Arsenal before Arsène: What happened the season before Wenger arrived

The season in question was 1995-6, and the man in charge was Bruce Rioch. As the previous article showed, Arsenal had been hunting in the lower leagues to try and find a man to take over from George Graham.  They found a man who had had a few run ins with those in the clubs …

Rioch at Arsenal; the man before Wenger.

By Tony Attwood Rioch had one season at Arsenal – 1995/6.  He can point to the season as having some success such as Reaching the UEFA Cup for the following year, having come fifth in the league League Cup Semi-Final, lost on away goals But we might also note that Arsenal were knocked out of …

When Bruce Rioch managed Arsenal; the man, the myth

by Tony Attwood It has become commonplace for people who don’t like Arsene Wenger to state that “this is the worst Arsenal team that I have ever seen, and I have been supporting the club for 30 years.” I was about to add to that sentence “or words to that effect” but actually looking at …

Who were Arsenal’s worst players? The History Site investigates.

THERAPY – A GROUP EXERCISE With all this present day chit-chat about “Wenger Out!”, I’d like to offer a little perspective, stimulate some debate, and hopefully cheer everyone up a bit. You always read these polls about who were the best players to ever put on an Arsenal shirt, which always infuriate me: you’re always …

Herbert Chapman Season 4: flirting with relegation and the signing of Charlie Jones

By Tony Attwood Three seasons gone and the man brought in to bring trophies to Arsenal had delivered a couple of near misses but no actual trophies.  In the league we had been 2nd, 11th and 10th – far better than under the previous management.  In the cup we had lost in a final, lost …

Herbert Chapman – season 3. A step backwards?

By Tony Attwood This is the third article in the series which reviews the reign of Herbert Chapman season by season.  Links to the earlier articles are at the foot of the page. 1927/28 was the third season of Herbert Chapman’s reign at Arsenal.  In the previous two seasons he had broken new ground by …

Herbert Chapman: season 2 and a cup final

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Tony Attwood I don’t know of any contemporary commentaries from 77 years ago, but for the regulars at Highbury1926/7 must have started as a season as stupendous promise.   Having never won a single thing of consequence (not the second division, not the first division, not …

Herbert Chapman: the first year

By Tony Attwood Leslie Knighton was appointed manager of The Arsenal upon the return of the club to the first division at the end of the first world war, in 1919.  Arsenal were promoted after refusing to back down on the match fixing scandal in the last pre-war season (which actually went on into the …

After Arsenal 1 Stoke 0. Memories from 1971

By Gf60 The memories flooded back after that 1-0 win against Stoke.  The last 1-0 home win against them that I can remember happened nearly 40 years ago. And that was the start of something very special. Not that that week had started off well. A Monday night kick off and a train trip up …

Leyton Orient v Arsenal. August 18th 1962.

By Tony Attwood I’ve good reason to remember this game today, as we make one of our rare appearances against Orient – and one of our even rarer appearances at Brisbane Road – simply because I was there. By 1962 my family had moved away from Devonshire Hill Lane in Tottenham, where I was brought …

Wilf Copping, one of the original hard men of football

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here Victory Through Harmony Wilf Copping was born in Yorkshire on 17 August 1909.  He attended Houghton Council School and left to become a miner while playing for local teams Dearn Valley, Middlecliffe and Dartfield Rovers (of whom I can find no information.).   He tried for a …

Jack Crayston: Arsenal player and Arsenal manager

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here Victory Through Harmony Jack Crayston was born in Lancashire and played for his local school sides.  It is also said that he played for Ulverston Town but I can’t find any details of that club (although the town is in the right area for this to …

Eddie Hapgood, captain of Arsenal and England

Continuing the series about players who played under George Allison, we come to Eddy Hapgood, who was signed by Herbert Chapman from Kettering Town, and played under both Chapman and Allison. Eddie has been the subject of a piece here before, when I wrote a piece about his autobiography The idea here is to complete …

Herbert Chapman at Huddersfield Town

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here Victory Through Harmony By Tony Attwood We play Huddersfield Town rarely, so now that we have one of those  moments it is worth, I think, having a look at the eternal link that binds the two clubs together: Herbert Chapman.   In this article I focus on …

Bob John; our top performer before World War II

This article was updated 26 January 2017 with details of Bob John’s year by year statistics. By Tony Attwood If you want a simple fact about Bob John it is that he played for Arsenal 470 times – more than any other player up to the cessation of football in 1939. Robert Frederick  John was born …

Herbie Roberts: how can Arsenal forget this wonderful player?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here Victory Through Harmony There are so many famous names from the Chapman / Allison era that is not surprising that one or two slip from the public mind despite their being players of enormous importance and stature in the history of the club. Herbie Roberts is …

The Allison Years: Frank Moss in goal

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal   There’s no article about George Allison on the Arsenal official web site, other than a 70 word summary in the “Managers” section and yet even if he is judged simply by his record as a manager he is surely worth of more. He game us two league trophies and the …

Why do a series on George Allison?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Tony Attwood I should start by making a confession (well not much of a confession because what I am going to confess is undoubtedly patently obvious if you have been reading through my jottings over the past couple of years. It is this: when I …

Billy Blyth: Arsenal’s first film star

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Tony Attwood This is the final entry in our series of articles about players who played 100 or more games for Woolwich Arsenal. This final article takes us to a group of players in the 100+ club who we have covered before.  I’m listing them …

James (Jimmy) Sharp: 100+ for Arsenal, and a strange affair at Fulham.

This article is one of a series on the players who played 100 or more times for Woolwich Arsenal FC.   There’s now an index of all the articles in this continuing series here. Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here James “Jimmy” Sharp played for Arsenal at left back between 1905 and 1908.  …

David Neave; played for Arsenal, went to Leyton, but saw the error of his ways

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here In our series of articles about the players who made over 100 appearances for Woolwich Arsenal we come to David Neave. David Neave was born in 1883 and played for Arsenal in two separate spells between 1904 and 1912, making 168 appearances (154 in the league) …

The man who scored the first Arsenal goal in the first division

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here by Tony Attwood Charles Oliver Satterthwaite (known as Charlie) was born in 1877 and played for Arsenal from 1904/5 until the 1909/10 season.  He made 141 appearances for the club of which 129 were in the league, and scored 48 goals (45 in the league). His …

The families of the heroes of Woolwich Arsenal

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Tony Attwood If you are a regular reader of this site, you’ll know that I have got very excited from time to time when we have been contacted by members of the family of those who played for the club, or held important positions. In …

Tim Coleman at Woolwich Arsenal

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Tony Attwood Next up in our list of Woolwich Arsenal players who played over 100 games for the club we have Roderick John McEachrane (Roddy) who played 313 league games – and played 346 games in all – for Woolwich Arsenal.   There are full details …