AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
Read any Arsenal history book or even a summary of Arsenal’s history and you get much the same story. Our original name was Dial Square FC, and our first match was (for reasons not explained in any text before we came along) not at Woolwich (where the club was formed) but several hours journey away …
By Andy Kelly and Tony Attwood Arsenal’s recently published year end accounts have this little statement within it… “David Danskin had an ambition to build a community of people with a kindred spirit and aim, namely playing football, having fun and being together. December 1st 1886 was the date.” You cannot imagine how this has …
By Tony Attwood There is a new book that three of us are working on called WOOLWICH ARSENAL: THE CLUB THAT CHANGED HISTORY. That title is being seen as very pompous and overstated, and yet I believe there is validity in it for a whole range of reasons. Here’s one of them… Arsenal was just …
Read More “The unique quality of Arsenal: players, supporters, owners and managers, united as one.”
By Tony Attwood November 6th, 1909. The world looks bleak. Arsenal are bottom of the league division I, having never been relegated in their history. Their record so far is is played 11, drawn 1, won 2, lost 8. There was light on the horizon at the start of the day, as after a terrible …
First references to Woolwich Arsenal FC as the Gunners. by Mark Andrews Mark is one of the three authors working with Tony Attwood and Andy Kelly on the forthcoming book “Woolwich Arsenal: the club that changed football“. The book is planned for publication early next year and more details will be announced here soon. We …
Read More “Who invented the nickname “The Gunners”, and when was it first used?”
By Tony Attwood Trying to read what on earth is going on at Blackburn Rovers is hard: Sam Allerdyce was sacked for not sharing the vision of the club, and the other people are brought in – including our old chum John Jensen. On 12 January 2011 he signed a 6 month contract with Blackburn …
Read More “Ex-Arsenal: John Jensen sacked by Blackburn after beating Arsenal”
By Tony Attwood Since the Arsenal History site was formed we have had a particular focus on Tottenham – not just because they are our local rivals, but also because they have, since 1919, been involved in one of the most extraordinary attempts in the history of football to re-write history and besmirch the name …
Read More “Revealed: the dark secret behind Tottenham Hotspur”
A continuation of the series “100 years of Hating Arsenal” By Tony Attwood My father told me a number of stories about being at Highbury in the heady days of the 1930s. Many of course were told to me as a child and have now been forgotten, sadly, and my father is no longer with …
Read More “How the current discontent at Arsenal started in 1933 – what happened in the 1930s.”
By Tony Attwood We are staying in touch with Lyon this season because Remi Garde is now the manager there. And while doing this we’re having a look at Lorient as they have Joel Campbell playing. To start with Joel he has played four times as a sub, and played in the 1-1 draw with …
Read More “Olympique Lyonnais and Remi Garde (plus Lorient)”
by Andy Kelly Up until 1925 the laws of football stated that an attacking player required at least three opponents between himself and the opponent’s goal to be onside. In the early days of the game, tactical naivety meant that there were still plenty of goals to keep the fans happy. In Woolwich Arsenal’s last …
By Tony Attwood Going on holiday during the season does allow one to gather a certain perspective on life, the universe and Arsenal, although last week in Cyprus I did manage to watch the Bolton game live on an Arabic station with English commentary. But get back home and what do I find: this in …
Read More “Arsenal’s “worst ever start” to the season could bring a million smiles”
Arsenal History Website…… Making the Arsenal …… Arsenal Uncovered …… Arsenal History Society Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal By Tony Attwood Martin Hayes is manager of Dover Athletic, who last year had something of a wonder season with their cup run. This year has started out ok – the club are eighth in …
Read More “Ex Arsenal players in management: How’s Martin doing at Dover?”
By Tony Attwood Continuing my occasional series about ex Arsenal players in management here is the latest on Remi Garde’s team Lyon. The club is lying second in the league after five games, having already beaten the early leaders Montpellier in August. Pos. Team Pl W D L GF GA +/- Pts 1 Montpellier HSC …
Read More “Ex Arsenal man Remi Garde takes on the job of manager at Olympique Lyon”
By Tony Attwood We’ve been keeping some of our past players in our sights from time to time and here is the latest that I have on Tony Adams. After a mid table position last year (although with a very strong second half of the season and a long unbeaten run) Tony seems to be …
Read More “Tony Adams makes a good start to the season in Azerbaijan”
By Andy Kelly Sadly (for me) this article isn’t about me. I’ve been collating line-ups for Arsenal games since the late-1970s and have been fascinated by those people who played the odd game here and there, wondering how they got a game. Some of these people went on to become relatively famous – Glenn Roeder, …
By Tony Attwood An article has appeared today on the Untold Arsenal site under the heading, “Is the media out to get us, no its far worse than that” It is an excellent piece and I thoroughly recommend it. But there is something beyond the article I want to turn to, and which has made …
Read More “100 years of hating the Arsenal part 4: innovation is bad for you”
I’ve mentioned how there was turmoil in Arsenal’s early life as the club went into liquidation and sold off its best players. Everyone blamed everyone else, in the early years of the 20th century, and Henry Norris got most of the flack, despite being the man who rescued the club. He did more for the …
Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal By Tony Attwood The resentment that built up with Arsenal’s development in south London and the move to the north extended far beyond the petty jealousy of Tottenham and the desire of local residents in Islington to keep the club out of their borough. The fact that it was wider …
Read More “100 years of hating Arsenal – the club that changed football”
By Tony Attwood Some clubs are born out of bitterness and dispute. The split between Liverpool and Everton and the launch of Liverpool as a separate club is a perfect example. Some clubs are born just because there’s a group of people who want to play football. Dial Square / Royal Arsenal is a perfect …
Arsenal History and Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Andy Kelly When it’s a lottery!!! Ha, ha, yes the old ones are the best ones. Those of you that have read an Arsenal history book will, more than likely, have read about the club organising an archery tournament in 1902 to raise funds. At the close …
Read More “When is an archery tournament not an archery tournament?”
Arsenal History and Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Mark Andrews Picking up on the licensing strand from your AISA history web article “Arsenal’s view of its own history is starting to change” dated August 17th 2011, alcohol was indeed on sale in the ground throughout the games from the inception of the team playing at …
Read More “Major explosion at Arsenal’s ground. Refreshment area destroyed”
Tony Attwood Henry Norris has always suffered a bad press in football terms. He has come down to us as an arrogant man, a bully, self-opinionated, and above all a man who was shamed out of football, having been found guilty of having his hand in the Arsenal money box. And yet, the more I …
Read More “Why it is time to rethink our views on Henry Norris, the man who made Arsenalal?”
THE BRAVE,FEARLESS AND INTELLIGENT Don McMahon This is a sort of compendium of Arsenal’s often ignored heroes and heroic events in the modern era that have contributed to our reputation as a formidable and highly respected Football club, despite the British and Spanish media’s ceaseless efforts to dismiss AFC blindly. By the way I got …
Read More “The brave, fearless and intelligent: four great heroes of Arsenal”
Yes it really is true – a film of Woolwich Arsenal vs Liverpool 100 years ago. Click here for to watch. Tell me what you think. Tony Attwood
By Tony Attwood It is, of course, so easy today. If you want to know a score you can see it on TV at any time, both through teletext on the BBC and through Sky Sports News. If you are at the match at the Ems you can wait until half time or full time, …
