A couple of weeks ago I was asked by Nik Brumsack if I would like to contribute to the “A Game of Two Halves” feature in the Arsenal Magazine. I was informed that John Cross of the Daily Mirror had first dibs and had chosen Arsene Wenger. That left me to choose between George Graham and Herbert Chapman.
On 1 February 1958, Arsenal hosted reigning league champions Manchester United at Highbury. A massive crowd of 63,578 turned up to see the Busby Babes. They saw what has been described as “the greatest game ever seen” by those who were there. The thrilling game finished 5-4 in favour of the visitors. However, it would be the last time this talented young team were seen in England.
Duncan Edwards (the only time you’ll see a non-Arsenal player in the preview)
“A man of principle and of vision, sometimes a prophet in the wilderness and a footballer of breathless magnificence. How English football could do with another Don Howe today”
Don Howe: the Arsenal – player 1964-66; coach 1966-71 & 1977-83; manager 1983-86; youth coach 1997-2003
Instrumental in the 1970-71 double win Don, a genuinely great coach, was earlier the 507th player for the Gunners and later a manager. An England international right back his coaching prowess and organisational skills were equally in demand and admired. His time as player, coach and manager at Arsenal spanned five decades.
Bobby Campbell: The Arsenal coach 1973-1976
Much travelled manager and coach who served Arsenal in a coaching capacity under Bertie Mee.
This is the final post on the theme of Arsenal and WW1. The past few days have seen the Gunners at War and the Gunners at home
Today we pay tribute on Armistice Day to the players who before the war represented Woolwich Arsenal FC but who weren’t necessarily with the club at the beginning of the War. These men paid the ultimate sacrifice being Killed In Action or dying as a result of the war. We have also included players who received career ending wounds.
If you’re an Arsenal fan that has been to a game any time in the last 80 odd years, the chances are you will have used or walked past Arsenal underground station. And if you’re an Arsenal fan with an interest in the club’s history you will, no doubt, know that it was originally called Gillespie Road and renamed to Arsenal (Highbury Hill) on 5 November 1932. It was an idea of Herbert Chapman, Arsenal’s legendary manager, to raise the profile of the club.
“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 scored two goals (one by Olivier Giroud and one by Mesut Ozil) whilst Bayern Munich scored no goals.
Therefore Arsenal gained three Champions League points.
In this world of an endless stream of pointless statistics, they are the only ones that mean anything. Read More →
On the day the Ashes starts here is a brief history of Arsenal’s relationship with cricket, which adds to our previous article The Arsenal Cricketers.
Check out Charlie’s hat, and Bertie’s sunglasses!
Last year we thought it would be a good idea to put together a compendium of information relating to all of Arsenal’s FA Cup final appearances on one page so you don’t have to trawl all over the internet to find out the answers to all of those nagging questions.
We’ve updated the article and made some additions. We’ve added a brief match report for each game which we wrote for the Arsenal magazine last year, and most of the programmes for the games. We were hoping to have all of them ready in time for this blog but the later years take ages to scan as they are so big. We’ll add them as we scan them in. Be aware that these later programmes are huge, physically and electronically. With this in mind we’ve shown the file size for each one so you know what you are letting yourself in for. This article was originally posted in 2015 and has been updated to include all subsequent FA Cup final appearances.
Weekly Illustrated 25 April 1936.