To know the origins of Arsenal you must know about life in 1886

By Tony Attwood The 1880s was an era of strikes – indeed it was an era that carried on all the way to the first world war.  The TUC had been formed in 1868 and miners, girls who make matchboxes, gas workers, dock workers and many more trades saw strike action happening…  The unskilled workers …

Arsenal was born in 1886. What sort of world did this fragile child of football enter?

By Tony Attwood In the last article I tried to upset the applecart by investigating the details of Arsenal’s birth as Dial Square, and most particularly its first match on the Isle of Dogs. In doing that I ventured into a world that is rarely seen in football histories – a view of what the …