Arsenal Arsenal Retro @ CG

[irsaffy]

The Arsenal team at the start of the 1895-96 season

On 23rd November 1896, Joseph Powell, Arsenal's right-back, went to kick a high ball during a game against Kettering Town. His foot caught on the shoulder of an opponent and Powell fell and broke his arm. One of the men who went to his aid fainted at the sight of the protruding bone. Infection set in and, despite amputation above the elbow, Powell died a few days later when just twenty-six years of age.

Harry Bradshaw became the manager of Arsenal in 1901. One of his first signings was Jimmy Ashcroft from Gravesend United. He played in every game in the 1901-02 season and helped the club to their then highest ever league position (fourth in Division 2 of the Football League). As Jeff Harris points out in Arsenal Who's Who, Ashcroft let in "only twenty six goals in thirty four games of which he kept seventeen clean sheets which included a run of six games without conceding a goal (which still remains a club record)."

Bradshaw also purchased Roderick McEachrane and William Linward from West Ham United. Other players signed by the club during this period included Tommy Briercliffe, Tommy Shanks, Tim Coleman and Percy Sands.

Arsenal gradually built up a local following and over 25,000 people turned up to the Plumstead ground to play Sheffield United in the first round of the FA Cup.

In the 1903-04 season Jimmy Ashcroft conceded only 22 goals in 34 games. This included 20 clean sheets and he played a vital role in helping his club win promotion to the First Division. Tommy Shanks was the club's leading scorer with 25 league goals. This included hat-tricks against Leicester City, Lincoln City, Burnley and four in a game against Grimsby Town. Tim Coleman also scored 23 in 28 games.

In April 1904 Arsenal bought Charlie Satterthwaite from their London rivals, West Ham United. They also signed Bobby Templeton from Newcastle United for £375 in December 1904 to help them cope with First Division football. Arsenal did reasonably well at the top level finishing in 10th place (1904-05). Satterthwaite was top scorer with 11 goals in 30 games.

According to William Pickford, the journalist, Bobby Templeton played the best football of his career for Arsenal. In his book, Association Football and the Men Who Made It (1905) he wrote: "Templeton is afflicted with a large measure of the eccentricity of genius. He is a man of moods. When the afflatus is upon him he is a winged horse to whom a spur is useless, and whom a curb cannot hold. It is then that the watching multitude is aflame with mingled surprise and admiration - surprise at the wondrous versatility of the man, admiration at the grace and beauty of his movements."

Arsenal finished in 12th place in the 1905-06 season. The club also had a good FA Cup run that season beating Watford (3-0), Sunderland (5-0), Manchester United (3-2) before losing to Newcastle United 2-0 in the semi-final with Jimmy Howie and Colin Veitch getting the goals.

 

[irsaffy]

The Liverpool goalkeeper punches out a shot against Arsenal on 6th October 1906.

Arsenal finished in 7th place in the 1906-07 season. Charlie Satterthwaite was top scorer with 17 goals. Once again they had a good cup run beating Bristol City (2-1), Bristol Rovers (1-0) and Barnsley (2-1) before losing to Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 in the semi-final.

During this period Arsenal had a very impressive forward line that included Bert Freeman, Charlie Satterthwaite, Tim Coleman, Bobby Templeton and Billy Garbutt. The defence was also very good with players such as Jimmy Ashcroft, Andy Ducat, Roderick McEachrane, Jimmy Sharp and Percy Sands in the team. However, Arsenal encountered serious financial problems at this time and within 12 months the club sold Freeman, Coleman, Sharp, Ashcroft and Garbutt. Ducat and Templeton followed soon afterwards.

In April 1908 Bert Freeman was allowed to join Everton. Tony Matthews argues in Arsenal Who's Who that this was "one of the great transfer blunders of those early years." In his first season with his new club he scored 38 goals which made him the league's top scorer. Freeman scored an amazing 61 goals in 86 games for Everton.

 

[irsaffy]

Tom Whittaker playing for Arsenal in 1922

The chief cause of this decline was the club's ongoing financial problems; despite the boom in football during the early 20th century, the club's geographic isolation, in the relatively underpopulated area of Plumstead (then on the outskirts of urban London), meant attendances and thus income were low. [9] To stay afloat, Woolwich Arsenal were forced to sell their star players (including Ashcroft, as well as Tim Coleman and Bert Freeman), and slowly started to slip down the table, which compounded their financial situation as crowds fell. By the end of the decade the average attendance at Manor Ground was 11,000, a little over half of what it was in 1904. [10] The club were close to bankruptcy, and in 1910 went into voluntary liquidation before being bought out by a consortium of businessmen; the largest shareholder amongst the new owners was property magnate Sir Henry Norris, who was also chairman of Fulham. [11]

Move to Highbury (1910-25)

Norris was acutely aware of the problems associated with Woolwich Arsenal's location, and was desperate to improve the club's income. First, Norris tried to merge Woolwich Arsenal with his other club, Fulham. When that was blocked by the Football League, Norris abandoned the merger and looked to move the club elsewhere, eventually picking a site in Highbury, north London. Despite objections both from Woolwich-based fans and residents of Highbury, [12] Norris tenaciously saw the move through. He reportedly spent £125,000 [13] (approximately £8.2m in 2005 prices [14] ) on building the new stadium, designed by Archibald Leitch, on a divinity college's playing fields. Woolwich Arsenal moved there in the 1913 close season, having finished bottom and relegated back to the Second Division in 1912-13. [8] They dropped the "Woolwich" from their name in April 1914, and although they were officially plain "Arsenal", the press at the time often referred to them as "The Arsenal" at first. [13]

 

[irsaffy]

The Arsenal team in the 1932-33 season. Front (left to right): Tom Parker, Charlie Jones,
Frank Moss, Herbie Roberts, Bob John and Tommy Black. Seated: Herbert Chapman,
Joe Hulme, David Jack, Jack Lambert, Alex James, Cliff Bastin and Tom Whittaker.

The Chapman era (1925-34)

The move to Highbury brought about much larger crowds; the average attendance in Arsenal's first season at Highbury was 23,000 (compared to 11,000 at the Manor Ground) and rose further after promotion in 1919, finally warding off the spectre of financial ruin. [21] However, Arsenal's return to the First Division was not immediately successful. Under Leslie Knighton, the club never finished better than ninth, and in 1923-24 came close to returning to the Second Division, finishing 19th and only a point clear of the relegation zone. [22] Arsenal did no better the following season, finishing 20th (although paradoxically the club were a lot safer this time, being seven points clear of the relegation places), which was the last straw for Norris; he fired Knighton in May 1925, [23] and appointed the Huddersfield Town manager, Herbert Chapman in his place.

 

[irsaffy]

Tom Whittaker, Alex James and Herbert Chapman watching the 1932 Cup Final.

 

[irsaffy]

Arsenal win their first major trophy

Arsenal win their first major trophy

Three years after the pain of losing the 1927 FA Cup Final to Cardiff, Herbert Chapman took Arsenal back to Wembley and make amends, bringing the Club its first major trophy. As far as Arsenal's success story is concerned, this is where it all began.

Ironically the opposition were Huddersfield Town, the club Chapman left to join Arsenal in 1925. He had guided Huddersfield to a hat-trick of league titles in the 1920s and the Yorkshire side bore all the hallmarks of Chapman's tactical innovations, lining up in a W-M formation with wing-halves and inside-forwards.

Arsenal did likewise but, with Chapman now at their helm, they did it better.

For the first time before a major game the two teams came out side by side, Tom Wilson leading Huddersfield and Tom Parker leading Arsenal. The former knew all about winning trophies; the latter captained a side which had never tasted glory and had survived a number of close shaves en route to the Final.

But 1930, and more specifically Saturday, April 26, was when Arsenal began their transformation from also-rans to the richest and most successful club in the world.

In the commentary box that day for only the fifth live broadcast of a football match was the future Arsenal manager George Allison, while King George V was introduced to the players in front of a crowd of 92,488 at Wembley after recovering from illness.

Arsenal's rigid defence shackled Huddersfield early on and a piece of smart thinking from Alex James gave Chapman's team the lead in the 17th minute. James found Cliff Bastin on the left with a quickly-taken free-kick, Bastin drew his marker and slipped a return pass to James, who found the corner of the net.

The Graf Zeppelin, Germany's giant airship, loomed over the stadium later in the first half. Back on the pitch, Huddersfield camped in the Arsenal half in search of an equaliser but Charlie Preedy's goal led a charmed life. Somehow the favourites were kept at bay.

Then, with seven minutes left, a long clearance from James found Jack Lambert in the centre circle. He skipped past two defenders and ran half the length of the field to beat the Huddersfield keeper, Turner. The FA Cup was Arsenal's, a triumph which would pave the way for many more to come.

When Chapman arrived at Highbury in May 1925 he said it would take five years to build a winning team. He was as good as his word.

 

[baim]

saper sini btol btol minat arsenal dr kecik lagi??
aku minat start masa kat tv3 epl tunjuk..
masa tu poser poser lagi,btol btol igt wenger masa baca kat berita harian, manager dr jepun jd manager arsenal..
time tu tgk bola kat tv indon + Singapore + tv3.. tapi tv3 memang bias kat m.u..
memang igt la zaman zaman, wright,winterbun,dixon,platt,wreh..yang aku paling igt grimandi..skrng dgr dah jadi scout arsenal..

 

[MrKacanG]

aku start minat zaman 90`an tu pun retro gak ka :-?

 

[irsaffy]

betul2 aku pun minat arsenal start zaman 90'an gak..xpe nnt kita update satu persatu by decade..jgn risau..

p/s: thread ni sekadar utk mengisi masa lapang dihari minggu..

 

[haudli]

kita layan imbau sket..yeah..