AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
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”
By Tony Attwood On January 1 2001 Charlton Athletic gained their first victory over Arsenal in 44 years. On 3 February 2001 Dennis Bergkamp scored the only goal at Coventry City to give Arsenal a win. It was our first away win since November. The times did not feel particularly wonderful, and yet that opening …
Read More “20 September 2002: Mr Wenger predicts Arsenal can go unbeaten all season”
19 September 2009: Arsenal start a run of six wins and a draw with victory over Wigan Background. After two high scoring wins against Everton (6-1 away) and Portsmouth (4-1 at home), plus wins against Celtic in the qualifying round of Europe, Arsenal had suffered defeats to Man U and Man C. Standard Liege …
Read More “19 September 2009: Arsenal start a run of six wins and a draw”
by Tony Attwood By and large new articles on Arsenal’s history which relate to a specific date are published on the anniversary of that date. But it seems rather churlish to wait another 364 days to celebrate the record breaking 10 away wins in a row, so it is being added to the files a …
Read More “Arsenal all time away wins record holds within it a second interesting statistic”
By Tony Attwood The list of results for the opening of the 1994/5 season shows a sad tale indeed. 20 August 1994 Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City 23 August Leeds United 1-0 Arsenal 28 August Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal 31 August Arsenal 0-0 Blackburn 10 September Norwich 0-0 Arsenal 18 September Arsenal 2-3 Newcastle And …
Read More “By 18 September 1994, Arsenal knew they were in trouble…”
by Tony Attwood Geoffrey Hugh Strong, was born in Kirkheaton, Northumberland on 19 September 1937 and being a talented schoolboy sprinter and top quality all-round athlete seemed destined from the start to make his living from sport. However he trained as a machine-tool fitter while playing for north-eastern amateurs Stanley United, until he joined Arsenal …
Read More “Geoff Strong: made at Arsenal, flourished with Liverpool”
By Tony Attwood Arsenal have gone to the top of the league 19 times since August 2000, and from that position have won the league twice. The last time before the Sunderland match on 14 August 2013 was on 4 December 2010 when Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1. It was however a short lived period at …
In 2010/11 we were drawn against Braga in the Champions League and had two very contrasting results. Here’s how the games were seen by regular blogger Gf60 Arsenal 6 Braga 0 Euro Cup. 15 September 2010 A recently conducted survey of one reveals a fascinating bit of information…namely that this year we are more likely to …
Read More “15 September 2010: Arsenal beat Braga, but fail in the return”
Douglas John Lishman was born in Birmingham in September 14, 1923 and died in December 1994. Having served in the Royal Marine Commandos during the Second World War and taking part in the Walcheren Island landing in Holland. He signed as a professional for Walsall in the run up to the return of football after …
Read More “Doug Lishman – 3 hat tricks in consecutive home games”
What do we remember of Ian Wright? Ian Edward Wright, MBE was born 3 November 1963 in Woolwich – a propitious start for an Arsenal player. He started out with Greenwich Borough and then having been spotted was invited to have a trial at Crystal Palace who signed him in August 1985, when he was …
I write this on the 60th anniversary of Arsenal’s game away to Sunderland, and coincidentally at a time when we are just two days away from the same fixture in the 2013/14 season. The match in question involved Arsenal losing 1-7 away to Sunderland on September 12 1953. 1953/4 saw Arsenal have a wretched start …
Read More “60 years ago: when Arsenal lost 7-1 to Sunderland”
Freddie Ljungberg was born on 16 April 1977 in Sweden and was spotted as a remarkable footballing talent from very early on, as well as being noted for his ability in other sports. Unlike many footballers he was also academically gifted, and started taking a degree, but then football took over. Ljungberg made his debut for …
Read More ““We love you Freddie, cos you’ve got red hair.” Freddie Ljungberg an all time favourite.”
Celebrating 100 years of Arsenal in Islington Friday 6th September 2013 marked the 100 year anniversary of Arsenal’s first ever match at Highbury against Leicester Fosse. To mark the occasion the AISA Arsenal History Society has published “Herbert Chapman – Truth and Myth”, which examines many of the achievements of the first manager to bring …
Read More “New AISA publication reveals what Chapman really did”
The following articles were written at the time by Gf60 as part of his regular review of all things Arsenal and reprinted with kind permission. 2011 Transfer Deadline Day At last, TDD is some 72 hours past; the rumour mill is done for five minutes at least and we can realistically see what’s what in …
Read More “2011: Transfer deadlines and the first game thereafter”
By Tony Attwood Steve Gatting joined Arsenal as an apprentice in July 1975 and became a professional footballer two years later. His first game with the first team was as a sub versus Lokomotiv Leipzig on September 13, 1978 which Arsenal won 3-0. He then retained his place throughout much of 1978-79 but did not …
