Ronald Westcott: Arsenal’s unluckiest player ever of whom we know so little.

By Tony Attwood Ronald (known as Ronnie) Wescott is a player who despite playing for Arsenal in the 1930s is a player whose entry here is going to be sadly very short, for he suffered a career ending injury in just his second game for Arsenal. He was born on 19 September 1910 at Wallesey …

Arsenal’s forgotten manager Joe Shaw wins the league for Arsenal. 28 April 1934.

Joseph Ebenezer Shaw – a name to conjure with, although in reality he was known as Joe Shaw. Joe Shaw was born May 7, 1883 (Arsenal, the football facts has 1882) and died in September 1963 aged 80 after a lifetime of service to Arsenal.  He is one of the handful of men who need …

Celebrating the anniversary of Arsenal’s first ever FA Cup win on 26 April 1930

This article is an extract from the Arsenal History Society complete series on Arsenal in the 1930s.  Full details of the series are given at the end of the article.   by Tony Attwood On 26 April 1930 Arsenal won their first ever F.A. Cup 2-0 v Huddersfield.  And indeed on this day they won their first …

Reg Stockill: famed as a schoolboy star, and the man who started the 3 successive league titles.

by Tony Attwood Reginald Robert Stockill, known as Reg was born on 24 November 1913 in York.  Although he only played a handful of games for Arsenal he should always be remembered for what he did on 27 August 1932.  For on that day there was a football result which read Birmingham 0 Arsenal 1. …

Arsenal: the most successful team in the FA Cup of all time

By Tony Attwood This weekend Arsenal become the most successful team ever in the history of the FA Cup – and they will retain that crown no matter what happens on Sunday in the semi-final. After the conclusion of the FA Cup in 2016 the table for the number of appearances by the most successful …

Joey Williams: the Arsenal man who won the league and got relegated at the same moment.

By Tony Attwood Joseph Williams was born in Rotherham on 4 June 1902, and started playing for Rotherham County (the club that merged with others to form Rotherham Utd in 1925). In 1924 he moved to Huddersfield Town, then managed by Herbert Chapman, and was part of Chapman’s league winning team of 1924/5.  He stayed …

Leonard Thompson, a talented player beset by injuries, and not quite as Bernard Joy describes him.

By Tony Attwood Leonard Thompson was born on 18 February 1901 in Sheffield. His first club is recorded as Shiregreen Primitive Methodists, Shiregreen being a part of Sheffield, but then curiously there is a note of him playing for Norfolk Amateurs.  I have found a few references to this team – including a programme showing them as …

Albert Edward Humpish: Herbert Chapman’s mystery signing for Arsenal in 1929.

By Tony Attwood Albert Humpish  was born on 3 March 1902, and was one of eight players to make his debut for Arsenal in the 1929/30 season as Chapman gave the squad his final shuffle in order to win the illusive first trophy, which of course he did. Bert, as he was usually known, (although …

The crowd at Woolwich Arsenal: Arsenal in the 2nd division 1893/4 to 1903/4

By Tony Attwood Arsenal joined the Football League in 1893/4 and stayed in the second division for 11 years.  The table below shows the growth (and in three years a decline) in the attendances for league matches at the club, and compares these not only with the club’s position in the league (the last column) …

The Arsenal Handbook 1930: the errors and the consequences

By Tony Attwood In a previous post I published a copy of the 1930 Arsenal handbook in what I trust is an easy-to-read format.   Much of the text is taken up with a history of the club, and it is a history that contains a few errors.  My aim here is to clarify some …

The Arsenal handbook 1930: after winning the first major trophy

By Tony Attwood The Arsenal handbook for 1930 (officially titled “The Arsenal Football Club History and Fixtures 1930/31”) has been on line for a while now courtesy of Andy Kelly but for those of us reaching a certain age it is not that easy to read, and so as part of the “Arsenal in the …

David Halliday: top scoring centre forward who couldn’t make it at Arsenal

by Tony Attwood David “Dave” Halliday was born 11 December 1901 in Dumfries and trained initially as a motor mechanic playing for the works team of car maker Arrol-Johnston. The works team merged with two others in 1919 to form Queen of the South and the following year on 17 January Dave started playing for them, (and not …

Bill Johnstone: a goalscorer but in a team awash with goalscorers

By Tony Attwood Bill Johnstone is one of the Arsenal players of whom I have been able to discover so very little, and I would love to know more.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. He was born in Fife 18 May 1900 and started out with Rosyth Juniors before moving on to Kings Park …