Andrews being the other two) that received an e-mail from Paul Matz of AISA asking if one of us would like to attend the unveiling of the three legends’ statues on 9 December. The club had invited 100 special guests to the ceremony. …
Read More “Arsenal History Society at The Unveiling of Arsenal’s Legends’ Statues”
by Andy Kelly Up until 1925 the laws of football stated that an attacking player required at least three opponents between himself and the opponent’s goal to be onside. In the early days of the game, tactical naivety meant that there were still plenty of goals to keep the fans happy. In Woolwich Arsenal’s last …
By Andy Kelly Sadly (for me) this article isn’t about me. I’ve been collating line-ups for Arsenal games since the late-1970s and have been fascinated by those people who played the odd game here and there, wondering how they got a game. Some of these people went on to become relatively famous – Glenn Roeder, …
Arsenal History and Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Andy Kelly When it’s a lottery!!! Ha, ha, yes the old ones are the best ones. Those of you that have read an Arsenal history book will, more than likely, have read about the club organising an archery tournament in 1902 to raise funds. At the close …
Read More “When is an archery tournament not an archery tournament?”
