AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
Most if this article has appeared already on Woolwich Arsenal, but I am repeating here to give a complete collection of articles on the players who turned out for the first match of the 1910/11 season as a preview to the 100th anniversary of the season. Frank Heppinstall was an outside left who also played …
After our little diversion into some English members of the Woolwich Arsenal team of September 1910, we’re back to the Scots with David Greenaway. He was an outside right who between 1908 and 1920 played 161 league games and scored 13 goals – so he was another of the 1910 squad who carried on and …
Read More “The players who began the season 100 years ago: David Greenaway”
By Tony Attwood This is a continuation of the series of articles about players who played for the opening match of the Arsenal season 100 years ago. This piece is about a player whose career was so similar to Pat Rice’s you will be amazed! The player is… Joseph Ebenezer Shaw – a name to …
Continuing the story of the 11 players who played for Woolwich Arsenal in the first game of the 1910/11 season (the first under the ownership of Henry Norris) we come to Charles Henry Lewis. He was born on August 15, 1886 and died in 1967, although I can’t find record of the date of his …
Mr E Bateup (16 May 1881 – 29 April 1939) Why the formality with the name? Because there is disagreement as to his name, as with almost everything else about this player’s life. The first name was either Edward (Arsenal, the Football Facts) or Edwin (Arsenal.com, wikipedia), and he was also known as Teddy. The …
Read More “Arsenal sign, lose, sign and lose goalkeeper Bateup.”
So far in the review of players who were getting ready to start for Woolwich Arsenal in the first match of the 1910/1911 season (the first under Henry Norris) the names mentioned will probably have meant little. Their achievements were great of course… Percy Sands who started his career with eight straight wins, and who …
Percy Robert Sands. A name now hardly on the lips of every supporter, and yet he has the greatest of claims to fame, and he died in what I would call modern times – since I was alive then – December 1965. He was born in 1881 and joined Arsenal in 1903, playing 327 games …
Read More “Eight straight wins to start, and the first captain of The Arsenal”
This continues the series on the players who started the season at Woolwich Arsenal exactly 100 years ago. If you are reading this series as they are published you will be getting used to the phrase: “He was born in Scotland”. Here we go again Archibald Colin Gray was known as Archie, and was born …
Read More “Archibald Colin Gray: another forgotten Gunners hero”
In one sense I need to be more careful. In another it proves that I am doing the research as I go along. I wrote that our goalkeeper Hugh Lachlan McDonald was the only player to be signed by Arsenal three times. And that’s what I thought when I wrote it a week or two …
Hindsight is so wonderful. We can sit here in the middle of summer, and look at the preparations of Woolwich Arsenal FC for the new season, 100 years ago, and know what happened. The longest serving player lining up to play in the new season of 1910/11 was Roderick John McEachrane known as Roddy. He …
Read More “The original “Mr Arsenal”. 346 games over 14 years.”
By Tony Attwood As I’ve noted before, three of the regular players from the 1909/1910 season left Arsenal in the summer First, McGibbon, the man who saved us with the vital goals at the end of the season. Second, McDonald – the goal keeper, and only man to sign three times for Arsenal. And finally, …
Read More “He left in 1910, but we should have his name carved on our hearts”
I have mentioned before that three regular players left Arsenal at the end of the 1909/1910 season. McDonald H (goal) – 36 appearances in 1909/10 McGibbon (centre forwad),- those four appearances with 3 goals Lawrence (inside right)- 25 appearances, 5 goals Here’s some details of the first… Hugh Lachlan McDonald was a goalkeeper who had …
The first effect that was noticed by Henry Norris’ takeover at Woolwich Arsenal in the summer of 1910 was that the manager who had taken just managed to avoid relegation was confirmed as manager for the following season. This was probably because Norris had one view of Woolwich Arsenal – the losses had to be …
Read More “The summer of 1910: Norris gets stuck in, but what about the squad?”
One of the many oddities about the revolution at Woolwich Arsenal 100 years ago is that it is almost impossible to set a clear date as to when the modern club was born. Going through the records it looks as if there were something like four separate attempts to set up new companies, with three …
Read More “Arsenal: the revolution nears completion, the new club is born”
—————— By R J Nicolle This is part two of the recollections by R J Nicolle. To read part one, please click here Oldham was very good to we schoolboys. Apart from the welcoming folk we were given free visits to the cinemas, swimming baths and, more importantly,free seats at Oldham Athletic. The peculiarities of …
By R J Nicolle Arsenal-the pre-war days. I was born in 1923 in the Channel Islands, where I have spent all my life except for the War years (spent in the UK and overseas). My Father watched the 1932 “over the line” Cup Final and that set the allegiance in stone. Pre-war, we football fans in …
Friday 10th June 1910 – 100 years ago to the day. By Tony Attwood Henry Norris who has taken over the club and tried to get share sales any which way he could, did an interview with the local paper – the Kentish Independent – which was published on this day. In it he announced …
Read More “The board admits the share sale of the new Arsenal has failed”
By 8th June 1910 there was no doubt at all who was in charge of Woolwich Arsenal – it was Henry Norris. And to prove it, he did what the previous owners had done – he told the manager (George Morrell) he was safe in his job – which was quite something considering the disaster …
Read More “Arsenal supporters refuse to hand over their money to the club”
Tony Attwood Archie Leitch’s involvement at Highbury in designing the main stand in 1913 is well documented, and out of the timescale of this site at present, but there are tantalising hints in the records that Leitch was involved much earlier in the improvements to the Manor Ground – the home of Woolwich Arsenal There’s …
Read More “Archie Leitch: golden boy of football architecture or something much nastier?”
Editor’s note: on 31 May I’m taking a short holiday, and so won’t be tending the site. I’ll be back shortly. Woolwich Arsenal was born in 1891, and after two years of playing friendlies against those who ignored the FA ban on playing them, they were admitted to the Football League to play their first …
Sam Hollis was not actually Arsenal’s manager but was Woolwich Arsenal’s trainer between 1894 and 1897. He was born in Nottingham in 1866 (exact date not recorded) and died on 17 April 1942 in Bristol where he subsequently spent much of his working life. He had worked for the government in the Probate Office and then …
Read More “Arsenal’s earliest quasi-managers: Sam Hollis and Bill Parr”
Thomas Brown Mitchell Manager of Woolwich Arsenal 1897 – 1898 Thomas Brown Mitchell was Arsenal’s first professional manager (although not the club’s first “manager” in the modern sense of the word) and the first of two managers who only lasted one year joining the club in 1897. Thomas Mitchell was a Doonhamer – that is …
Read More “Thomas Brown Mitchell: Arsenal’s first professional manager”
George Elcoat who is referred to in many Arsenal history books as a manager of Woolwich Arsenal, was in fact nothing of the kind. The manager in question was in fact his brother William Elcoat. I must admit we too fell into the trap initially of getting the names confused, following what others had written …
Read More “George Elcoat: the last of the one-year managers”
by Tony Attwood Henry “Harry” Bradshaw was Arsenal’s first successful manager. There are two totally contradictory stories about Harry Bradshaw before he came to Woolwich Arsenal, in circulation. One was that he was an ex-Burnley player who was invited to become Arsenal’s manager, and the other was that he was Burnley’s manager who left the …
Read More “Arsenal get their first ever successful manager: Harry Bradshaw”
Phil Kelso (26 May 1871 – 13 February 1935), was born near the Firth of Clyde he was part of Arsenal’s early Scottish tradition, as befits a club set up by the Scottish employees of the armaments factory. Although now forgotten at Arsenal he was one of the great innovators, paving the way for the …
Read More “Arsenal’s managers. So what did Phil Kelso do for us?”
