The Plumstead and Woolwich Trip:
A few years back on 6th August 2013 Andy and myself went on a tour around the areas where The Arsenal FC foundation occurred in Plumstead and Woolwich.
Invicta terracing in the 1970s
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.
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.
by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews
With the recent proposed name change of Hull City to Hull Tigers a discussion ensued on twitter about Arsenals’ previous names (as well as the current name). So, we thought that we would clarify Arsenal’s names throughout the years, when they changed and why.
by Andy Kelly
As we all know, Arsenal played their first ever game on 11 December 1886 as Dial Square against Eastern Wanderers, right? Well, it depends on which version of the club’s history that you read.