Why did Tottenham poll so few votes in 1919?
If you’re not already aware, following the end of World War One the members of the Football League decided to increase the size of both the First Division and Second Division by two teams. At a meeting held on 10 March 1919, Chelsea were unanimously elected back into the top flight as it was felt that they had been unjustly relegated due to an incident of match fixing between Liverpool and Manchester United players.
Billy Meadows: The Arsenal 1958-60
A record scoring youth team player who went on to appear for Hereford in one of the most famous FA Cup giant-killing games of all time.
Peter Hill-Wood: The Arsenal 1962-2013
Arsenal director for almost 51 years and chairman for 31 of them – both terms being the longest by any Arsenal director. Read More →
Sir Roger Gibbs: The Arsenal 1980-2006
Arsenal director for 26 years during which time the club enjoyed a prolonged period of success. Read More →
During Arsenal’s third match of this season, BBC’s Jonathan Pearce came out with this fact:
“Not since Phil Kelso in 1904 has an Arsenal manager started with just one draw from their opening three games”
He was referring to Kelso’s first three games at the start of the 1904-05 season which was Woolwich Arsenal’s first in the top flight. However, whilst putting together our latest book – Arsenal: The Complete Record – we discovered that this wasn’t correct.
On 24 February 1934, Arsenal travelled north to play Newcastle United at St James’ Park. A 1-0 win saw the Gunners back on track to retain the Football League title which looked like it could be derailed following the untimely death of Herbert Chapman.
On the journey back to London, the train that the players were on was involved in a major accident that resulted on six of the team, including David Jack and Cliff Bastin, being tragically killed.
We’ve written a number of blogs on this site about Arsenal’s election to the First Division in 1919 that show that what is perceived to be the truth about the events surrounding this meeting are not what they seem. We thought that the one about the precedent of what happened when the First Division was expanded would be the last one as we believed that there were no more “facts” left to be dispelled.
However, we’ve now found another story that doesn’t appear to be what it seems.
I’m not sure what set me off on this one, I guess there was something that didn’t seem to add up. But here we are with another historical “fact” that has been corrected.
Arsenal’s 2017 FA Cup win was their seventh under Arsene Wenger which made him the most successful manager in FA Cup history. This is shown in tables plastered all over the internet and traditional media. I assume that most of these have sourced their information from that ultra-reliable source, Wikipedia.
Those of you who are regulars on twitter will, no doubt, have seen photoshopped pictures of Arsene Wenger apparently signing Dennis Bergkamp. These usually surface on Dennis’ birthday or 20 June when he was signed, with a caption such as: “Arsene Wenger’s greatest signing.”
On 9 May 1891 the members of Royal Arsenal Football Club caused a sensation on the London football scene when they voted to turn professional. The governing body for football in London were staunchly amateur, heavily influenced by the “old boys” network of public schools.
Royal Arsenal had been forced into this situation after losing a number of their players to the professional clubs in the Midlands and the North. Being the best club in London and the South had led to them becoming victims of their own success.