Arsenal in March 1919: the London Victory Cup and its consequences

By Tony Attwood The London Combination had organised football in the capital after professional football was abandoned at the end of the 1914/15 season, running two league competitions in 1915/16, and then a season long league competition through each of the next three seasons. Now after victory for the Allies had been proclaimed they had …

Who was there when John Jensen scored?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history…   31 December 1898: Haywood and Hunt each got a hatrick in a game that ended Arsenal 6 Luton 2.  It was also the start …

Arsenal defeated at home by Wimbledon. Who was the manager?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history…   30 December 1893: Arsenal’s first ever away win in the league: Ardwick 0 Woolwich Arsenal 1.  Henderson got the goal in front of a …

Why did the clubs vote for Arsenal rather than Tottenham in March 1919?

By Tony Attwood This article continues our long running series “Norris at the Arsenal”.  There is an index to all the articles in this series at the foot of the page. This is the 5th and final article considering the election of Arsenal to the first division in 1919 – the previous articles are, in …

Arsenal move to the top of the league and a ten goal thriller

  This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history…     29 December 1888. Iona 1 Royal Arsenal 5 in the Kent Senior Cup on the way to winning the trophy. 29 December …

March 1919: The vote to extend the league and what the media said

By Tony Attwood Please note this article contains reproductions of newspaper coverage of the events in two places.  If your screen shows blank space simply click on that and the original newspaper story should be revealed. On 1 March Arsenal had a game away to Millwall Athletic which Arsenal duly won 3-0 in front of …

Arsenal prepare for the vote on who should be promoted to the First Division

By Tony Attwood We left Sir Henry Norris having taken his seat in the House of Commons, and the media having fully debated the issue of who should be given the places in the expanded first and second divisions of the Football League. You will have noted perhaps that we have not discussed the question …

It’s the birthday of the man who kept losing league cup finals

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 28 December 1904: Arsenal lost 0-4 away to Sheffield United; the 4th of five games in eight days.  Arsenal won two and lost three of …

The Boxing Day match of the Unbeaten Season: Henry and Vieira scored. Who got the third?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 26 December 1892: First game for Joseph Powell, who went on to become Woolwich Arsenal’s first captain who died after being injured on the …

Arsenal on Christmas Day: changing the club’s name, the record win, record defeat and manager’s birthday

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… Arsenal’s Christmas reviews: 1904 and 1905;  1890, 1891 1892. 25 December 1886: It is suggested in some non-contemporary sources that a meeting was held at the Royal …

What the media said about the election of Arsenal to the 1st division in 1919

By Tony Attwood The first London Combination game of February 1919 was another home match against Tottenham, but this time it resulted in a defeat.  I doubt however that the directors of Arsenal worried unduly, for the crowd was 18,000 – things were most certainly on the up and these crowd numbers showed that the …

On this day an Arsenal man scored his 12th hattrick – more than any other player. But who was it?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 24 December 1894: New Brompton 5 Arsenal 0.  Despite playing 30 league games in the season, Arsenal also played 31 friendly games.  New Brompton …

“We so very rarely score two in a match…” You’ll never guess who was in the squad!

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… the answer to who was in the team is given on 23 December 2000… 23 December 1893: Arsenal 7 Crusaders 0.  By modern standards …

Arsenal in January 1919: rioting in the streets and the question of promotion

By Tony Attwood This article continues from The first suggestion that Arsenal could be elected to the 1st division which covers the first part of January 1919. On 13 January 1919 there was a meeting of the Football League with representatives of all the 40 League clubs except Glossop North End, which the Hill-Wood family had now …

When the last eight minutes were played three months later

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 22 December 1891: The final 8.5 minutes of previously abandoned United League match v Loughborough from 22 September were played out after a  League game …

What was Gus Caeser’s first match and what was the score? (You’ll never guess!)

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 21 December 1889: Arsenal beat Cray Wanderers 2-0 on their way to the club’s first ever trophy, the Kent Junior cup. 21 December 1903: Arsenal beat …

Norris at the Arsenal: The first suggestion that Arsenal could be elected to the 1st division.

By Tony Attwood January 1919. With the war over, and the general election having been held to elect a new government, discussions about football’s future in England began to heat up.  It had already been decided to keep the wartime leagues running throughout the first four months of 1919 in order to give everyone involved …

Bolton: as good a team as we have played. Who said it, and when?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 20 December 1890: Arsenal’s game against Old Westminsters in London Senior Cup abandoned.  Generally it was the fog that caused games to be stopped …

One player’s birthday, one player imprisoned, and new contracts for the British spine

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 19 December 1903: Arsenal 5 Grimsby 1.  The score meant Arsenal had scored 25 goals in six games, which left Arsenal second, two points …

The passing of the player who was the first chair of Woolwich Arsenal and a director until 1927.

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 18 December 1909: After 3 wins in a row, in which they scored seven, Woolwich Arsenal started a run of three home games in …

Arsenal, 11 – 31 December 1918. A 9-2 victory, the chairman becomes an MP, footballers unionise.

By Tony Attwood On 11 December 1918, just three days before the day of the general election Sir Henry Norris held another campaign meeting, and then two days later, in common with other candidates he placed an advertisement in the local paper announcing that as a candidate of the Coalition which had taken power in 1916 upon …

On this day in history an Arsenal favourite scored his first hattrick for the club. But who?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Here are the stories from this day in history… 17 December 1896: John Anderson signed from Crook Town.  He made his debut on 1 January 1897 and went on to play 144 league …

Arsenal go 15 matches and get just four wins

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Our headline is taken from this day in 1995  Here are the stories from this day in history… 16 December 1893: In the first year in the FA Cup Woolwich Arsenal won through …

The first time money from an Arsenal fund raising game did not go to those intended

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Our headline is taken from this day in 1966 – and how it relates to issues today Here are the stories from this day in history…   15 December 1890, Luton offer five shillings …

When did Arsenal play two games at once, and who scored seven in one league game?

This is our daily review of Arsenal anniversaries taken from the Arsenal day by day  files prepared by the AISA Arsenal History Society. Our headline is taken from this day in 1889 and 1935 Here are the stories from this day in history…     14 December 1889: Arsenal played teams in two separate cup matches in …