125 years of arsenal history

8/3/2019 125 Years of Arsenal History

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125 years of Arsenal history -1886-1891

The boys from Dial Square: 1886-1891

Given the sporadic nature of newspaper reports, and the absence of any

surviving eyewitnesses or visual evidence, its hardly surprising that there

is conjecture about what really happened 125 years ago, when what

became known as Arsenal Football Club was born.

Stories and tales which did the rounds at the time were committed to print,

regurgitated in assorted Arsenal histories, and established as gospel

truth, but upon closer inspection many remain unsubstantiated. The story

which has been handed down over the generations is that on 11thDecember 1886, a group of footballers from the Dial Square workshop in

the Woolwich Arsenal crossed the Thames on the famous Woolwich

ferry, and walked to a piece of land which one of them had discovered on

the Isle of Dogs.

The boys from Dial Square, playing on a rough and ready surface (club

secretary Elijah Watkins commented: Talk about a football pitch! I could

not venture to say what shape it was...a portion was I was going to say a

ditch, but I think an open sewer would be more appropriate.) won 6-0, and

then went back to Woolwich.

Recently, Arsenal historians Andy Kelly and Tony Attwood have

challenged this version of events, and suggested that the waters are

murkier than first thought. Official histories have mentioned there were

other Woolwich Arsenal armament factory clubs which pre dated Dial

Square, but as no written evidence exists of their respective playing

records, historians have taken it as red that Dial Square were the distant

forefathers of Arsenal FC.

The fact that Dial Square also travelled to the Isle of Dogs ( an arduous

journey and a venue with precious little municipal land at the time) also

appears curious, given that, if other clubs from the factory did pre date Dial

Square (and there was nearby Plumstead Common) there must surely

have been some football pitches nearby, even if Woolwich was

predominantly a rugby playing area at the time.


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There is also the fact that the Woolwich ferry wasnt actually there until

1898, that there is no record anywhere of Eastern Wanderers, and that the

evidence we have surrounding that first match hinges on the testimony of

one onlooker Elijah Watkins.

Despite the uncertainty, other elements of the clubs formative years

appear much clearer. Given that there were no licensing hours for pubs at

that time, and that Christmas Day was a paid holiday, its entirely possible

that the majority of the Dial Square side met in the Royal Oak pub on

Christmas Day morning in 1886, and formally established the Royal

Arsenal Football Club, and the club, struggling to establish itself, moved

around North Kent trying to establish itself.

Of those early Royals stars, it was Scottish midfielder Jimmy Charteris whowas arguably the most notorious. He came from a troubled background. As

a child, hed seen his bigamist father jailed, and was palmed off to various

member of his extended family. For opting to venture south to play for

Royal Arsenal, he was virtually ostracised by his neighbours in Kirkcaldy,

Fife. The local press issued the warning: There is little honour playing for

some of these English clubs.

There was also Morris Bates, a pugnacious defender who was supposedly

capable of heading the old fashioned football half the length of the pitch.

The team had played in red ever since Nottingham Forest kindly lent theteam their kit (Bates and goal keeper Fred Beardsley also ventured south

from Forest), and quickly began to enjoy success on the pitch, securing the

Kent Senior Cup in 1890 (3-0 versus Thanet in the Final), the 1890 London

Charity Cup (3-1 v Old Westminster) and the London Senior Cup in 1891

after they defeated St Bartholomews Hospital 6-0.

Their cult following grew, as the Kentish Independent reported: ...there

was shouting and singing everywhere all evening and, we fear, a good

deal of drinking was mingled with the rejoicing and exaltations after

success on the pitch.

The principal reason why Royal Arsenal survived those testing early years,

and why the history of the team becomes gradually clearer, is due to the

sterling work of the clubs founding fathers, Jack Humble and David

Danskin. Both men remain original working class heroes. In the mid 1880s,

Danskin ventured south from Scotland to take up a post at the flourishing


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Woolwich Arsenal armaments factory. The recently passed Factory Acts

gave Danskin and his co workers Saturday afternoons off, and the Scot

quickly discovered that plenty of his co workers shared his passion for

football.

Given that Kent had always been regarded as a rugby stronghold, the

chances of a team based in Woolwich being anything other than an

opportunity to keep fit and to socialise were remote, but Danskin was

nothing if not determined, and he used his contacts north of the border to

ensure that talented footballers were found work inside the Woolwich

Arsenal. Those early Royal Arsenal sides contained a number of burly,

moustachioed Scots. Already the cohesion, robustness and structure

required for survival in a dog eat dog environment was beginning to take

shape.

Danskin and Jack Humble (both men appeared for Royal Arsenal in the

early days) were a formidable pairing. Humble, born in County Durham,

grew up in poverty, and although the story claiming that together with his

brother Arthur, he walked 400 odd miles south looking for work may well

be apocryphal, he believed passionately that working class men should be

able to enjoy more leisure time.

Humble was a member of the Radicals, later a fully fledged member of the

emerging Socialist Party, and was also an active member of the Royal

Arsenal Cooperative Society. Within the organization, both Humble andDanskin were able to raise the profile of the team, and despite the financial

and geographical constraints, push the club forward. By March 1891,

Royal Arsenal had already won silverware, were attracting a great deal of

publicity in the local area, and were being steered by two hugely influential

individuals. But events were about to take a dramatic turn....

A Professional Outfit: 1891-1896

With success on the pitch in 1890 and 1891, Royal Arsenals counterparts heard rumours that the club was alreadydescribing itself as the Champions of the South. Yet within just four years of Dial Square playing its first match,

and despite founding fathers Jack Humble and David Danskin trying to push the club forward at every opportunity,the future of the club, out on something of a geographical limb in Kent, appeared uncertain.

The FA Cup was the one chance the Royals had to raise their national profile, yet they invariably fell short. In1891, Derby visited the teams new home the Manor Ground and eeked out a 2-1 win in front of a then record8000 crowd. Every single club history written since the turn of the 20th century has claimed that the Derby matchhad a seismic impact on the clubs future. That may well be the case, but it didnt entirely happen in the mannerwhich so many tomes have suggested.

In the 1914 1915 handbook, editor George Allison (who of course went on to manage the Gunners and was ahigh profile journalist) claimed that after the Derby clash Royal Arsenal stars Peter Connolly and Bob Buist were


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approached by the East Midlands clubs boss John Goodall with a view to offering them professional terms atDerby.

The handbook piece was based on an article hed written for the Athletic News some years before. This version ofevents was subsequently repeated by Bernard Joy in Forward Arsenal! suggesting that he took Allisons accountas gospel, and has been repeated many times since.

The truth is that Bob Buist didnt actually play in the game, and didnt join Arsenal until September 1891 around 8

months later. However, it is entirely possible that Connolly (who turned down Goodalls approach because he wasagainst the idea of professionalism in football and had a steady job in the Woolwich Arsenal) was offeredprofessional terms by Derby, and that the club, alarmed by the turn of events, and determined to retain theservices of its best players, decided that turning professional was its only viable course of action.

At the clubs1891 AGM, held in the Windsor Castle Music Hall, Humble suggested that Royal Arsenal join theFootball League as a working mans collective (he opposed the other board members plan that the club become alimited liability company, although that came to pass in 1893) , and the board unanimously voted to turn the clubprofessional.

The club has been carried on by working men and it is my ambition to see it carried on by them, Humbleexplained. A succession of Arsenal histories claim that the London FA, apoplectic about professionalism in anyguise, immediately banned Royal Arsenal, their previous Cup winners from all competitions apart from the FA Cup,effectively casting them out into the wilderness.

Unwilling to do battle with the Souths first professional outfit, lest they incur the wrath of their respective leagues,the clubs near neighbours effectively boycotted the rebels from Kent. Certainly, there was a hostile mooddisplayed toward the newly professional club at an extraordinary general meeting of the London FA, held in FleetStreets Andersons Hotel. Mr A. Jackson who chaired the meeting admitted he despised the little tricks of thegame which non amateurs picked up. The Kentish Mercury reported Jacksons comment: I wish to pay a highcompliment to the press generally for the stand they have taken against the football club, and so southern footballin general appeared to have condemned and castrated the new professional outfit from the outset.

According to new research by Tony Attwood and Andy Kelly, George Allisons talk of boycotts and ostracismmay well be sensationalist. Writing his handbook piece some twenty five years after the event, his version wouldhave been based on the views of others, in an era when it was notoriously tricky to corroborate stories andevidence.

Attwood and Kelly honed in on the Woolwich Gazettes report on the Royal Arsenals AGM that took place on 23rdMay 1891 in order to disprove Allisonc claims. One section of the report says: In accordance with the resolutionadopting professionalism, the Club had resigned from the Kent and London associations, but they had not yet

received letters accepting their resignations.

Two weeks earlier, the club, aware that the competitions run by the Kent and London FAs were only open toamateur clubs, resigned. A fortnight on, the club had still heard nothing, suggesting that neither furious FA wasthat keen to confirm the banishment of the club after all. In any case, it was never the case the club was expelledfrom either association. The truth was they resigned before the apoplectic London FA even met in Fleet Street.

The boycott by Southern clubs simply never happened. During the 1891 92 season, the Royals opponents infriendlies included Clapton, Chatham and Cambridge University and the following season, Royal Arsenal played afurther 16 sides from the South of England. Of the 35 Southern opponents Royal Arsenal faced during the 1891 92 season, several teams, including St Bartholomews Hospital and Chiswick Park were those whom Arsenal hadfaced in the London FA and Kent FA Cup competitions in the previous seasons as an amateur side.

So although behind the scenes there may well have been lingering mistrust and suspicion of the club from theirrivals, there was no boycott on the pitch, despite what a raft of Arsenal historians me included in Rebels For TheCause have claimed. Time for a spot of revisionism, perhaps.

That said, the friendly games attracted low crowds; the only truly competitive matches the team played were in theFA Cup, and so the board suggested the idea of forming a professional ten team strong Southern League which intime could grow to be as powerful as the Northern dominated First Division.

Initially, the idea was met with a large amount of support, but the League didnt take off at that time due to a lack ofcash. Then, in 1893, the club received an offer to join the Second Division. For Jack Humble and David Danskin, itwas a calculated risk. If the souths first professional southern club struggled, there would likely be no way back,and funding the cost of trips up to outposts like Liverpool, Nottingham and Nottingham would be costly, but it was anecessary move, and in three consecutive seasons, the club made slow but steady progress, finishing 9th, 8th and7th.


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Slowly, the Champions of the South were making their mark.

Killer facts...

1. In an 1891 poll to create a Southern League, Tottenham came bottom, with just one vote, behind clubs whichincluded Chatham and Chiswick.2. At the Invicta Ground in Plumstead, the landlord upped the rent from 200 to 350 per annum in 1893, hoping

to exploit the clubs new found professional status. The club moved on.3. In the Summer of 1893, club supporters worked around the clock to ensure that the newly purchased ManorGround was ready for the Second Division.

One step forward, two steps back: 1896-1901

Woolwich Arsenal chugged along during the 1896 to 1901 period, finishing

10th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 7th respectively in the Second Division. The clubs

progress in the FA Cup was similarly disappointing, leading one

disgruntled fan to write to the Kentish Gazette and claim: The club isnt

pulling up any trees, and as far as I can see, it isnt showing any signs of

doing so either.

Speaking ten years after he left the club, striker David Hannah described

the Kent club at the time as ...drifting along. Occasionally, we were beaten

heavily. Sometimes, we thrashed the opposition. Mostly we won some and

lost some. One step forward, and one step backwards. For myself and

several of the other players, it seemed that we were always battling

against the fact that Kent was so far out of the way.

Hannahs point was perfectly illustrated by a remarkable series of results

between October 17th and Christmas Day 1896. Woolwich Arsenal scored32 goals and conceded 34 in just 9 games. The run included an 8-0

thrashing at Loughborough and a 7-4 tonking at Notts County, and then a

6-1 destruction of Gainsborough and a 6-2 win over Lincoln City.

It remains the most spectacular goal scoring run in the clubs history, but it

illustrates the clubs wildly inconsistent form. With the lack of success on

the pitch, it was essentially an era of painful home truths being delivered,

and a realisation that being the Second Divisions Southern most club was

very much a double edged sword.

The Manor Grounds crowds, consisting largely of factory workers and

soldiers, appeared to have been regarded with suspicion by visiting

Northern clubs. A letter of complaint penned by one disgruntled supporter

to the Kentish Independent noted the conduct of fans who spouted foul

language and coarse abuse.


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After Newcastle United visited the Manor Ground during the 1897 1897

season, the Newcastle Echo described the Geordies trip to the Manor

Ground as a visit to hell. The Kentish Independent reported that the

disruptive element at the Manor Ground was spread throughout the

demographic. These were not weedy uneducated hooligans, but well

dressed middle aged gentlemen, one journalist wrote, after the home

supporters dished out stick to a visiting side. This is not to suggest that the

Manor Ground was always a bear pit (only three brief newspaper extracts

highlight the edgy nature of the crowd) but nonetheless, it never ranked

highly on the list of favourite away destinations for rival Second Division

outfits.

Undermining the clubs progression was its geographical location.

Although Woolwich, as the crow flies, is relatively close to the middle of

London, the River Thames effectively sliced the clubs radius of support inhalf. It was 20 minutes further out by tram than the nearest major club

(Millwall Athletic), and although the Manor Ground was located across the

road from Plumstead Station, it was exceptionally tricky to reach by rail.

George Allison, then a junior sports reporter with Hultons, had been given

Woolwich Arsenal as his regular team. He became known in journalistic

circles as George Arsenal, and he recalled the journey down to watch

Woolwich Arsenal: From Fleet Street to Plumstead was heavy going.

Other sports writers were more than happy when I offered to undertake all

the reporting of Arsenals home games. The trains stopped at everystation. There were the same halts on the return journey, with the added

difficulty that no one knew where the trains were going.

Added to this was the development of other clubs within the Southern

area. There were a range of good Southern League clubs including Millwall

and Crystal Palace, and strong local amateur outfits like Clapton and

Dulwich. Fulham and Clapton Orient were making excellent progress, and

these two clubs were a strong draw for young local football talent, and

supporters. Then Tottenham Hotspur won the FA Cup in 1901, becoming

the first non-League club to do so.

It was estimated that a jubilant crowd of 20,000 lined the streets to

welcome back the Spurs players to North London. Woolwich Arsenal were

highly unlikely to ever be fortunate enough to draw on such a reservoir of

support. Its position of strength of being Southern Englands first

professional outfit had become eroded extremely quickly. Tottenhams cup


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win was a clear sign that Woolwich Arsenals title as the souths most

cutting edge and progressive club was in danger of being wrestled away.

The clubs lack of success in keeping hold of their best players merely

reinforced the fact.

When goalkeeper Harry Storer was chosen to represent the Football

League against the Scottish League, he became the first Arsenal player to

win representative honours, but he departed a year later to Liverpool. The

superbly named Caesar Llewellyn Jenkyns became the clubs first full

international when he was picked for Wales against Scotland on March 21,

1896, but a year later he departed to Newton Heath, the forerunners of

Manchester United. Jenkyns, with his wrestler physique and aura of raw

power, later became a policeman, and his mere presence in the team was

reckoned to add another 2,000 to the gate.

Estimates from the time suggest that around 50 per-cent of the crowds at

the time were connected in some way to the military, and the general

perception at the time was that the onset of the Boer War was as

damaging for Woolwich Arsenal as it was for the British Government.

The all consuming need to preserve Britains empire impacted massively

upon the munitions industry. Saturday afternoons at the football were no

longer an option for many supporters, as compulsory overtime was

introduced in the factory. In the early part of last century, a report had

suggested that crowds crashed by over a half at the Manor Ground duringthe conflict, but upon closer inspection, the fall is roughly equivalent to 20

per-cent serious but not catastrophic.

Nonetheless with an average gate of around 3,500, the clubs options were

limited. A paltry 900 watched the clubs record 12-0 victory over

Loughborough in March 1900. Its one of the most bizarre coincidences in

the clubs history that theyd lost 8-0 against the same opposition three

seasons earlier (see page 51 for more).

One giant step forward, one enormous step backwards.

HISTORY BRIEF

1. Arsenals Third Qualifying Round FA Cup match against New Brompton

went to four replays with Arsenal eventually losing 1-0 at neutral

Gravesend. New Brompton became Gillingham FC.


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2. In the 1895/96 season, the club wore a short lived strip of red and light

blue stripes.

3. A disastrous FA Cup defeat by non-League Millwall in 1896 prompted

the club to appoint a secretary-manager, TB Mitchell from Blackburn.

WOOLWICH ARSENAL LEAGUE RECORD (DIVISION TWO)

P W D L F A Pts Position

1896/97 30 13 4 13 68 70 30 10

1897/98 30 16 5 9 69 49 37 5

1898/99 34 18 5 11 72 41 41 7

1899/00 34 16 16 14 61 43 36 8

1900/01 34 6 6 13 39 35 36 7

FA CUP RECORD

1896/97 Fifth Qualifying Round

1897/98 First Round

1898/99 First Round

1899/00 Third Qualifying Round

1900/01 Second Round

Finally on the Up: 1901-1906

Quite why Harry Bradshaw, manager of a Burnley side which had just

finished third in the old First Division in 1899, agreed to become manager

of the ailing Woolwich Arsenal, seemingly permanently mired in theSecond Division, is anyones guess. Yet Bradshaws odd decision (hed

been quoted in the press as saying: Footballs real power lives in the

North of England) proved to be the catalyst which Woolwich Arsenal

required to turn them into a more robust and competitive outfit.

Bradshaw realised that the club had always struggled to hold onto talented

players, and that the accounts werent healthy but he was a canny

customer who, nevertheless, saw the Clubs potential and set about raising

funds.

In November 1902, the club organised and sold tickets for an archery

competition inside the Manor Ground, which doubled as a lottery. The

event raised 1,200 a tidy sum when the clubs annual income was

around 5,600. Bradshaw needed to use all of his cunning and guile to

steer the club forward. One of his policies was to shop around for local

talent.


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Possibly his most successful acquisition was goalkeeper Jimmy Ashcroft

from Gravesend, who in time would become the clubs first England

international. Reports claimed that Ashcroft had the ability to punch a ball

almost half the length of the pitch no mean feat in the days of the old

fashioned football. Joining him at the club were Archie Cross from

Dartford, and Percy Sands from Woolwich. As well as the local contingent,

Bradshaw used his network of spies to bring in Yorkshire born Bill Gooing

and Irishman Tommy Shanks. There were also the prodigious striking

talents of John George Tim Coleman.

Woolwich Arsenal finished fourth in the 1901/02 season, their best ever

league finish, and a year later, the team ended up in third place. The

crowds were now also creeping up, and average gates were around the

10,000 in the 1902/03 campaign. 24,000 squeezed into the Manor Groundto watch the team lose 3-1 at home to First Division Sheffield United in

1903, and the teams profile began to rise accordingly.

Jimmy Jackson (half Australian/half Scot) appointed himself leader of team

affairs/tactics. Jackson had played as an Australian rules player, which

served him well in the tough environs of English football. Bradshaw

allowed Jackson to introduce zonal marking to the club, and he was

ruthless in his pursuit of points. When the going got tough in a league

game he told a team mate: Were not here to show fancy play. Were here

to get points. When we cant get two, we can at least make sure of one.

In the 1903/1904 campaign, Woolwich Arsenal were finally promoted to the

top flight. The team made an excellent start to the campaign, winning their

first eight games, and Briercliffe, Gooing and Coleman scored goals

seemingly at will. Both Burton and Leicester Fosse were thrashed 8-0 at

home, and throughout the season, the clubs home record was superb.

Woolwich Arsenal didnt lose a single game at the Manor Ground, and but

for draws against Burslem Port Vale and Champions Preston, their home

record would have been perfect.

Away from home, things werent quite as rosy, with just six wins, but the

final goal tally was incredible: 91 for, 22 against. Tommy Shanks was the

leagues leading scorer with 25 goals. Of the 20 players who appeared for

the team that season, only two of them had been at the club since before

the arrival of Harry Bradshaw. His impact on the club couldnt be under

estimated but apart from 20,000 plus crowds turning up to the Manchester


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United and Preston games, average gates were still relatively modest,

tending to average out around the 12,000 mark.

Bafflingly, with the clubs supporters looking forward to their first top flight

campaign, Harry Bradshaw abruptly resigned in June 1904, and

announced that hed accepted an offer from Southern League Fulham to

take up the managerial reins. Bradshaw once again proved his mettle at

Fulham, taking them into the Football League three years later, but it was

disappointing for Woolwich Arsenal to lose a manager their first great

manager at such a crucial juncture in their history.

Hibernian boss Phil Kelso was chosen by the board to succeed Bradshaw,

and he trawled around the north of England and Scotland to bring fresh

talent to the newly promoted outfit. The mercurial Scottish left-back Bobby

Templeton arrived in time for the 1904/05 season, and he immediatelybecame a crowd favourite. A hairdresser by trade, he had the ability to

swerve the ball in a virtual semi circle.

Moody, inconsistent and prone to miss training, a journalist wrote of him:

When hes good, hes very good. When hes bad, hes horrid. There was

also the phenomenal shooting power of 16 stone Charlie Sattherthwaite,

whose ferocious shooting once smashed the stanchion. The gates for

Woolwich Arsenals inaugural season in the top flight were excellent,

surging up to the 20,000 mark, and now the club could make around

1,000 in gate money every home game. The team finished tenth thatseason, but the big problem was their inconsistency.

Its no exaggeration to claim that if Bradshaw had still been at the club,

then he would have been able to inject more new talent into the team, in

truth, Kelso struggling to recruit players of the level required. He kept the

team which had gained promotion largely intact, and players like Gooing

and Coleman found the step up in class difficult, and their goal tallies fell

accordingly.

Only Charlie Sattherthwaite reached double figures in the 1904/1905season, and it was clear that if the club wished to progress to the next

step, they needed to invest more keenly in players. Nonetheless, Kelso

deserves a huge amount of credit for steering the club safely into mid-table

in their first season in the top flight.

Woolwich Arsenal may not have been reaching for the stars, but were


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making steady progress nonetheless.

HISTORY IN BRIEF

1. The winner of Arsenals archery lottery was a Mr Grubb of 190

Plumstead Road, who won 50 (around 3000 in todays money).

2. Centre half Percy Sands was the clubs first truly great servant, playing

327 games between 1902 and 1919.

3. The short, fast passing style which Bradshaw encouraged at Woolwich

Arsenal drew plaudits from around the world. Even Canadas coach came

to Woolwich to see the team in action in 1903.

125 years of Arsenal history -1931-35In the splendid surroundings of Highbury, Arsenal began a decade of

domination.

In order to appreciate the extent of Herbert Chapmans vision, its

important to consider the profile which football had in the early 1930s.

The media saturation of the sport, so prevalent in the modern era, simply

wasnt present. Neither did football have a stranglehold over working men.

In those far off days, speedway was a major contender, and big meetings

could regularly pull in crowds of 30,000 or above. Chapman continued to

argue that in the long term, football would outstrip its sporting rivals, but in

the meantime, he realised that the product needed to be sufficiently

attractive to pull in the punters.

With Norris now gone, Chapman was free to build his dream team

without Sir Henrys tiresome influence. Thanks to his drive he turnedHighbury into, as one awe-struck 30s fan put it, the Taj Mahal of football.

Highbury quickly became the most talked about and modern stadium in

Europe. At a cost of 45,000, the West Stand (complete with 4,100 seats)

was opened in December 1932, and the completion of the luxurious East

Stand (a building of wonder and unparalleled in football in the words of


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the Arsenal programme) made Highbury the most famous ground in the

world. Its artdeco frontage simply set the ground apart from all others.

Travelling supporters and visiting players were in awe of setting foot near

Highbury. Not content with incorporating the latest architectural designs

into the fabric of the stadium, Chapman tried to add in a few mod cons. In1932, he advocated the use of a giant 45-minute clock, so the crowd could

see precisely how much time was left in each half.

Chapman knew that football was an event, and he wanted fans to be part

of the game. He believed that a clock would add to the tension of the

game, with countdowns adding to the atmosphere, explained George

Male. The FA didnt buy into Chapmans way of thinking and banned the

mechanism, claiming it would place referees under pressure - although

they did finally allow the famous clock to be erected.

The newly nicknamed Bank Of England club needed to pull in 40,000

punters to every home game in order to break even. It was a tall order as

the Depression started to bite London. Yet his gamble would pay off.

Some locals remained adamant that turning Highbury into a football

Mecca, and spending huge sums on players, was unjustified. George Male

recalled: Some claimed times were hard and it was distasteful that

Arsenal were spending so much on a fancy stadium, when the working

man was going through the Depression. They had a point but the

projects were hardly vulgar because it was paid for by success on the

field. Speculating to accumulate. Thats good business in anybodyslanguage.

There was always a contradiction lying at the heart of Chapman. As

Huddersfield manager, hed frequently reiterated the fact that spending

large sums of money on players or stadiums was a regrettable part of

football. He also believed that the status of footballers as George Male

professionals should preferably be avoided. Yet no other manager spent

so much (comparatively) on players or ground improvements until the

Premiership era dawned.

George Male claimed: Above all, Chapman was a showman. Everything

spending money included came second to his team putting on a fantastic

show. As Gunners fans from the era testify, there was no finer

performance in London in the 30s than watching Arsenal play at Highbury,

and on FA Cup Final day, at Wembley.


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By the time of the 1930/1931 campaign, the team was starting to perfect

the ruthless cutting edge counter attacking football which hed been

advocating. Up front, he had a strong front line with Jack Lambert

supported by David Jack and Alex James as deep lying inside forwards.

Chapman employed Cliff Bastin and Joe Hulme as nippy wingers who cut

inside with devastating effects.

The Gunners style contrasted with that of other teams, who relied on

dribbling, possession football and dwelling on the ball. Chapman

maintained that his back line was the rock bottom of football, and the

Gunners defence was instructed to play deep, with the wing halves in their

own penalty area when the opposition attacked.

The teams ability to spend significant periods of a game under the cosh,

then break out at lightning speed and score brought accusations of Lucky

Arsenal and Boring Arsenal from many defeated sides. WhenChapmans men landed the First Division title in 1931, they actually scored

127 goals, which remains a club record to this day, and flew in the faces of

their detractors.

Chapman was never able to emulate his Huddersfield feat of winning the

double, although he came very close in 1931/32, when his team finished

second behind Everton in the league, and controversially lost the 1932 FA

Cup Final against Newcastle, despite the Geordies equalising goal

appearing to come after the ball had gone out of play.

Despite the shock of losing to Walsall in the FA Cup Third Round inJanuary 1933, Chapmans team regained their nerve and won the 1933

title. But Chapman told club director George Allison: The teams played

out, Mr Allison, we must rebuild. Sadly, he was never able to see the

rebuilding process completed.

Chapman brought in reinforcements for the start of the next season

(including Ray Bowden, Pat Beasley and James Dunne), but died from

pneumonia in January 1934. It was left to Allison to oversee the 1934 title

triumph, and with the injection of new recruits, including Wilf Copping and

Ted Drake, the Gunners completed a hat-trick of title successes in May1935.

Allisons charges, whilst crediting him for the job he did, confirmed that as

a football tactician he was never in Chapmans league.

George Male recalled: George was fortunate to have inherited the nucleus

of a great side from Chapman. Chapman was a genius in every sense. He


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was a true visionary, who built Arsenals stature and reputation and turned

them into a world name.

The 1931- 1935 period remains the most successful in Arsenals history,

and the 60,000-plus fans who regularly packed Highbury would never

forget the exhilarating sight of the red and white legions pouring forward.The architect of this thrilling spectacle was Chapman.

HISTORY BRIEF

- If Arsenal fans wanted to see their hero Alex James at closer quarters,

they could pop into Selfridges, where he worked as a sports

demonstrator.

- In March 1935, with Arsenal poised to secure a hat-trick of title

successes, a massive 73,295 crammed inside Highbury to see the

Gunners take on Sunderland.

- In Arsenal From The Heart, Bob Wall claimed that Highbury staff used to

be able to hear the ghost of Herbert Chapman pacing the corridors for

years after his death.

125 years of Arsenal history -

1936-40There was always a flip side to the giant Highbury crowds of the 1930s. It

certainly wasnt all bonhomie, not even when the Gunners continued to

enjoy success on the pitch under George Allison.

The voracious capture of silverware under Herbert Chapman in the first

part of the decade raised expectation levels to ludicrously high levels.

George Male recalled: I noticed that the crowd was very quick to get on

our backs if things didnt go according to the script at home. In fairness,

they were picking up on Herbert Chapmans feeling that the team neededurgent rebuilding work. All of us players and fans were learning that

even a title-winning season might not ultimately be considered a vintage

year. The more you won, the more was expected of you.

In the mid 1930s, Ted Drake recalled: My astonishment that crowds were

now on Alex James case. Hed admittedly slowed a bit, and wasnt getting


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on too well with George Allison but to actually moan at him? I was frankly

astonished.

The well-oiled Arsenal machine was beginning ever so slightly to

splutter. Drake also remembered: Teams like Sunderland, Preston, and

Wolves were catching up with us fast. Those fellows whod played in theearly part of the 30s reckoned it wasnt as much fun as it had been, and

some of the players reckoned it may have been because people were

edgy due to the worries about the situation in Europe. But I reckon that

Arsenal fans were simply becoming more demanding.

The quality might not have been of the Chapman vintage, but the Gunners

were still box office and could scrap, and often outpoint, the best of them

when required.

In 1936, Arsenal tailed off in the league but reached Wembley to face

Sheffield United at Wembley in the FA Cup Final, having seen off Bristol

Rovers, Liverpool, Newcastle, Barnsley and Grimsby en route.

Allison had issues with his team selection, as Drake, James, Eddie

Hapgood and Herbie Roberts were struggling with injuries. The battering

ram Drake (my knee was absolutely killing me, he recalled) had only just

recovered from a cartilage operation, but was shoved in to a reshuffled

attack alongside Ray Bowden and Cliff Bastin.

Second Division United dominated proceedings, but in the 74th minute Ted

Drake sidestepped Blades skipper Johnson and beat goalkeeper Smith.Drake collapsed in pain afterwards, his knee having given way, but yet

again he had done his job, and skipper Alex James lifted his final piece of

silverware for the Gunners.

Pipped to the title in 1937 by a rampant Man City, Arsenal were forced to

replace the seemingly irreplaceable when James retired that summer.

More than anyone, Wee Alec embodied Arsenals glamorous aura in the

1930s, and the harbingers of doom claimed that the Gunners would never

be the same without him.

To a degree that was true, but Allisons team rallied, and despite losing 11

of their 42 games in the 1937/38 campaign, squeezed out Wolves and

Brentford to claim their fifth title of the 1930s. Bastin and Male were the

only survivors from Chapmans teams of the early 30s. That year, Allisons

squad was beset by injuries, but a 5-0 win against Bolton in the final match

was enough for Arsenal to win the title.


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Drake recalled: I look back with a mixture of pride and regret on that

particular title, because although I was delighted with what we achieved, it

signalled the end of the best decade in Arsenals history.

Arsenal tailed off in fifth place in 1938/39, as Allison attempted to fill the

star void left by James departure with Bryn Jones, who arrived fromWolves in June 1938 for a gargantuan 14,000. His transfer fee caused

shock waves to travel through the football world, and was even discussed

in the Houses of Parliament. Several leading journalists of the era claimed

that the fee may never be exceeded.

A nippy, pacy forward whod performed well in a fine Wolves side, Jones

was dubbed the new Alex James, but the team, undergoing a fairly major

change in personnel, struggled to accommodate a free spirit like Jones.

Drake recalled: I thought that Bryn was also used to the team operating

around him at Wolves, but at Highbury, he had to fit in with us. Within acouple of weeks, it was clear that he was never going to adapt quickly

enough. Arsenal were in the process of finishing fifth that year, and very

quickly, we all thought he was a luxury player who played well when the

team played well, rather than a James type, who could drag the team

along by the bootlaces when things werent going well.

The football world at large claimed that Joness signing proved George

Allison was taking the Bank Of England tag too far. Frustrated Arsenal fans

sung of the teams big spending: No more money in the bank, whats to do

about it? Lets put them to bed. In 1938, Jones was dropped fromArsenals first team in a bid to pull him out of the limelight.

Expecting to run out in front of the proverbial one man and his dog at a

reserve game, Jones was astonished to see 33,000 had turned up

simply out of curiosity to see how the worlds most expensive player coped

in these surroundings. He was also an extremely unlucky player.

Restored to the first team at the start of the 1939/40 season, his displays

drew plaudits from several leading newspapers, including the Daily

Telegraph: Jones is finally showing the Arsenal fans just why he was

worth so much money. Yet all three games are now expunged from officialrecords, after the outbreak of World War Two meant the suspension of the

league programme.

In late 1939, Arsenal season ticket holders received a letter from Gunners

Secretary Manager George Allison, informing them that the ground had

been requisitioned by the Public Authorities. Arsenal fan Lesley Waters


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recalled: The letter didnt really come as any major surprise. I remember

Allisons letter finished with the line I look forward to the time when all

Arsenal supporters will be able to foregather on the Highbury ground as

they have done in the past.

It brought home the full enormity of what was going on. It was the finalproof if any were needed, that normal life was over. As the conflict

began, the memories of the Clubs golden decade began to fade rapidly,

and like the rest of the country, Arsenal FC faced an uncertain future.

HISTORY BRIEF

- In 1938, George Allison gave permission for Highbury to be used for the

filming of Leonard Gribbles The Arsenal Stadium Mystery.

- The footage used for the mythical Arsenal v Trojans match was actually

from a May 1939 clash between Arsenal and Brentford. With the recordsfor the games at the start of the 1939/40 expunged, it proved to be

Arsenals last first class game for nearly six years.

- Of 42 players on the staff, 40 joined the forces at the start of the war.

125 years of Arsenal history -

1941-1945The second World War witnessed a change of role for Arsenal's players

and its stadium. Of the 42 players on the Arsenal staff, 40 joined the armed

forces. The players were scattered far and wide across the globe.

George Male spent much of the war in Palestine, Bryn Jones in Italy, and

Leslie Compton in India. Arsenal players remained in demand throughout

the conflict, however, and made regular appearances in regiment games

across the globe, and war league contests.

Up-and-coming striker Reg Lewis recalled: As a player it was tough. You

dreamed of playing at Highbury in front of thousands but instead I ended

up playing football at White Hart lane, our adopted home in regional

wartime matches. I was stationed at Shoeburyness, and Id be given leave

to come to London to play.


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"They cut crowds at those games to a maximum of 25,000, just in case

You got on with it because you wanted to play football, but all the time you

were pining for Highbury. What a mess that was in!

From the moment war was declared, Highbury buzzed with activity. It was

transformed into a stranglehold for the ARP (Air Raid Precautions). Thepitch was used twice daily as part of the Islington Borough ARPs training

programme.

Before he was assigned to Palestine, Male regularly played in matches

against the local ARP wardens. He recalled: At first, many of us were still

being paid by the club, so we played in some Combination games, and

some friendlies.

"I use the word friendlies in the loosest possible sense of the word, mind,

as some of those wardens couldnt wait to get stuck into professional

footballers. Most of them were Spurs fans, I reckon! At that time, Id look

around Highbury and see the barrage balloon above the stand and the

bomb shelter furniture under the Laundry End. It was all quite unreal, to be

honest.

The war became devastatingly real to local residents when, on the night of

April 16, 1941, around 550 German bombers dropped over 100,000

incendiaries on London. Dozens of incendiaries rained down on the streets

around Highbury.

Local resident Harry Stone recalled: St Thomass Road was reduced to apile of rubble. So was Blackstock Road. It was chaos. You wondered if

anything would actually be left standing when you came out. When we did

step out next morning, we walked past the Laundry End and we couldnt

believe what we saw. There was the roof all crumpled and smouldering.

"It was the first time we realised what aerial bombardments were really all

about. Five incendiaries had come through the Laundry End roof, and

fallen onto all the bunks and stuff underneath. Incendiaries consisted of

phosphorous, and although they dont explode, they set fire to anything

they touch. All the mattresses went up in flames, and the intense heat hadmade the roof melt and collapse. When they did some further

investigations, they found that the holes in the roof were no bigger than the

size of a football which is ironic really, isnt it? So if all that stuff hadnt

been on the terrace, it wouldnt have gone up.

A year earlier, a 1,000lb bomb fell onto the practice ground behind the

South Bank, killing two RAF pilots who were sitting in the hut.


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Highbury may have been out of bounds for matches, but Arsenals ability

to chase silverware, despite the difficult situation, remained undiminished.

In 1941 they reached the Football League War Cup Final, with Laurie Scott

partnering Eddie Hapgood at full-back, Leslie Compton headed the attack

as Arsenal drew the first game with Preston, and then lost the replay 2-1.

The Gunners were crowned champions of London in 1941/42, and also the

Football League South the following year.

At Wembley in 1943, prolific young striker Reg Lewis netted four goals as

Arsenal thrashed Charlton Athletic 7-1 in the Football League South Cup

Final. Lewis was the star of those war years and scored an amazing 53

goals in that 1942/43 season.

Lewis recalled: My scoring achievements made me really proud in those

days, but it was also torture, because I wanted to be scoring for us at

Highbury in the league. It didnt do to moan about it at the time though.Others were in a far more unfortunate position than me in the war. I was

lucky. I was alive, and playing football.

Six years of war left Arsenal with a massive problem. With no income from

gate receipts at Highbury, the Gunners were about to enter the post-war

era with a (then) huge 150,000 debt. Admittedly, the club could eventually

reclaim the money needed for repairs to the ground on insurance, and the

gargantuan post-war crowds would once again fill the coffers, but the Bank

Of England clubs finances were diminished.

Arsenals most famous match of their non Highbury era was played atWhite Hart Lane, of all places. The 1945/46 season began with the

regional leagues retained, and the FA Cup back on the agenda. Late in

1945, with the world on the cusp of the Cold War, Moscow Dynamo arrived

for a European tour, and in the era before the advent of the European and

UEFA Cups, the Dynamos match against the Gunners garnered a huge

amount of newspaper headlines.

The day of the match saw a classic London pea souper, which simply

added to the mystery and confusion which surrounded the match. George

Allison needed to summon six guest players, including legendary forwardsStan Mortensen and Stan Matthews. An enormous 54,000 crowd rolled

into White Hart Lane, but only had sporadic views of the game due to the

fog.

The game ended with the Dynamos winning 4-3, but amidst claims of

incorrect decisions made by the Russian referee, and the fact that at some


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points the players couldnt see one another, or the goals, the Mail labelled

it: the most farcical match which has ever been played, although the

newspaper did also claim it was ... one of the most exciting games 54,000

people have never seen.

The war of words, and lingering suspicion between the players mirroredthe tenseness evident during the post war era. With league football about

to resume, George Allison had lost old warriors to injury like Ted Drake

and Alf Kirchen, and players like Bastin and Male were entering the

autumn of their careers.

The question was whether or not Allison had the ability, and the energy, to

mould another victorious Arsenal team when the war ended.

HISTORY BRIEF

- Moscow Dynamo striker Vsevolod Bobrov alleged that Arsenal playerReg Drury had actually been sent off during the second-half of the Dynamo

match, but Drury simply ran off into the fog, and carried on playing anyway.

- As Arsenal players began to return to Highbury after the war, they

discovered that their wages, in some cases, were ten per-cent lower than

they had been six years earlier!

- To show the state Highbury was in after the war, an Arsenal official

admitted in late 1945: We have absolutely no idea when the club will

reopen for business.

125 years of arsenal history

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