Herbert Chapman dies: 6 January

By Tony Attwood Herbert Chapman made Arsenal – of that there can be no doubt.  And therefore you won’t be surprised to find more articles about Chapman on this site than any other manager. The index to the Herbert Chapman articles shows just how much work we have put into this project, analysing his style …

Ted Platt: wartime keeper who could not replace Swindin or Kelsey

Ted Platt Ted Platt was born in Romford on 26 March 1921 and at the time of writing is still with us, having reached the age of 91. He started out with Colchester United of the Southern League and was transferred directly from them to Arsenal. Ted Platt then signed for Arsenal on January 5 1939 …

3 Jan: Arsenal sign star player for £1500

By Tony Attwood 3 January 1951: Arsenal sign Dennis Evans from Ellesmere Port Town for £1500 Dennis Evans was born on 18 May 1930 in Ellesmere Port and played for his local side.   He was signed from them directly to Arsenal, by Tom Whittaker who was building his next league winning side with Dennis …

Jan 2: Arsenal play in the fifth qualifying round of the FA Cup

By Tony Attwood This coming weekend, as we all know, Arsenal play in the FA Cup third round – which as always is their first match in the competition. The FA Cup, as you’ll know if you follow Untold Arsenal, starts way back in August with the Extra Preliminary Round, and this season we saw …

ASEC Mimosas, Beveren, Emmanuel Eboué, Arsenal, Charlton

By Tony Attwood January 1st 2005 and… Emmanuel Eboué joins Arsenal from Beveren. Eboué started playing football for ASEC Mimosas based in Abidjan which in fact is a story in itself.  The club is the most successful side in Ivorian football, and it has within it Académie MimoSifcom which has produced players such as  Bonaventure Kalou, Didier …

31 December 1994: John Jensen scores – Arsenal 1 QPR 3

31 December 1994: John Jensen scores – Arsenal 1 QPR 3 John Jensen was a defensive midfielder, a cult hero, and the man whose transfer ultimately brought down George Graham. When we bought him he had already been Danish Player of the Year, and played in a UEFA cup semi final with Brøndby.  He was …

December 30: Anniversary of Arsenal’s first away league win

By Tony Attwood If you have read “Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football” (see link below) you will know that Woolwich Arsenal became a professional club in 1891, but did not join the Football League until 1893, and thus became the only southern club in the league. Naturally this meant that all away games …

Arsenal 7 Blackpool 1, Dec 27 1930. George Male appears; first championship in site

By Tony Attwood There is already a full article about George Male on this site, so no need to repeat his story – I have just added a link in the Anniversary section to this date and his first appearance. But it is interesting to pause and see how Arsenal ended 1930.  We had so …

Bill Linward joined Arsenal and played 2 games in 2 days

By Tony Attwood Bill Linward was an outside left who joined Arsenal from West Ham United in December 1902 and made his début against Millwall Athletic on Boxing Day 1902.  On the following day he played at number 11 in a division 2 match against Burnley.  We won 5-1 – quite a turn around after …

Tottenham H 0 Arsenal 5 . December 23 1978

By Tony Attwood Watch the big screens at the Ems prior to any match and just before you see the players come out you will see a stream of old film from the days of past glory. Among these pictures is a grainy black and white sequence of Liam Brady scoring a goal from the …

Arsenal against New Brighton Tower; one of the artificial clubs of football.

This article was updated on 8 December 2013 —————————– On 10 December 1898 Woolwich Arsenal played New Brighton Tower, the score being New Brighton Tower 1 Arsenal 3.  No crowd figure is recorded.   In the return match on April 8 1899 Arsenal won 4-0.  In the following season Arsenal won 2-0 away and 5-0 at …

A Right Royal Arsenal Christmas

By Mark Andrews. Last year we reviewed the Woolwich Arsenal Christmas programmes from 1904 and 1905 in http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/2011/12/23/christmas-scheduling-past/ For this festive season we are looking at Royal Arsenal’s scheduled Christmas programmes in a snowy 1890, a beery 1891 and a fractious 1892. Being an organised amateur club and “Champions of the South” they were in touch with Northern …

Joe Shaw – the greatest long term servant Arsenal has ever had

By Tony Attwood Joe Shaw already has several articles about him on this site – and there is an index of these here. But what the earlier articles don’t do is focus on Joe as a lifelong servant of the club.  He played for Arsenal, managed the reserves, and for half a season managed the …

David Seaman: Arsenal’s most stunning keeper ever?

This article is part of the review of the players who played under George Graham. By Tony Attwood David Seaman began his career at Leeds United but Eddie Gray, their player manager turned him down, so he joined Peterborough then in the 4th division.  The transfer fee was £4000. In 1984 he went to Birmingham …

16 December 1991: Michael Thomas to Liverpool. Surely the oddest transfer of all time.

By Tony Attwood Whatever happened to Micky Thomas? When I heard that Thomas had signed for Liverpool on this day in 1991 I thought it was a joke – a stupid wind-up.   Thomas, the man who had really hurt Liverpool in more ways than can be imagined had moved to the team we beat to …

Not all Chapman signings were superstars.

By Tony Attwood Today, December 15, is an Arsenal anniversary that I can’t imagine anyone even thinking about, let alone writing about.   Well, anyone except me, I guess. The event is question is one that won’t throw much light on the situation either, for it is the anniversary of the signing of Harold Peel being …

December 13: when Arsenal fans turned against Arsenal – the start of the modern era

By Tony Attwood Arsenal FC has a long history of supposed fans turning against their own players – a history that goes back to the 19th century.  Indeed much of this early Anti-Arsenal Arsenal activity is discussed in The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: a volume which considers in detail the crowd’s behaviour at the …

Arsenal’s most humbling experience: The Walsall Experiment

By Tony Attwood The  Walsall Experiment  You’ll have heard about the game: Walsall of the Third Division North vs Arsenal; 14th January 1933. In the previous season we had come second in the league and were runners up in the F.A. Cup.  At the time of the Walsall game we were top of the 1st …

Today is the anniversary of Arsenal’s first ever match

——————————- The books… Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910 The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches The sites… For the parent who really wants to know what is really going on in schools …

Chapman’s real secret: how the club was organised during his reign

By Tony Attwood A little while ago I wrote up an analysis of how Herbert Chapman, over a period of years, built a great team, working on each position in turn until he had the definitive player for the role.   Then as that player’s ability declined, or if he suffered a really bad injury, he …

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 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 …

4th November 1912 – Slaughtered at home

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 …