AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
Arsenal History Society is going to take a little break for a while. We will be back sometime around the 17th November in order to continue digging up a few facts – and the occasional bit of fiction. Meanwhile, here’s some links to keep you going… The Anniversary Files: January to June The Anniversary …
Leonard Edward “Len” Wills was born on 8 November 1927 and first played for Eton Manor FC, and amateur club formed by several well-to-do families to support young men and boys in the East End of London – the notoriously deprived section of the city, in the early part of the 20th century. The club …
Read More “Len Wills: 195 league appearances for Arsenal 1949-62; his only league club”
By Tony Attwood Yesterday our topic was Stuart Robson, midfielder and commentator on Arsenal, today it is John Robson, the goalkeeper who joined Arsenal from Innerleithen (or Vale of Leithen depending on which source you read) for £5 in November 1921. Now when I was a kid I wanted to be a goalkeeper, which was …
Read More “John “Jock” Robson; our smallest ever goal keeper”
By Tony Attwood There is a long history of ex-Arsenal players who come back as media commentators who are highly critical of their former employers. However there can surely be none who has taken this criticism of the hand that formally fed, as Stewart Robson. Stewart Robson was born 6 November 1964 and played 150 …
Read More “Stewart Robson, from decent player to bitter anti-Wengerian”
By Tony Attwood I’m sure many such times could be put forward as the best time to be an Arsenal fan – the run up to the Unbeaten Season would be a fairly good moment to choose. But how about also considering the first half of the 1932/3 season? Interestingly it did not look like …
Read More “When was the best time to be an Arsenal supporter?”
By Tony Attwood As already noted on these pages Woolwich Arsenal did not only play in the Football League, they also played in the United League (1896-9), the Southern District Combination (1899/1900) and the London League Premier Division (1901-04). These alternative leagues were not reserve leagues, but involved playing the first team. However they had …
Read More “Arsenal enter the London League for the first time.”
Please note that since this article was originally published, Ryan has returned to Arsenal as under 13s coach at the Academy. Imagine being talented enough to play for Arsenal, starting for the first time in the first game of the run of 49 unbeaten games, and then never playing for the club again. That was …
Read More “Ryan Garry: what it’s like to have your career taken away from you”
Blackburn 5 Arsenal 5. This was an extraordinary result, no matter which way one looks at it, and yet it is one that seems to have slipped through the reference books, and is not talked about, simply because nothing in the score is a record. Not highest number of goals, most away goals or anything. …
At the time of writing Benik Afobe has 38 international caps ranging from under 16 to under 21 level. He is now 20, and seems to have been knocking on the door for forever. He’s yet to play for Arsenal first team but has made 56 appearances on loan. So, what’s happened? And what next? …
According to some history books Arsenal played Royal Antwerp on 1 November 1960. Since Untold Arsenal and the Arsenal History Society has its own regular correspondent in Antwerp (who once took me on a tour of all the football grounds in Antwerp, which included all of us getting locked inside one of the grounds) it …
Read More “1 November 1960 – the truth about Antwerp vs Arsenal unearthed.”
By Tony Attwood On 31 October 1898 Woolwich Arsenal played Brighton United in the third and final season of the United League. Arsenal won 5-2 and the crowd was 2000. Arsenal’s team was Ord, McPhee, Fyfe, Haywood, Anderson, Dick, Cottrell, White, Hunt, Hannah and Daily. The team, as was common with United League games, was …
On 30 October 2012 Arsenal went four down in a league cup match against Reading. This is how commentator Gf60 saw it. Reading 5 Arsenal 7 League Cup by Gf60 I wonder how many Gooners decided to have an early night and gave it up after about 45 minutes? I was one for the first …
By Tony Attwood How many ex-Arsenal men seem to have felt that knocking Arsenal in general and Arsène Wenger in particular is the best way to get attention, and perhaps a bit of cash on the way? 10? 20? 50? Probably many more for the list seems endless. And yet there is one who has …
Read More “Tony Woodcock; Entrepreneur who (maybe) links with Hoddle…”
Much of the following article is taken from the volume, Woolwich Arsenal FC 1893-1915: the club that changed football, by Attwood, Kelly and Andrews. There’s a link to the book at the foot of the article. Woolwich Arsenal’s league campaign – 1893-94. 28 games, final position 9th in Division II. Unusually, there were an odd …
Arsenal 1 QPR 0 – a moment of relief. 27 October 2012 This was not the best of times for Arsenal. September ended with a 1-1 draw away to Man City and a 1-2 home defeat by Chelsea. Then came a handy 3-1 away win at West Ham before the international break, followed by a …
Read More “Arsenal 1 QPR 0 – being silly, wasting time, and awful shooting. 27 Oct 2012”
By Tony Attwood This article was updated 26 October 2013 1980, Willie Young. It is the image of the player that many of us retain. The trip on Paul Allen in the 1980 Cup Final. In truth is was a foul like many others, but it was on a West Ham player, and WHU were …
Read More “Willie Young, how to tackle at Wembley, how not to comment on Arsenal”
Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin is the person who makes me nervous about Ozil. Andrey was our record signing. He seemed a good fun guy (after all he was not just a football, he had a degree in fashion design was in the fashion business). And he scored four against Liverpool. Ozil seems a nice guy, …
Read More “Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin: the artist of Leningrad”
This victory left Arsenal second in the league, having won five, drawn 2 and lost 2 so far in the 2010/11 season and suggested that the two consecutive defeats against WBA at home and Chelsea away at the end of September and start of October, were a blip from which the club had recovered. From …
Read More “24 October 2010. Man City 0 Arsenal 3. Two reviews with hope for the future.”
By Tony Attwood Mark Randall was born 28 September 1989 in Milton Keynes, and at one time seemed to be destined to make his breakthrough into the Arsenal first team on a permanent basis. But somehow it never happened. Looking on from the distance of an Arsenal fan it seemed that his temperament was not …
Read More “Mark Randall. From Arsenal to Ascoli, from Bergkamp to Johnstone’s Paint”
By Tony Attwood Arsenal had a number of occasions where they moved out if Highbury to play elsewhere. During the second world war Highbury was used as an ARP station and was bombed. Arsenal’s war time league matches were play at White Hart Lane – the reverse of the situation in the first world war …
By Tony Attwood Arsenal started the 1990/1 season well, and indeed this turned out to be the trial run for the unbeaten season – we only lost one league match all through the season. Here is the opening… Against Res Scorers Crowd 25 August 1990 Wimbledon A W 3–0 Merson, Smith, Groves 13,733 29 August …
Read More “How Arsenal were docked two points but still won the league”
Arsenal 5 Shakhtar Donetsk 1 This match drew some rather interesting reviews from Gf60 and from Untold Arsenal. Below is the G460 review, below that the Untold review, and below that a link to the referee review. The Untold review, which I wrote the next day, had the headline “The Most Sporting Occasion I have …
Read More “19 October 2010. The most sporting occasion and best refereeing we can remember”
by Tony Attwood I think by 18 October 2003 we knew this could be a rather special season, not least because we beat Chelsea, and because we went to the top of the league. And although we all love to see dramatic wonderful curlers from a forward after running the whole length of the pitch, …
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 …
Read More “17 October 1970: Arsenal hammer Everton 4-0 as things look interesting.”
By Tony Attwood It started against Southampton on 7 May 2003. Arsenal had just thrown away their last chance of winning the league by being defeated by Leeds United at home on the 4 May. Tickets for that Leeds match were changing hands at 10 to 15 times face value. Three days later the touts …
Read More “The final win of the Great 49; the most famous run ever in English football”
