George ‘Geordie’ Armstrong’s Cannon
On 5 February 1974 at Elland Road, Leeds, Arsenal’s George ‘Geordie’ Armstrong became the first player to play 500 competitive games for the Gunners. Before this match Armstrong was presented with a set of candelabras and champagne for his landmark achievement. The closest that any player had previously come to this number was Bob John who had amassed 470 appearances during the 1920s & 1930s.
On 9 November 1968 Arsenal chose to celebrate their 50th consecutive season at the top tier of the English game. This entailed a Division One match against Newcastle in the afternoon which ended goalless despite George Graham and John Radford being up front, and the club held a banquet for 400 guests at the Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly that same night.
“The purists would still want the FA Cup final at 3pm on the last Saturday of the season,” – Greg Dyke
Is the 3 o’clock kick-off time a tradition? Was it just a recent invention or does it have deeper roots in the competition? Is it progressive to alter the time of the kick offs, or just an utter waste of energy and another example of the FA bowing before BBC, Sky and BT dictats?
Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Alex James: these three names always crop up when discussing the best attacking player in Arsenal’s history, but the outstanding player from the 1930s is our subject here.
Extant concrete terracing from the Invicta Ground, Plumstead
Arsenal’s home between 1890 and 1893 was the Invicta Ground. It was a monumental location as Royal Arsenal moved there as an amateur team, but within a year the club had turned professional.
Despite the ground being replaced by housing in the late 1890s some of the stadium’s concrete terracing from 1890 still survives in the back gardens of houses in Hector Street.
A couple of years ago we embarked on a trip around Plumstead and this gives more detail to one aspect of the club’s time in Plumstead.
Postcard depicting the Arsenal train steaming past Highbury (image courtesy of Just Another Gooner)
A while ago Andy set a fiendishly difficult twitter question:
“Who was the first Invincible to sign for the club?”
After a number of incorrect answers that included the likes of Ray Parlour and Martin Keown, the correct player was named. Read More →
Jimmy Gray: The Arsenal 1946-1951
Jimmy Gray was an Arsenal reserve right full back just after World War 2, and a batting all-rounder for Hampshire County Cricket Club between 1948-1966.
Tommy Lawrence: The Arsenal 1957
Tommy Lawrence had a very brief Arsenal career making a single A team appearance in the 1956-57 season. An England amateur international he went onto transform Enfield as both a player and manager.
