Arsenal players who were also Cricketers

As the cricket season has just begun we have compiled a list of cricketing Arsenal footballers.

As befits a club who were formed out of the Dial Square cricket team, Arsenal have had many dual code players. Also, at the time of founding in 1886, Woolwich was part of the county of Kent, a once great cricketing team particularly just prior to World War 1 and the during the 1970s.

David Danskin, the first Arsenal football captain, was a prominent member of the Dial Square cricket club, though the pitches they played on at Plumstead Common were a world away from the surface used by Arsenal’s best cricketer Denis Compton when he batted at Lords.

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When the Austrians came to Highbury.

As it was International week we thought we would dust down an old programme article from last year showing Arsenal playing a national team.

Everyone knows about the battle of Highbury when England, with seven Arsenal players, fought and beat world champions Italy in November 1934.

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Arsenal v Austrian XI

A lesser known “international” at Highbury occurred on 4 December 1933, just prior to Herbert Chapman’s premature death, when Arsenal hosted an Austrian team who, for matters of FA form, went by the name of “A Vienna XI” or “The Football Club of Austria”, but were to all intents and purposes the Austrian National team, albeit playing a couple of reserves.

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For today’s game the manager and whole team must call upon the fighting spirit of Arsenal’s most pugnacious boss in its history. He stood up to the Manchester police as his team won away in 1906 to reach the Gunners first ever FA Cup semi-final.

Today Arsenal need the Phil Kelso spirit.

As you know we have been reproducing our programme work on the blog this season, well here is a match report in a slightly different format to those of this season, written for last season’s quarter-final programme against Everton. A prescient match up of the first FA cup tie between the two most successful teams in the competition’s history!

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Manchester United v Arsenal – FA Cup quarter-final 10 March 1906

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Geordie Armstrong on the Wing: AISA meeting 

Yesterday Andy and myself travelled to the Arsenal media centre for the AISA book event of Geordie Armstrong on the Wing by Dave Seager and Jill Armstrong.

This was meant to be held prior to Christmas but had to be cancelled, and was well worth waiting for as paying tributes to Geordie were Frank McLintock, Eddie Kelly, Dave Seager and Tom Watt as compere.

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Frank, Eddie, Dave and Tom

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1904-05 Woolwich Arsenal in the Top Flight of English football

1904-05

A postcard of the team courtesy of @N5_1BU

The previous season had seen Woolwich Arsenal promoted, amidst ordnance supplied fireworks and a pitch invasion, after a draw in the final home match of the season which saw the top flight guaranteed for the very first time. The pitch invasion managed to break much of the fencing surrounding the pitch, and this was the cue to allow the club to embark upon a major upgrade of the Manor Ground, in part to accommodate the extra crowd expected to witness the club in the highest league.

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