And If You Think You Know Your History….

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…you’ve probably been taken for a ride.

“Compton and Smith played for England for the first time against Wales at Sunderland, Compton at thirty-eight becoming the oldest man to win his first cap for England.”

Bernard Joy – “Forward, Arsenal!”

“Two Arsenal players, Peter Connolly and Bobby Buist, played so well in that game [1891 FA Cup v Derby County] that John Goodall, the Derby captain and acting secretary-manager, offered them contracts.”

Phil Soar and Martin Tyler – “The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal”

Two statements from two esteemed tomes that have become ingrained in Arsenal’s history, written by three respected names in the game, printed in in black ink on white paper for all eternity. The only problem is that both statements have recently been proven to be wrong. Read More →

Arsenal’s Imposter Manager – Seeing Isn’t Always Believing

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by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews
(@Gooner_AK)     (@Royal Arsenal MRA)

The eagle-eyed amongst you who have read through this season’s handbook will have noticed a minor change within the list of managers. Arsenal’s second manager has changed from George Elcoat to William Elcoat. The reason for this is constant badgering of the handbook editor, Josh James, by us. We showed conclusively that since 1986 George Elcoat has been wrongly credited with having managed Woolwich Arsenal, and also showed the date that he started and the date he was “asked to resign”.

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