AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
By Tony Attwood Andrew Alexander “Andy” Cole was George Graham’s greatest mistake. He was born on 15 October 1971 in Nottingham and signed for Arsenal in October 1989. Just a look at his chart of appearances shows where Arsenal in general, and Graham in particular, went wrong. Years Team Lge Apps Leg Goals 1989–1992 Arsenal …
By Tony Attwood Arsenal in the Sheriff of London Shield I guess most of us studying Arsenal’s history know that when Royal Arsenal became a professional club there was a bit of a to-do with the London FA and Kent FA, and both organisations heard motions that Royal Arsenal, as a professional outfit, should not …
by Tony Attwood John Snedden was born in Bonnybridge on 3 February 1942 and played for Arsenal over six seasons in a short career that was blighted by injury. In October 1958 he joined as an amateur from a junior Scottish club, but where there is mention of it there is disagreement as to the …
Read More “John Snedden, one of Arsenal’s forgotten players of the 1960s”
By Tony Attwood Wenger’s first match in charge of Arsenal was against Blackburn Rovers in their days before they became a subsidiary of a chicken, and it took place on 12 October 1996. Arsenal won with two goals from Ian Wright, making it four wins in a row during the Rice/Wenger handover period. Here’s the …
Read More “On the anniversary of Arsène Wenger’s first match”
Joseph Samuel Toner was born on 30 March 1894 in County Down in what is now Northern Ireland, and played for Belfast United before joining Arsenal in August 1919. He also played for the Ireland national team. His first Arsenal match was on 11 October 1919 against Everton which Arsenal won 3-2 where he appeared …
By Tony Attwood This article updated 3 December 2013 I can remember, as a child, Arsenal playing Racing Club de Paris, and wondering why it happened. Childhood memories are of course notoriously unreliable, but I do recall it seeming a bit odd. Hence a little trawl through the records to find out how and why …
Read More “Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris; a noble endeavour”
Consider the Brothers Hoyte Both have played for England at under 17 to under 20 level. Indeed Justin played at under 16 and under 21 level. Both were signed by Arsenal, and yet neither could quite make it. Obviously I don’t know these guys, but I do recall watching them as youngsters playing for Arsenal …
8 October 1930: Arsenal won the Charity Shield beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in front of a crowd of 25,000 at Stamford Bridge. It was Arsenal’s first appearance in the annual match, and started a run of five wins in the 1930s. The team for the first match was Keyser Parker Hapgood Seddon Roberts John Hulme …
Read More “Arsenal in the Charity Shield for first time; 8 October 1930”
7 October 1992 Despite having an awful season compared to recent standards (we finished 10th in the first ever Premier League, behind some luminaries as Norwich and Blackburn,) 1992/3 was the season we were the first ever club to do the cup double of the FA and League Cups. The side had lost David Rocastle …
By Tony Attwood Stats can of course show you anything you want them to show. The opening games of the season can be misleading because of who was played, who was injured, what the other teams were doing etc etc. But still a table of comparison like this can still give an insight or two. …
Read More “Arsenal’s first six games over the last 10 years; it’s not the goals that matter”
6 October 2012 West Ham 1 Arsenal 3 Here are two reviews written at the time. The first is from Gf60 and the second from Untold Arsenal. Gf60… A lot of firsts in this game. The first respectable goal we’ve conceded this year. It would be harsh to condemn Rambo, Per and the I.S for …
By Tony Attwood Arsenal played its first ever FA Cup match on 5 October 1889 against Lyndhurst at home in the first qualifying round. It was played at the Manor Ground. But against whom did they play? Following a lead from a BBC article from 2002 I reached the view that they played Lyndhurst FC …
Read More “5 October 1889: Arsenal play their first FA Cup match – but against who?”
Jeffrey Paul Blockley was born on 12 September 1949. He played for Arsenal for three seasons, and made one appearance for England. He started out with Coventry City in the 1968/9 season and during his spell there played for England under 23s. It was on the back of this success, and during the period where Arsenal …
Read More “Jeff Blockley, derided by fans, but the manager should take more blame.”
By Tony Attwood This was the season Arsenal started by beating Everton 6-1 away and then hammered Portsmouth 4-1 at home. Then consecutive defeats to the Manchester clubs knocked off the shine. But then a series of seven games of which we won six and drew one returned a little faith. This match was the …
By Tony Attwood Perhaps the defining moment of Mr Wenger’s reign at Arsenal came right at the start – a moment which by his actions he not only stopped the press publishing an appalling set of allegations against him, but also set for all time the anti-Wenger, anti-Arsenal agenda of the press. Curiously it is …
Read More “1 October 1996: the origin of the journalist v Wenger campaign”
This is an article about George Graham, the player. There are numerous articles on this site about George as a manager. See the index here. George Graham was the youngest of seven children from a poor Coatbridge family. He was born on 30 November 1944 and his father died on Christmas Day that year from …
Read More “George Graham: the centre forward who became a stroller”
By Tony Attwood On 29 September 2007 Arsenal beat West Ham away 0-1. It was the latest in a wonderful run that had Arsenal at the top of the table, and I can remember the joy that the run brought to all of us. And yet the season ultimately faded and we ended up …
Read More “29 Sept 2007: Arsenal are top; Wenger says he’d hand back transfer fund”
by Tony Attwood This article updated 17 October 28 September 2002. Leeds 1 Arsenal 4 Some matches are remembered because they produced exciting, winning football. This was one of those. Some matches are remembered for a new man’s wonderful first ever game. This was one of those. Some matches are remembered for their place in …
Read More “28 September 2002. Leeds 1 Arsenal 4. Two records broken”
By Tony Attwood Paul Leon Vaessen’s story is the most tragic in football – and that is saying everything, for football endlessly seems to produce more tragedies than it does fun and laughter. He was born on 16 October 1961 and died 8 August 2001 having played just 32 league games for Arsenal, his only …
September 26 1970: Stoke 5 Arsenal 0 Arsenal entered this match third in the league, two points behind Leeds United (in the era of two points for a win). After nine games Arsenal had won five, drawn three and lost one. Perhaps more to the point going away to Stoke City, Arsenal had just won …
Read More “Arsenal lose 5-0 to Stoke on the way to the Double.”
By Tony Attwood Throughout the history of football there are beliefs which are handed down, repeated and repeated, and so become part of the way the story is told. Because these tales are so strongly believed no one actually bothers to go back and check the basic facts. The myth lingers on, simply because it …
24 September 2003: Six Arsenal players charged by FA after a 0-0 at Man U This was the game in which Ruud van Nistelrooy took a penalty in time added on for fighting and hit it against the crossbar, after which Martin Keown had a few quiet words in his face. The reason behind the …
Read More “24 September 2003. Manchester United fight Arsenal”
By Tony Attwood It was clear from way before the Arsenal v Sheffield Utd match on 23 September 2008 that Arsenal were going to put out an incredibly youthful team. As a preview the rather youthful Untold Arsenal (still in its first year of publication), ran a couple of silly pieces before the game …
Read More “What happened to the youth team that beat Sheffield United 6-0 in 2008?”
By Tony Attwood The memories of past heroes and villains had long gone: Sol Campbell , Lauren, Robert Pirès, Ashley Cole – all had moved on a year before. In the summer of 2007 more left: Fabrice Muamba, Mart Poom, Jérémie Aliadière, Thierry Henry, Fredrik Ljungberg, José Antonio Reyes, Arturo Lupoli, Ryan Garry, Joe O’Cearuill. It was a huge …
Read More “22 September 2007: Adebayor gets a hat trick during run of seven consecutive wins”
3 separate reviews of … Tottenham 1 Arsenal 4 3rd round Carling Cup. The first is a report from G460 written at the time. After that there are two commentaries from Untold Arsenal, one immediately after the game, one the next day. From about the 43rd minute to the end of regular time, the thoughts …
Read More “Tottenham 1 Arsenal 4. League Cup. 21 September 2010”
