by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews

In part 3 of our series we look at the events that led to Royal Arsenal Football Club morphing into Woolwich Arsenal Football Club.

During the 1892-93 season the relationship between most of the Royal Arsenal committee and the club’s landlord, George Weaver, began to deteriorate. It culminated in a failed attempt by Weaver and three members of the Royal Arsenal committee to take control of the club. The full story is told in the opening chapter of Woolwich Arsenal – The Club That Changed Football. Towards the end of the season the members of the club voted to vacate the Invicta Ground and move back to the Manor Field, where Royal Arsenal had played between 1888 and 1890. Read More →

by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews

In this series we explain when and why the football club now known as Arsenal changed its name.

Having played their first game the members of Dial Square Football Club decided to open up their club to the whole of the Royal Arsenal. Why? Well, probably because working in another part of the factory was a certain Fred Beardsley, and opening up the membership would allow Dial Square access to one of the country’s top goalkeepers. Beardsley had recently moved to Plumstead from Nottingham where he played regularly for Nottingham Forest including their FA Cup semi-final in 1885 against Queen’s Park.

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by Andy Kelly

This isn’t the sort of article that we would normally produce but there has been a fair amount of talk recently about Arsenal’s record with Mike Dean as referee. Some out of date stats have been bandied about so I thought I would put together the following table so that it can be used as an accurate reference point to sling some mud at the man from Wirral.

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