AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
By Tony Attwood The 2004/5 Champions League group stage campaign was one of the strangest Arsenal have played in. The game on 24 November 2004 was, as noted above, the fourth draw – but more than that, it was the four draw Arsenal had in a row in the group. Now one might expect that …
Read More “24 November 2004: PSV 1 Arsenal 1. Arsenal fourth draw in a row; but still we qualify”
By Tony Attwood Billy Milne DCM (apparently known as “Stig” – for reasons that I have not been able to ascertain) was born on 24 November 1895 and had an unusual career at Arsenal. He played before and after the first world war for Buckie Thistle, and during the war served his country with great …
Read More “Billy Milne DCM: a lifetime with Arsenal, including saving the stadium”
Arsenal and the London Senior Cup We are used, in the 21st century, to Arsenal first team playing in three competitions and a combination of the first team and reserves playing in the fourth (the league cup). In the early days of football life was more complicated and a whole range of competitions came and …
Read More “Royal Arsenal in the London Senior Cup; retiring as cup winners.”
Jim Furnell was born 23 November 1937 in Lancashire, and started out playing for Burnley aged 17 before moving on to second division Liverp0ol in February 1962 where he became the first team keeper. He moved to Arsenal £15,000 or £16,000 (depending on the source you read) on November 22 1963, signed by Billy Wright. …
Read More “Jim Furnell; the bridge between Kelsey and Wilson”
It was Herbert Chapman and the president of Racing who took up the issue of a Racing v Arsenal match in the 1930s, and turned it into a regular event, taking place as close to Armistice Day as possible each year. It was in fact one of two regular friendlies that the club instituted …
Read More “Arsenal vs Rangers – the friendlies alongside those with Racing Club de Paris”
1887/8 was Arsenal’s second year in football. It was a year in which they were an amateur team, playing friendlies under the name Royal Arsenal. And it was a season in which, for the very first time Arsenal played Tottenham. Unfortunately we know very little about this momentous occasion other than the date, the score …
Arsenal edge towards relegation and bankruptcy – by Tony Attwood In 1908/9 Arsenal under George Morrell had achieved their highest ever position in the league – 6th. Yet the following season, under the same manager they slipped to 18th – a near disaster since clubs ending up 19th and 20th were relegated. The danger signs …
When Arsenal lost on 28 August 2011 to Manchester United 8-2, a moment of modern history was written. Not a wanted moment from an Arsenal point of view, but still a moment of history. It was a most terrible defeat and one that the Anti-Arsenal movement claimed that they had “seen coming” for a long …
I have often made the point that if only those people who have complained about football under Wenger could remember our previous manager, Bruce Rioch, they would probably shut up. Now others have argued that it wasn’t that bad as the club ended up fifth during Rioch’s year, qualified for Europe and brought in two …
First we had Reading 5 Arsenal 7 in the League Cup. but then it was back to earth with Manchester Utd 2 Arsenal 1 in the League. The gods, we knew, were playing with us. Then Schalke 2 Arsenal 2 in Champions League Match 4, after being two up. Gf60 ended his commentary with hopes …
By Tony Attwood The London Challenge Cup was a competition that Woolwich Arsenal FC entered from 1908/9 season (when the competition was first formed) onwards. In its early years the competition ran through four rounds with the semi-final and final being played on neutral grounds. This changed in 1933 when all rounds were played on …
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 …
