Gunners Of The Past: Harold Walden – Soldier–Footballer–Olympian–Music Hall Artiste

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288: Harold Adrian Walden 1920-21

Harold Walden 2Recently Andy has published a full and definitive list of every Arsenal player to appear in a first team competitive match during the history of the club, and as a corollary we are currently researching each player who appeared between World War One and World War Two.

The two hundred and eighty-eighth player only played twice for the Gunners but had a life that made for an interesting and rounded story. Walden had a pre-football career in the army and then joined up for WW1, and was a-typical in that post football he was more celebrated and reported upon than his football one.

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WW1: Arsenal Players Remembered from 1914-1918

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Arsenal Players Remembered 1914-1918

Woolwich poppy

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.

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WW1: Gunners at War

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Roles played by supporters, players and officials in the Great War

PoppyArsenal

This is the first of a three part series based around Arsenal and World War One. Part two concentrates on club matters at home, and on 11 November details of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Gunners at War: Those included below are by no means the full story of the Gunners at war, but a representative selection of those players who fought or worked on the home front. Additionally two chaps contacted us with details of their Arsenal supporting relatives’ military roles in the Great War.

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Arsenal underground station renamed earlier than believed

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Celebrating the wrong day for nearly 60 years

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.

Arsenal_station_tiling

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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 →

History of Arsenal ticket prices since 1980

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by Andy Kelly

With a nationwide protest against ticket prices planned for this weekend, we thought we’d update this article that was originally published in March 2014. 18 months ago we were talking about a 3% rise in ticket prices at the Emirates for the 2014-15 season that had just been announced. There was much talk on social media about how expensive it was to watch football but there were all sorts of misrepresented figures being thrown into the pot. This article shows how ticket prices have increased at Arsenal over the last 35 years.

I would also still like to recommend Matthew Bazell’s “Theatre of Silence“, a fantastic book that explains his disillusionment with the game. @RoyalarsenalMRA and myself have felt pretty much the same way as Matthew for a number of years, especially with regards to the enormous sums paid to players. I heartily recommend Matthew’s book, it’s an easy read and only £4.11 on kindle. Read More →

Mike Dean and The Arsenal – A New Chapter

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mourinhodeanAh, Mike Dean – every Arsenal fans most hated referee (and that takes some going when you look at the competition). We’ve written a couple of blogs about Mike Dean and Arsenal before. One highlighted Arsenal’s awful record under Dean, whilst the second showed that it looked like the curse had been lifted.

However, after yesterday’s game against Chelsea I think there is no doubt that his total ineptitude continues to coincide with Arsenal failing to win games. Thanks to Darren Berry for the picture of Jose and his daughter.

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Arsenal’s Election to the Football League – Mythbusted

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mythbusters

Seeing isn’t always believing

During the summer of 1893 the members of the Football League voted to expand the size of the Second Division which had been formed the previous year. This expansion opened the door for Woolwich Arsenal to become the first Football League club based south of Birmingham. It also turned into a rather messy affair that has resulted in a number of assumptions being made by other historians that have become accepted as the true course of events.

Here, The Arsenal History, set out the actual story of that summer. Read More →