AISA Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage
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 2003. Here are the stories from this day in history… 2 December 1899: Arsenal 2 New Brighton Tower 0 – NBT were one of the clubs created to …
Read More “Arsenal man is youngest ever to score in the League Cup”
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 1980 17 November 1902: Woolwich Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1. London League Premier Division. The result saw Arsenal firmly in place at the top of the …
Read More “Recovering from cancer he made a joke about Tottenham and then we won 2-0.”
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 25 October 2004 Special feature: Highbury: from start to end with previously unseen pictures of the end of the stadium. Below are the Anniversaries from October 25. …
Read More “Which Arsenal player said of whom: “I watch him in training and it is a joy.””
Here are the Anniversaries from 16 September – part of our regular daily look at Arsenal’s history. You might also enjoy “In other news” which appears after the Arsenal anniversaries. Our most recent article on Arsenal’s history is Arsenal move into the London Combination in September 1915 16 September 1912: Arsenal lost 0-3 at home …
Read More “Arsenal reserves on TV, the players fight in the restaurant, TV pundit as linesman.”
Here are the Anniversaries from 12 September – part of our regular daily look at Arsenal’s history. Our most recent article on Arsenal’s history is New revelations concerning perhaps the most important month in Arsenal’s history 12 September 1878: Jimmy Ashcroft, Woolwich Arsenal’s first England player, born. He played for Wilbyn’s United, Garston Copperworks, Everton and Gravesend …
Read More “Arsenal’s manager with 100% success, and the first AFC man to play for England”
Here are the Anniversaries from 10 September – part of our regular daily look at Arsenal’s history. Our most recent article on Arsenal’s history is Arsenal in February and March 1915: the abandonment of football is announced and the result is… curious 10 September 1904: Arsenal’s first home match in the First Division. Arsenal 0 …
Read More “The real origins of the Arsenal clock and Totts v Arsenal as a surreal free-for-all”
By Tony Attwood Ernest Collett known universally as Ernie, was born on 17 November 1914 in Sheffield. He started out playing for Oughtibridge Working Men’s Club, a club that is still extant playing in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior Football League. Ernie joined Arsenal in April 1933 and won the Football Combination six times …
Read More “Ernie Collett: the reserve player who stayed with the club for 37 years”
By Tony Attwood 3 May is quite a day in the history of Arsenal for it was the day that Royal Arsenal transformed itself into Woolwich Arsenal. It meant being able to enter the Football League (the League insisted on clubs being limited companies, and limited companies cannot have a name that suggests royal approval …
Read More “3 May 1971: Arsenal won the league at WHL (for the first time)”
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 …
Read More “Arsenal’s forgotten manager Joe Shaw wins the league for Arsenal. 28 April 1934.”
Introductory notes (the listings start below) You can find the player details for part 1 (A to K) here. This is the second half what will become a complete A to Z index of every player to have played for Arsenal in a league match, along with some others, with links to the main articles …
This is part of a series of articles tracing the history of Arsenal through the 1930s. There is an index of all the articles in the series thus far at the end of this piece. By Tony Attwood The table, at the conclusion of March 1934 read: P W D L F A GA Pt …
Read More “Arsenal in the 30s: April 1934. Joe Shaw wins the league for Chapman”
By Tony Attwood I’ve recently finished the series covering all the players who played in the first Arsenal league season of 1893/4, – the index to the whole series is on the home page. Prior to that we had the Arsenal in the 70s series, and there is a full index to that series of …
Read More “Where do we go next, and where have we come from. 9 May – a big day for Arsenal.”
Today we honour Joe Shaw who was born on this day in 1883. He became one of the most important men in the history of Arsenal spending virtually all his working life with Arsenal playing 309 times for the club, being club captain, and being reserve team manager. He is also known for being the …
Read More “Today we honour Joe Shaw, one of the greatest servants Arsenal has ever known”
By Tony Attwood Below is a list of all the managers in the history of Woolwich Arsenal, The Arsenal and Arsenal FC. The second column shows when that person (or in the case of the first time around, the committee) took up the job, and what happen in their first season. The “first season” …
Read More “How long does it take a new manager to win the league at Arsenal?”
By Tony Attwood The pre-season started off in a most curious manner with the signing on 15 July 1979 of John Hollins who joined from QPR. He played initially for Chelsea (with a spell as captain) and in 12 years knocked up 436 appearances including 167 consecutive games and then had four seasons at QPR before moving to Arsenal …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s, part 24 July to Dec 79. One pace forwards, one pace back.”
By Tony Attwood Arsenal had finished the previous season with disappointment – slipping to 5th when for a while second place was on offer, and being beaten by a very poor Ipswich team in the Cup Final and losing in the semi-final of the League Cup to a dour defensive Liverpool. It was these disappointments …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s part 22. July to Dec 1978. Surviving without Macdonald.”
By Tony Attwood 1977 had seen the most unwelcome of records for Arsenal as on 12 February 1977 the result Man C 1 Arsenal 0 was not just the fourth consecutive game without a win, but also the first of seven consecutive defeats in the league – the worst ever run of defeats, beating the six “achieved” under …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s Part 20: July to Dec 1977 – signs of recovery.”
By Tony Attwood Updated 8 Feb with end of season friendlies added. Arsenal ended 1976 in sixth place, seven points behind the league leaders with three games in hand. They began the new year at home to the much disliked Leeds United on 3 January 1977 in a match in which Alan Hudson, the man who quite …
By Tony Attwood On 21 August 1976 Malcolm Macdonald made his league début in Terry Neill’s first game as manager, against newly promoted Bristol City. Mee had ended his final season with this line up: Rimmer, Rice, Nelson, Ross, Mancini, Powling, Armstrong, Ball, Stapleton, Cropley, Brady. Neill began his new regime with Rimmer, Rice, Nelson, Ross, O’Leary, …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s part 18: July to Dec 1976. Neill takes control”
An index of all the articles in the series before this one is shown at the foot of this article. By Tony Attwood By the summer of 1975 Bertie Mee’s image was seriously tarnished. From the peak of his reputation in 1970 with the Fairs Cup Win, and then the Double in 1971, he …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s: July to Dec 1975. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse…”
This is part of a series of articles not just on what happened to Arsenal in the 1970s but why it happened. There is an index to the articles published thus far at the foot of the page, and the index is updated on the site’s home page. By Tony Attwood Arsenal approached the 1974/5 …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s part 13: July 74 to Dec 74. Relegation beckons.”
By Tony Attwood We left Arsenal 16th in the League at the end of December, 16 points off the leaders, Leeds, and only 7 points above the third relegation spot – newly created for this season, plus knocked out of the League cup by Tranmere. Some serious improvement was needed – and quickly. Unfortunately this …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s Part 12: Jan to June 74. Farewell Bob, hello Liam.”
By Tony Attwood Arsenal returned to training in July 1972, without a new trophy in the cabinet. But in the past five years they had won the league, the Fairs Cup, and the FA Cup. They had twice been beaten finalists in the League Cup Final, and once beaten in the FA Cup final. It …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s part 9: July to Dec 1972. The time of indiscipline and invasions.”
By Tony Attwood ———– Derby literally took the fight to Arsenal with O’Hare at one stage punching and kicking Graham repeatedly. As players tried to pull O’Hare off, the referee checked with the linesman and then spoke to Gemmill and Simpson. It was that sort of display. ———– The story so far… Arsenal in the …
Read More “Arsenal in the 70s, part 7: The remains of 1971/2, revival and defeat.”
Arsenal in the 70s, part 1: the re-birth of the club. 1969/70 Arsenal in the 70s, part 2: preparing for the impossible. July to December 1970 By Tony Attwood Thus Arsenal had finished 1970 in a solid position in the league, still in the Fairs Cup, and of course ready for the opening of another …
