AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
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”
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 …
