History of Arsenal F.C. (1886–1966)
The history of Arsenal Football Club between 1886 and 1966 covers the time from the club's foundation, through the first two major periods of success (the 1930s, and the late 1940s and early 1950s, respectively) and the club's subsequent decline in the early 1960s.
It was not until the appointment of
Early years (1886–1910)
During this period, Royal Arsenal were successful in various local trophies, winning both the Kent Senior Cup and London Charity Cup in the 1889–90 season and the London Senior Cup in 1890–91; they also entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1889–90.[5] A gulf between Arsenal and the professional sides from Northern England soon became apparent, and Arsenal faced the threat of their amateur players being lured away by the money which professional sides could offer; after Derby County had played Arsenal in an FA Cup tie in 1891, they attempted to sign two of Arsenal's amateur players on professional contracts.[4] Royal Arsenal's move to professionalism in 1891 was frowned upon by many of the amateur southern clubs, and they were banned from participating in local competitions by the
Woolwich Arsenal played in the Second Division for eleven seasons, and generally occupied mid-table positions before the appointment of Harry Bradshaw as manager in 1899;[9] Bradshaw and his signings, including goalkeeper Jimmy Ashcroft (Arsenal's first England international) and captain Jimmy Jackson, won promotion to the First Division in the 1903–04 season. Bradshaw moved on to Fulham in May 1904, before Arsenal had kicked a ball in the top flight. Despite some strong performances in the FA Cup – the club reached the semi-finals in 1905–06 and 1906–07[9] – Arsenal were unable to challenge for the League title, only twice finishing above tenth place in the First Division between 1904 and 1913. One cause of this decline was the club's ongoing financial problems; despite the boom in football during the early 20th century, the club's geographic isolation, in the relatively underpopulated area of Plumstead (then on the outskirts of urban London), meant that attendances and thus income were low.[10] To stay afloat, Woolwich Arsenal were forced to sell their star players (including Ashcroft, as well as Tim Coleman and Bert Freeman), and slowly started to slip down the table, which compounded their financial situation as crowds fell. By the end of the decade the average attendance at Manor Ground was 11,000, a little over half of what it had been in 1904.[11] The club was close to bankruptcy, and in 1910 went into voluntary liquidation before being bought out by a consortium of businessmen; the largest shareholder amongst the new owners was the property magnate Sir Henry Norris, who was also the chairman of Fulham.[12]
Move to Highbury and the promotion controversy (1910–1925)
Norris was acutely aware of the problems associated with Woolwich Arsenal's location, and was desperate to improve the club's income. First, he tried to merge Woolwich Arsenal with his other club, Fulham. When that was blocked by the Football League, Norris abandoned the merger and looked to move the club elsewhere, eventually picking a site in
The club controversially rejoined the First Division in 1919,
The announcement of the vote reportedly caught all the clubs, except Arsenal, unawares and the affair is a major contributing factor to the rivalry which has fuelled the long-standing enmity between Arsenal and Tottenham.[17][18] There is also an inconsistency in the argument – if "long service to league football" was the criterion for promoting Arsenal instead of Tottenham then Wolverhampton Wanderers, who finished two points ahead of Arsenal and were founder members of the Football League, would appear to have had a stronger claim. It has been alleged that this was due to backroom deals or even outright bribery by Sir Henry Norris,[17] colluding with his friend John McKenna, the chairman of Liverpool and the Football League, who recommended Arsenal's promotion at the AGM.[17] No conclusive proof of wrongdoing has come to light, though other aspects of Norris's financial dealings unrelated to the promotion controversy have fuelled speculation on the matter; Norris resigned as chairman and left the club in 1929, having been found guilty by the Football Association of financial irregularities; he was found to have misused his expenses account, and to have pocketed the proceeds of the sale of the Arsenal team bus.[21] Regardless of the circumstances of their promotion, Arsenal have remained in the top division since 1919, and as a result hold the English record for the longest unbroken stretch of top-flight football.[22] There appear to be no extant records of the meetings which elected Arsenal to the First Division in 1919, however the book Making the Arsenal proposes a different reason for their election in that year, arguing that match-fixing issues from the final year of football before the war (1914–15) were used by Norris as a weapon in his battle to get Arsenal promoted. He demanded that Liverpool and Manchester United (some of whose players had been found guilty of match fixing) be punished by relegation or expulsion, and threatened to organise a breakaway from the league by Midlands and southern clubs if nothing was done. To placate him the League offered Arsenal a place in the First Division.[23]
The club's return to the First Division was not immediately successful. Under Leslie Knighton, the club never finished higher than ninth, and in the 1923–24 season came close to returning to the Second Division, finishing 19th and only a point clear of the relegation zone.[24] Arsenal did no better the following season, finishing 20th (although the club was a lot safer this time, being seven points clear of the relegation places), which was the last straw for Norris; he fired Knighton in May 1925,[25] and appointed the Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman in his place.[26]
Chapman era (1925–1934)
Chapman reformed many of the club's practices, including modernising the training and physiotherapy regimes, adding numbers to the players' shirts in August 1928,
Arsenal came second in Chapman's
The following season,
Arsenal bounced back the following season, winning their second League title. Arsenal had started the season weakly, but then went on a long winning run to catch up and then overtake fellow title challengers Aston Villa, whom they beat 5–0 at Highbury in April to clinch the title.[44] By this time Chapman's first set of signings had started to show their age,[45] so with an eye to the future Chapman promoted George Male to the first team to replace Parker, and signed Ray Bowden to take over from Jack. The team did, however, lose to Walsall of the Third Division North in a major upset in the FA Cup; five of the first team were out with injury or flu and had their place taken by reserves,[46] and without them Arsenal lost 2–0 in one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all time.[47] One of the stand-ins, Tommy Black, was particularly to blame, conceding a penalty for Walsall's second, and was sold by an enraged Chapman to Plymouth Argyle within a week of the result; another, striker Charlie Walsh, was transferred to Brentford a week later.[48]
Hat-trick of League titles (1934–1939)
Arsenal had started the
George Allison (who had formerly been a director of the club) took over the job of team manager in the summer of 1934 and soon signed new blood for the side, including wing halves Jack Crayston and Wilf Copping (whose signings had been initiated by Chapman), and striker Ted Drake.[50] With these new signings, Allison oversaw the completion of a hat-trick of League titles in 1934–35,[51] and Arsenal were back to their attacking best; Drake scored a club record 42 league goals that season,[39] and Arsenal racked up a series of heavily one-sided scorelines reminiscent of the 1930–31 season (including 7–0 against Wolves, 8–1 against Liverpool, and 8–0 twice, against Leicester City and Middlesbrough).[52] Arsenal's strength was such that seven of the players that played for England against World Champions Italy in 1934 were on Arsenal's books; as of 2019 this remains a record number of players from a single club in an England team.[53] England won 3–2 in an aggressive game dubbed the "Battle of Highbury".[53]
Arsenal's ongoing success attracted larger and larger crowds. The club's home, Highbury, was completely redeveloped, with Leitch's stands from 1913 demolished and replaced with modern
Second World War (1939–1945)
Soon after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, all first-class football in Britain was suspended, and the 1939–40 Football League season annulled. Highbury was requisitioned as an ARP station, with a barrage balloon operating behind the Clock End. During the Blitz, a bomb fell on the North Bank, destroying the roof and setting fire to the scrap that was being stored on the terrace. With Highbury closed, Arsenal instead played their home matches at White Hart Lane, home of their rivals Tottenham Hotspur.[57] Wartime matches do not count in official statistics; competitions were played on a regional basis and teams often did not complete a full season; many footballers served in the armed forces as trainers or instructors and were away from their clubs for long periods of time, so they would often star as "guests" at other clubs. Arsenal won the Football League War Cup South in 1942–43 and the Football League (South) or London League titles in 1939–40, 1941–42 and 1942–43.[58] In 1941 Arsenal were one of a number of clubs expelled from membership of the Football League for refusing to participate in the wartime Football League (South) and organising a rebel London League; it was not until April 1942 that they were readmitted after expressing regret and paying a £10 fine.[59]
In November 1945, with league competition still suspended, Arsenal were one of the teams that played a Dynamo Moscow side touring the UK. With many players still serving abroad in the armed forces, Arsenal were severely depleted and used six guest players, including Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, which led Dynamo to declare they were playing an England XI.[60] The match, at White Hart Lane, kicked off in thick fog and Dynamo won 4–3, after Arsenal had led 3–1 at half-time. Though the score is generally agreed upon, after that accounts of the match diverge; even the identity of the goalscorers is disputed.[c] English reports alleged that Dynamo fielded twelve players at one point and tried to pressurise the referee into abandoning the match when they had been losing; in turn, the Soviets accused Arsenal of persistent foul play and even alleged that Allison had bet money on the result, a claim that was later retracted.[62] The acrimony after the match was such that it inspired George Orwell to write his 1945 essay The Sporting Spirit, in which he opined on the nature of sport, namely that in his view "it is war minus the shooting".[63]
Post-war years (1945–1966)
The war claimed the lives of nine Arsenal players, the most of any top-flight club,
The
Arsenal won their seventh League title in the
In 1962, Arsenal made the bold but ultimately unsuccessful step of appointing former England and Wolves captain
Notes
- ^ Another football team based at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich Union, had been founded in 1884, and some Dial Square players, including Fred Beardsley, had previously played for that side. However, club historians generally regard Dial Square as Arsenal's direct forerunners.[2]
- ^ The number of goals Dial Square scored is disputed, though six is the officially recorded figure.[3]
- ^ For example, Cliff Bastin and Bernard Joy, who both played in the game, claimed that Vasili Kartsev scored Dynamo's first goal, while the journalist Brian Glanville, a spectator that day, asserted that it was Vsevolod Bobrov.[61]
- ^ In mitigation, that same night the 1966 European Cup Winners' Cup final between Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool was screened live on television, a comparatively rare and prestigious event for the time, which partly accounts for the low attendance.[76]
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- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b c Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 23.
- ^ a b Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 25.
- ^ "Royal Arsenal". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ a b Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 26.
- ^ "Royal Arsenal comes to an end". Arsenal F.C. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ Roper 2003, p. 106.
- ^ a b c "Woolwich Arsenal". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Archived from the original on 29 November 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ Spurling 2004, pp. 28–29.
- ^ "A Conservation Plan for Highbury Stadium, London" (PDF). Islington Council. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 33.
- ^ Spurling 2004, pp. 34–37.
- ^ a b Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 34.
- ^ "The Arsenal become Arsenal". Making The Arsenal. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ "A Conservation Plan for Highbury Stadium, London" (PDF). Islington Council. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 40.
- ^ a b c Spurling 2004, p. 40.
- ^ a b "England 1914/15". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2005.
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- ^ Spurling 2004, pp. 46–48.
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- ^ "The "fixed" promotion, the corruption and the match fixing. How the Football League does business". AISA Arsenal History Society. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
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- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 18.
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- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 45.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, pp. 16–17.
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- ^ "Classic Cup Finals: 1927". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
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- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 66.
- ^ a b c Mitchell et al. 2013, p. 138.
- ^ "Arsenal match record: 1931". Association of Football Statisticians. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ a b Rollin & Rollin 2001, p. 55.
- ^ "League Division One table at close of 1930–31 season". Association of Football Statisticians. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Barnes 2013, p. 352.
- ^ Domeneghetti, Roger (20 January 2015). "Flashback to Newcastle's FA Cup win in 1932 over Arsenal when club was at centre of trial-by-video controversy". Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 57.
- ^ James, Andrew & Kelly 2018, p. 166.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 59.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 63.
- ^ Joy 2009, pp. 90–91.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 64.
- ^ Mitchell et al. 2013, p. 139.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 60.
- ^ Rollin & Rollin 2001, p. 54.
- ^ "Arsenal football club match record: 1935". Association of Football Statisticians. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ a b Bevan, Chris (12 November 2019). "Three Lions: One World Cup, 147 years and 1,000 games - the numbers behind England men's milestone". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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- ^ Rippon 2007, pp. 153–156.
- ^ "Season 1947–48". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Katwala, Sunder (6 May 2001). "Cup final trivia: reading the runes". The Observer. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 98.
- ^ "Season 1951–52". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 99.
- ^ Mennear, Richard (3 May 2020). "Chile international George Robledo the hero as Newcastle beat Arsenal in FA Cup final in front of 100,000 fans". Shields Gazette. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Season 1952–53". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 100.
- BT Sport. 6 May 2020. Archivedfrom the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Club Records". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
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- ^ Soar & Tyler 2005, p. 103.
Works cited
- Barnes, Stuart, ed. (2013). Nationwide Football Annual 2013–14. SportsBooks Limited. ISBN 978-1-90752-438-7.
- James, Josh; Andrew, Mark; Kelly, Andy (2018). Arsenal: The Complete Record. deCoubertin Books. ISBN 978-1-90924-575-4.
- ISBN 978-0-9559211-1-7.
- Mitchell, Colin; Reeves, Jon; Tyler, Daniel (2013). The History of English Football Clubs. ISBN 978-1-78009-449-6.
- Rippon, Anton (2007). Gas Masks for Goal Posts: Football in Britain During the Second World War. Sutton. ISBN 978-0-7509-4031-3.
- Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer At War 1935–45. London: Headline. ISBN 0-7553-1431-X.
- Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2001). Rothmans Football Yearbook 2001–02. London: ISBN 978-0-74727-260-1.
- Roper, Alan (2003). The Real Arsenal Story: In the Days of Gog. Wherry. ISBN 0-9546259-0-0.
- Soar, Phil; ISBN 0-600-61344-5.
- Spurling, Jon (2004). Rebels For The Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club. Mainstream. ISBN 0-575-40015-3.