Arsenal’s Ground’s
(From 1887 to present))
I thought it would interesting to go back to our roots and take a look at the various grounds that we have played on from our inception in 1887 to the present day.
Let’s start with our very first games which were played on Plumstead Common –
Plumbstead Common
From January 8th, 1887 to June 30th, 1887
(No League games were played)
The Royal Artillery exercised their horses on the common which left the playing surface badly rutted and almost unplayable. The changing rooms were located in several local Pubs and the teams goal posts were stored in a neighbouring back garden and had to be erected for every game. They only played 5 games on the common before looking for another location.
Sportman’s Ground
From September 30th, 1887 to February 12th, 1888
(No League games were played)
The Sportman’s ground was located close to Manor Field and was previously a pig farm. The ground was also located on the edges of Plumstead Marshes and was constantly water logged. Arsenal was beginning to attract hundred if not thousands of fans and that created a problem due to the soggy grounds and inadequate facilities.
Manor Field
From August 1st, 1888 to June 30th, 1889
(No League games were played)
This was another ground that did not fit the team’s needs, they used the Railway Tavern as a dressing room and they borrowed wagons, to create elevation, for the fans to stand on. It became obvious that they had to move when an estimated 10,000 fans turned up for the London Charity Cup final.
Invicta Ground
From September 1st, 1890 to May 31st, 1893
(No League games were played)
This ground was perhaps the best in Southern England as it had a grandstand and a half decent pitch. Although they were shunned by other Southern clubs they went ahead and applied for membership in the league and their application proved to be successful.
In 1891 Arsenal became the first Southern club to turn professional. When the landlord of the Invicta Ground decided to increase the rent Arsenal took the opportunity to move on and they made the decision to purchase Manor Field. Their final game at Invicta was a 0-1 loss to Stoke City on April 29th, 1893.
Manor Field
From August 1st, 1893 to April 27th, 1913
(343 League games were played)
10, 000 fans were in attendance at the first game played here; it was against Newcastle United on September 2nd, 1893 and ended in a 2-2 draw. Their highest attendance was 32,850 against Aston Villa on October 8th, 1904. Their biggest win at Manor Field (which was also their highest all time league victory) was 12-0 against Loughborough on March 12th, 1900; it was also proved to be their lowest crowd when only 600 fans showed up.
In 1893 the club now known as Woolwich Arsenal FC was elected into the Football League Division 2. Due to a crowd disturbance against Burton Wanderers the ground at Manor Field was closed for 5 games; during this period Arsenal played 1 game at Priestfield Stadium and 1 game at Lyttleton Ground.
Sir Henry Norris purchased a plot of land 10 miles away in Islington and Arsenal started to build Highbury Stadium.
Highbury
From September 6th, 1913 to May 7th, 2006
(1,691 League games were played)
The first match at Highbury was 2-1 victory against Leicester Fosse and was watched by a crowd of 20,000. The final match against Wigan Athletic resulted in a 4-2 win and 38,359 people were in attendance.
The highest attendance at Highbury was when 73,295 watched a 0-0 draw against Sunderland on March 9th, 1935. The lowest attendance was when only 4,554 watched Arsenal lose 0-3 to Leeds United on May 5th, 1966.
The biggest home win was a 9-1 victory against Grimsby Town before 15,751 people on January 28th, 1931. The biggest defeat was a 2-6 loss watched by 30,000 against Sheffield United on March 26th, 1921.
Emirates Stadium
From August 19th, 2006 to post GunnerN5
( League games played TBD )
The move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium enabled the club to increase the capacity from 38,419 attendees at Highbury to 60,432 at the Emirates. The increased revenue was needed to allow Arsenal to become more competitive in the transfer market.
The first league goal at the Emirates Stadium was scored by Olof Mellburg of Aston Villa the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Emirates story is in progress and will not be completed for many more seasons.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Compliments of Arsenal.com here are some famous home and away Firsts…
First competitive match (as Woolwich Arsenal):
v Newcastle Utd (h) – Manor Ground Plumstead 2 Sept 1893 – League (Second Divison) Drew 2-2 (W Shaw, A Elliott)
First competitive match at Highbury (as Woolwich Arsenal):
v Leicester Fosse 6 Sept 1913 – League (Second Division) Won 2-1 (Jobey, Devine pen)
First competitive match as Arsenal:
v Bristol City (h) 4 April 1914 – League drew 1-1 (Winship)
First league match at ‘home’:
v Newcastle Utd (h) – Manor Ground Plumstead 2 Sept 1893 – League (Second Divison) Drew 2-2 (W Shaw, A Elliott)
First league match away:
v Notts County (a) 9 Sept 1893 Lost 2-3 (A Elliott, W Shaw)
First Premier League match:
v Norwich City (h)15 Aug 1992 Lost 2-4 (Bould, Campbell)
First FA Cup match (Played at Manor Ground, Plumstead):
v Ashford United (h) 14 Oct 1893 – FA Cup (1)) Won 12-0 (Elliott 3, Henderson 3, Booth 2, Heath 2, Crawford, Powell)
First League Cup match:
v Gillingham (h) 13 Sept 1966 (Round 2) drew 1-1 (Baldwin)
First home match in European competition:
v Staevnet (Denmark) 22 Oct 1963 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Lost 2-3 (Skirton, Barnwell)
First away match in European competition:
v Staevnet (Denmark) 25 Sept 1963 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Won 7-1 (Strong 3, Baker 3, MacLeod)
First match in UEFA Champions League:
v RC Lens (a) 16 Sept 1998 Drew 1-1 (Overmars)
First match in Charity/Community Shield:
v Sheff Wed at Stamford Bridge. Oct 8 1931, Won 2-1 (Joe Hulme, David Jack)
First match at Emirates Stadium:
v Ajax (Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial) 22 July 2006. Arsenal 2 (Henry 55, Kanu 80) Ajax 1 (Huntelaar 37)
First competitive match at Emirates Stadium:
v Aston Villa 19 August 2006. Arsenal 1 (Gilberto 83) Aston Villa (Mellberg 54)
First player to be sent off at Emirates Stadium:
Ivan Campo (Bolton) (2 yellows) 14 April 2007 (Lge) (won 2-1)
First Arsenal player to be sent off at Emirates Stadium:
Philippe Senderos (v Portsmouth (Lge) 2 Sept 2007 won 3-1)
(Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source 8 Jul 2008)
GunnerN5
Arsenal News 24/7
GN5
Wow, what an original and brilliant idea for a post. Superb read.
I don’t have time right now, but I’d love to piece together our names before you mention Woolwich Arsenal at the Manor Field in 1893.
ie which grounds were Dial Square and Royal Arsenal.
Fantastic. Thanks very much.
I repeat “When will the leather bound edition be available?”
Re Plumbstead Common and “The changing rooms were located in several local Pubs”
Thank heavens Chas and Ant weren’t playing for us or it would have been a nine man team 🙂
micky – nonsence darling. Tony Adams played at his best when completely off his head 🙂
GN5 – well done, great piece of history. I am tempted to check some smaller London clubs (chavs, spuds) if they have history as formidable as ours
Brilliant work GN5, that’s a fabulous read.
So if we turned professional in 1891, presumably our players had other jobs previously … and yet we were playing teams like Stoke and Newcastle. How did the players get to and from those away games I wonder … and how long did the journey take? I assume they went by train, but still had to get from the station to the grounds. It must have taken an astonishing level of commitment compared to today’s mollycoddled players.
Eddie Darling 🙂
I was at Highbury the day Tony missed a ball by about two feet, recording the worst ever miss hit in the history of football.
He got better when he sobered up
NG5 – Manor Field had a large open sewer running through it – something Spuds love reminding us about
First match at Emirates Stadium:
v Ajax (Dennis Bergkamp Testimonial) 22 July 2006. Arsenal 2 (Henry 55, Kanu 80) Ajax 1 (Huntelaar 37)
Kanuuuuuuuuu
Sorry, just had to say that. Childish? Sure
Good morning.
Arsenal has always been a part of my life and although much is etched into my memory banks I don’t think that I’ll ever tire of researching our history.
My maternal grandfather went to the first game at Highbury in 1913, he was a wonderful character and was chock full of Arsenal stories, he was the local milkman and he seemed to know everything that went on in and around Highbury. In retrospect I wish I had paid more attention to him as once he’d had a few pints up at the Drayton Park the stories became even more colourful.
Oops – he was the local coalman not milkman – so much for memory?
Eddie are you watching Radwanska in the ladies semi final? She seems to be making a comeback in the second set.
GN5 – a local coalman? In central London?
My grandmother lived through both wars and loved telling stories. Nobody wanted to listen until it was too late – towards the end she started telling stories how I, Eddie was fighting the Germans 🙂
Nope, not watching Radwanska. Had a horrendous trip back from Poland on Wednesday and hate everything that is Polish
Eddie Islington was a leafy suburb then 🙂
Wonderful stuff GN5, when did we stop becoming a “works” team? Ie employed/used players who weren’t from the weapons factory?
Really interesting piece on BBC about a reporter who went to do a pre season session with Colchester United……worth a read as an indication of the lengths of endurance a modern player is pushed to, especially considering we are talking about lower league players on first day back from their holidays. Makes you wonder what our players have to do to get to the top of the PL pile?
Eddie, When I was a kid in Highbury we had gas lights (or candles) and coal was used for heating and cooking. Both of my grandfathers delivered coal by horse and cart, one delivered in N5 the other in the N7 area, they were both big strong men.
Reblogged this on Welcome To Motivatus.
You really are good at this stuff, GN5 and I`m thinking of having you do a similar historical blockbuster about me !….something along the lines of….The History of Cockies Conquests (shags) through the ages !…………how long do you reckon you will live as it will be a long research job !. hahaha
Got the doggy clippers out and have given myself one of those Rambo, Giroud type hair cuts !…..my daughter who works for some big hair product company said it looks very stylish and offered me some wax/gel products to keep it nice and stiff……Oi !, keep your traps shut bastards !….., but I declined as a bit of spit and sweat seem to do the same job !….it`s the animal attraction stuff ladies !….dont fight it !. hahaha
GN5,
Well it is no surprise that you have produced yet another wonderfully readable potted history of Arsenal and their grounds.
Loved it. 🙂
CockerDoodle,
You mention your experiences of shags – and that is fair enough – but I believe a shag is a goose sized cormorant type of water bird, and of course it is each to his own – but Eddie will probably report you to the RSPB. 🙂
Flippin excellent, GN5, ta.
Chas
Fabulous three images
Poems by AC? are sensational although hard to read the first
In the first he says “We’re The Cracks of London Town”
Any ideas on Cracks?
Ah ha, so we were Royal Arsenal while at Invicta
I’ll go look up Dial Square
Dial Square played their first match on 11 December 1886 against Eastern Wanderers on an open field on the Isle of Dogs, which they won 6–0.[3] The club were renamed Royal Arsenal soon after, reportedly on Christmas Day.[2]
1888 Arsenal Squad photo
Damn fine tashes 🙂
GN5
So we played our first ever game on The Isle of Dogs
Can’t find the name of the pitch
All matches that Dial Square / Royal Arsenal played during the 1886–87 season were friendlies. Significant matches were:
11 Dec 1886 v Eastern Wanderers (A) – the club’s first ever game
8 Jan 1887 v Erith (H) – the club’s first home game
5 Feb 1887 v Millwall Rovers (A) – the club’s first game under the name Royal Arsenal
http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/1459/comment-page-1#comment-16599
The above comment inline
Mick Lemmerman
2 February 2013 at 10:34 am
There is speculation about the pitch on the Isle of Dogs for the Dec 1886 match against Eastern Wanderers. There are doubts on this page if there was a suitable pitch at all. I’d like to quell those doubts.
Most are agreed that the match was played on Glengall Rd (now Tiller Rd), close to its junction with West Ferry Rd in the west of the Island. It is often described as a scrap of wasteland. However, this was certainly the location of a usable pitch, for it had been used throughout the preceding 12 months by Millwall Rovers. In Dec 1886 they had just vacated it, moving to their second ground behind the Lord Nelson pub, further round the Island. It was not unusual for pubs to be the main sponsors of clubs at the time: for the pub landlords it meant more public (ie income), and for the clubs it meant funding for kit and equipment (remember, these were all hard-to-do factory workers). It was equally not unusual for clubs to move frequently if they got a better offer from another pub. Do not underestimate the signifance of pubs in the early days of organised football.
With regards to how the team travelled to the Isle of Dogs, the shortest and most direct route would have been the Steam Ferry from Brunswick Wharf in North Greenwich (site of Blackwall Tunnel approach road, where the power station used to be) to Cubitt Town (Pier St), and then along Glengall Rd across Millwall Docks. This route is almost in a straight line, and served then by buses on both sides of the river.
Regards
Mick, Arsenal supporter, amateur historian with specific interest in the Isle of Dogs (where I grew up)
ps This website has a nice map showing the location of the pitch (warning to the sensitive, this is a site about the history of Millwall FC): http://www.millwall-history.org.uk/origins.htm
This paragraph is from Wikipedia under Club History:
“The club was formed in 1882, as Hotspur F.C., and played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when it was elected into the Football League Second Division. Before this promotion Tottenham had won the FA Cup in 1901, making it the only non-League club to (or likely to) do so since the formation of the Football League.
Since then, Tottenham have won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the Football League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and also the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1963 made Tottenham the first English team to win a UEFA competition. In 1960–61 it became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century”
Not much, init 🙂 🙂
5:49
That’s better 🙂
Great read Chas. Co, Eddie will be delighted we played our first ever game on The Isle of Dogs.
Woof Woof
A “French” soldier? ROLF
Shitballs. Still have this virus thing on my laptop. Bubbles appear like a kind of warning, then screen goes mad with odd sites, files, opening and closing like a strobe.
Gone again for the moment. Useless bloody Norton!!
Hey Chas
The World Surf is live in South Africa at the moment
Check out this vid of Owen Wright practicing in Aus. On about 20 secs you see two dolphin swimming right next to them
http://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/128346/owen-wright-training-video
Micky might be malware rather than virus and may have come with free software:
http://malwaretips.com/blogs/bubble-dock-virus-removal/
Or
http://botcrawl.com/3d-bubble-sound-virus-removal/
The only virus I found reference too about bubbles was back in 1999
Top man Exile
This will probably end in tears, but I’ll go and start pushing some buttons
How’s the Cornwall business plan coming along? 🙂
Clicked both, and it’s not them. I don’t get pop up ads or sound 😦
Oh bugger.
It’s not a poncey touch screen Sony Vaio is it.
Cornwall business plan on hold.
While kids are pre school we figure Grandparents can get most enjoyment from them and plenty of time to spend with them during the week.
Last thing we want is to deprive our parents of time with the grandkids and vice versa.
When they start school and organised activities time they could spend will get less, and therefore at that point we will consider in the mean time we plan to have a couple of trips down west at less sunny times of year, then we can decide whether it still holds the same charm out of season.
I guess like Norfolk off season is the time the locals come out to play.
I worked on the Isle of Dogs for many years and loved it. Didn’t see one dog or bitch on four legs there
Try SpyBot – I use it once a month and it seems to clear shite. It is free and user friendly
https://www.safer-networking.org/mirrors16/
Szczesny is getting married
IMPORTANT!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT
We have signed the global leader for integrated performance training, nutrition, and physical therapy from Germany. Paddy Barry Solan is the best physio guru in the world!
No more injuries 🙂 🙂
Exile
Totally get the family thing. The little fishing village places are dead in winter, which is why if I lived in Cornwall. it would be within 20 miles of Truro.
ps yes, poncey laptop. How did you guess? 🙂
Eddie
Off to try Spybot. Thanks
There was a thread on another forum about Somy Vaio bubbles:
http://community.sony.com/t5/VAIO-Hardware-Networking/Why-is-my-touchscreen-flashing-white-bubbles-and-making-my/td-p/57507
GiE – don’t do it. Family is more important than location. Your children need their grandparents more than the grandparents need them. My grandma was the most important person in my life and I am no exception. Don’t split the family
This is fantastic GN5. I had heard of Plumstead Commons as out first ground in the south of England, and of Manor Field as where we moved from into Highbury. But the Sportsman’s Grounds and the Invicta field. Pieces of our history that would be lost, or at least generally forgotten. Thanks for this effort. Superb.
Also love the stories associated with the grounds. Railway wagons as crowd platforms. Marshy pitches and pub changing rooms. Also I laughed at the mental image of 600 cap wearing mustachioed men watching Arsenal win 12-0 and sneering about all the prawn sandwich eating plastics who didn’t turn up 🙂
Eddie
‘Didn’t see one dog or bitch on four legs there’
😀
Invicta Ground is a great name. Arsenal should have a restaurant/pub/stand in the stadium called that.
Here’s another piece of our history I didn’t know about (See Eddie, I don’t know lots of things)
The birth of Gunnersaurus Rex.
https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/article/gunnersaurus-explained-the-guy-who-dreamt-up-arsenals-mascot
Hey Micky !…………20 miles north or south of Truro and you`ll be living in a boat or drown……unless you get someone to Pimp your surfboard !. D:
Went to Helford (Wednesday a week ago) and had a meal in the Shipwrights Arms, will need to win lottery to move there for the kind of house I would want.
Advice !…….unless you`re going to want to drive all around the Lizard etc`, then park at Helford Passage an d get the passenger ferry across to Helford and save a long drive around !….also, there`s 2 great gardens near the passage…Trebah and Glendurgen !.
As for quite, It was a blazing hot day at Helford and hardly a tourist in sight……a bit out of the way for some, but worth it .
Good morning ladies
Shard… I hope the designer of Gunnersaurus didn’t read my blog, GunnerSoreArse ha ha
Have we bought anyone yet… apart from a keeper called Petra!
Simple solution GIE !…..take Grandparents with you, that`s what I did !…..I thought it wasn`t fair to take my kids away from them after living within a stones throw of them for 14 years, so I made sure we could find an annexe for GP`s, but that`s one of my hidden traits…..a caring person !. hahaha
Hey `69er……not one mention of a transfer rumour on BBC`s Gossip column about us !….never known it before !……£60M + striker in or Wenger Out !.
nb
That’s a clever ‘plug’ for your blog.
And speaking of GunnerSoreArse…. the son of a friend of mine has managed to get me connected again through another network… free of course! So am finking maybe start up the blog again? Perfectly timed for pre-season maybe!
Teenagers these days are computer bloody geniuses… the little fucker even showed me how easy it is to hack into my bank account with just a few personal details about me… fuck, it was easy!
Hello Cockie…. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your recent double act with the Transplant man…. classic ha ha.
So the Wimbledon womens final is going to be a boring affair… I’d rather of had Maria and Radwanska in the final, much prettier and I just love Radwanska’s name.
oh and GN5… some great historical posts, thanks mate.
View from Shipwrights .
Sober walk to it !
Helford Passage, across from Helford….probably classed as Northern Bastards !. hahaha
shard 🙂 if you don’t know it yet it is only a matter of time before you find out 🙂
Cockie – is that Cornwall? Awsome
nb – we have made a HUGE signing – Barry Solan, We will no longer have injuries!!! The league is ours this season
ha ha Yvonne… what will he do, wrap the players up in cotton wool 🙂
feck knows, but he was instrumental in Germany’s winning the world cup last year. He is a Paddy, perhaps he puts them on a Guiness diet 🙂
Is Chas man the Utter Tool?
Did JC enjoy his birthday Chas?
Luck of the Irish then b jezus!
Jacko is probably already on a Guiness diet ha ha.
Cornwall is lovely… and I mean the place and not the ugly one 🙂
It’s a slow day… I’ll pop back later 🙂
no nb, every day is slow. We need to lose a few games or the blog will die 😦
Quite right Eddie
A good loss or two. Some drip or other crapping on about “taking positives”, bit of Wenger outing, followed by some quality in-fighting 🙂
I think we should take the positives out of this pleasant lull in proceedings.
NB
By all accounts, JC was mightily impressed with his cards from around the country and the globe. 🙂
Getting a bit cultural ain’t ya Chas… posting a William Blake, isn’t it got something to do with the Devil?
I had no idea of the artist NB,it just appeared on twatter and I liked it.
“Pubic hair is lovely and fluffy” 🙂
There`s a rumor that Arsene has personally phoned Benzema about joining Arsenal !……I normally take these rumors with a pinch of salt….but !….my mates a native American and his sister works at Arsenal`s high tech communications department and she`s not the type to talk with a fork tongue and even did a selfie to prove she was listening in !.
Her name is Peace Treaty Pale Face and I was found in an uncompromising doggy position once ( or as the Native Americans call it….”the Wolf that sneaks silently by the moonlight gets plenty of pussy !” ) by her father in the bedroom and he shouted in an angry voice……..”What have you been doing ?” …………..I panicked and not wanting to fight nervously replied…….I`ve come in Peace !.
Boss – Theo and Jack can have big impact
Arsène Wenger expects the likes of Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere to have a big impact next season.
The Arsenal duo both missed long periods of the 2014/15 campaign, but made significant contributions upon their return as the Gunners won the FA Cup.
“The best way to strengthen other areas of the team is to get the players who did not play a lot last year and keep them fit,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.
“Walcott basically did not play until the end of the season, Wilshere has not played many games. Those two were very convincing at the end of the season so I hope that this season we can benefit from their participation and competitiveness.
“We lost Ozil and Giroud for long periods last year and they contributed a lot in the second part of the season. Let’s hope all these players will be fit and available.
“After, if we can still add some quality, we will do it.”
Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source
Bloody glad we surfed on Thursday.
Beginning to see the attraction of all weather sports, like darts 🙄
My God Henderson likes like a , errr, hairdresser?
Have times really changed that much, I mean, I just don’t know women who find vain men attractive.
And this morning Andy Murray is a Jock 🙂
Useless Scottish twat
Nothing on Newsnow apart from Mesut to Juve for 40M
Oh, and in real news bulletins on the right they had this. My God the world can be an awful place
” One Direction star Harry Styles has fallen over on stage”
Doesn’t Hendo go to Ian’s Hair?
UT
Positives are ….. 🙂
Ha ha ha, love to see Ian’s face if you walked in with a pic of an Ollie, Hendo or Aaron and said
“Oi Ian, make me look like a poof and I’ll up the total to a tenner”
He WOULD hit you 🙂
Maybe we should all add a review?
http://www.ukhairdressers.com/Hair%20Salons.asp?tel=0180%20562%203666
What you see is what you get………….
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/ians-torrington
ha ha
I went straight for “mature male celebrity hairstyles” page
Does Ian do a shampoo and blow dry?
You really are the googlemeister
Ian wouldn’t, but he now has “assistants” who have hand basins in front of them, so I assume so.
Now I read on your link they do ear piercing for men, which I find really hard to believe
I like the “Place details” on this link. 🙂
Parking: Unknown, Disabled access: Unknown, Credit cards: Unknown, Delivery: Unknown
Bugger that the parking is “unknown”
http://www.bigreddirectory.com/ians-torrington
William Blake
Read a book about him
Not right
Maybe the ear piercing is unintentional?
Perhaps you could ask him for a Prince Albert?
Wow that’s spooky. The Peter Ackroyd book “Blake” is right next to me, and it was a couple of years since I saw the bloody thing
http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Cow-rescued-getting-stuck-slurry-pit-near/story-26850360-detail/story.html
Ian is a “traditionalist”
Like the London Cabbies. They take one look at you, and if they decide that you don’t look like a leftie, off they go on their bloody foreigners rant.
That book was on our bookshelves when I was with my ex and I never read it – what a pleb I am.
Fantastic article 🙂
It’s a nightmare living here with the endless stream of stuck cows and so on 🙂
BR could go in for a wax and a polish dressed in his druid’s robes.
I wonder what Ian’s reaction would be?
Right, off for a swim. Back on mobile in 15 minutes when I get off my bike.
Don’t read it. Go outside. Much better idea
Yeah, talking of swimming, we have a really beautiful river a mile from us, and we’re off later to find pools we can swim in over the summer
Right. Later it is.
I have a fantastic hairdresser in Warsaw – Iggy, he is everything a hairdresser should be – young, good looking, gay, chatty, brilliant with scissors. He makes my mum look 10 years younger and I supposedly look like one of the Beatle boys 🙂
No footy news?
No, nothing Eddie
Utd have signed a dutch international winger, german international midfielder and a zillion pound FB
City Sterling, a zillion pound midfielder
Chavs Falcao to play alongside Costa
While we’ve signed a goal keeper with a broken head
Schweinsteiger to Man U. I might be wrong but isn’t he looking a bit old and slow these days. He’s only 30, but if he’s in decline playing in the Bundesliga, then how’s he going to get on in the Premier League?
Loads of experience though.
Can’t see much happening whilst we are in Singapore. I think Wenger will be waiting until the end of the TW now to see if he can get any bargains, or take advantage of other transfers going through.
You Bastards !………..I now have to change my poofy Giroud hairstyle in case I`m fondled by the farmers instead of their wives !. 👿
Second day in a row on BBC gossip column with no incoming transfer rumor !………………I`m starting to panic !, I`d now settle for just a £ 50M striker !……………..Wenger out !.
nothing?
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants to get his squad fully fit before he considers “quality” additions. (London Evening Standard)
Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina is open to a move to Everton. The Colombian 26-year-old has described the Toffees as “a very competitive team” and “a great possibility”. Daily Express
AND THIS:
New Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech posted a picture on Twitter of his first training session at Arsenal. The 33-year-old, who joined from Chelsea, wrote: “First training session done… let’s go.”
AND – British tourists had to be told to leave Tunisia as it is not safe there. My dear God
FGG
As Cockie rightly implies, it’s always better to sign a really expensive player than none at all 🙂
AND – British tourists with Giroud style hair cuts told to leave Torrington as it`s not safe there !.
Right !…off for a 4 mile run as the sweat is cheaper than some hair gel and will breath exhaustively with a deep voice to keep the gay farmers at bay !.
cockie – you is jealous. Giroud might be a crap striker, but he is a hunk with hair in all the right places
Eddie ha ha
Yes he is good looking, but make no mistake he is a complete ponce as well as a crap striker 🙂
Oooo good, at bloody last
Everyone here is finally up, fed and watered. Offski
I am not into pretty boys, but can appreciate beauty when I see it
Can’t remember the last time I went to the hairdresser/barber? probably about 1974, just off Upper Street….
I walked past a womans hairdressers the other day and there was a poster in the window advertising a ‘blond shag’… I nearly went in.
Giroud has nice clavicles that’s for sure…. one of the first things I look for in potential models to paint… along with nicely pronounced hip bones.
Hahaha Love that photo above, chas ………looks like a cat doing a selfie to show how crude and classless dogs can be and yes !….that`s the Giroud style cut I`ve given myself…..short on the sides and back with a poofy bit on top !.
The only reason 69er would go to a barbers now is to drink some of that alcoholic hair lotion they slap on !. hahaha
“Monsieur 69er, would you like some hair tonic on the back, sides and ears ?”
” Fcuk off !….just give me a straw to suck ! “
ah Cockie… now why would I need hair lotion? Durex sensitive gel is much better for my head these days 🙂
No wonder the French hate us……we get Giroud and they get `69er !……England ends up with poofy hair style mania and France is running out of wine !.
🙂
Talking of “Johnnies”, `69er. If you shagged 5 French art models in a day using fruit flavoured condoms !…..would that count as their 5 a day fruit and veg recommended requirement ?.
5 fruit flavoured would only count for their 5 fruits… I’d then need 5 vegetable flavoured to make up the deficit…. but then again, I don’t use le Capot Anglais, I prefer to give Creme Anglaise pure and unadulterated to my models. ha ha
Right !….off to get ready for the village fete !…..it starts at 2:30pm, but I need 2 hours to poof up my hair !.
If Eddie was here, I`d probably get crowned the village hunk !…….or…….wearing the new in fashion accessories of cheekbone knuckledusters !
Peaches will intervene soon……
Oi Chas…. now you’re into Francis Bacon. What’s going on with you? William Blake was barmy as a fruit cake and Bacon was as gay as Freddie Mercury. Some deep lying psychological problems in your choice of artwork heh?
Not that I’m saying being gay is a psychological problem… just Chas with his choices!
This one specially chosen for you, NB. 🙂
If you really want to check out an artist with serious psychological problems, just look at Dali. He painted a picture of his sister being auto-sodomized as a virgin…. that is sick!
Nice walnuts chas 🙂 or is it testicles as a brain?
ah well, all alone again on AA… chas has run away, Cockie has gone to a party with his Giroud haircut and I’m left looking at weird art on the internet…. laters!
G’day all, not much going on today so here’s a short story…
I saw the old fellow sitting hunched against the wind on a bench in Finsbury Park. He wore a long brown raincoat with a red and white knitted scarf knotted snugly against his scrawny neck, a well worn and faded Arsenal base ball cap, pulled down to protect his balding skull, left only a few stray grey hairs protruding from around the edges.
His faded blue eyes gazed vacantly in the direction of the magnificent Emirates Arena, the weathered and wrinkled skin of his face bore testament to the years spent on the old open terraces of the long gone Highbury Stadium watching, sometimes with joy sometimes with despair but always with hope, his beloved Arsenal.
His fists suddenly clenched convulsively he half rose from his seat, his right arm raising before slumping back on the bench, a single tear appeared in his eye as he relived a missed scoring chance in some long gone, long forgotten First Division game. He shivered as the February wind gusted around him and he stuffed his hands deep in his pockets.
I sat down beside him and said “it’s cold today” he jerked and stared around him as if waking from a dream, he looked blankly at me for a moment and then mentally shook himself and returned to the present, “Oh”, he said “I’ve known it colder and at least it’s dry”. I offered him the cup of coffee I’d just bought, he took it gratefully and sipped some of the hot liquid, a hint of colour crept into his pale face.
I asked what he was doing here on such a lousy day, “what else is there to do, I can’t sit about all day at home and there’s no football today”. “No mates” I asked. He gave a mournful sigh and replied “most of them have gone and those not dead are in some bloody care home or another”. “I got chucked out of one last week, me and an old Barney were having a right good laugh when the old dragon who runs the place told us to keep the noise down because we were disturbing the other clients”. “Disturbing this lot” I said, It would need a doodlebug dropping to wake some of them up”. “Well” she said “this facility is only open to my clients and you’re a disruptive influence so I must ask you to leave”.
He gave a shout of laughter which quickly changed to a fierce bout of coughing which left him gasping for breath, he took another sip of coffee and apologised “sorry about that” he croaked “the old bronicals are not what they used to be” he sighed.
He lapsed into silence and sipped his coffee. “How long have you been going to Arsenal matches?” I asked. “ About as long as I can remember” he said as a far away look came into his eyes. “My dad used to hide me under his mac and smuggle me in, must have been when I was about five I suppose” he said. “if there was a real crowd in I’d get passed overhead right down to the front. You were only a few feet away from the players boots. It was smashing”. His face lit up briefly at the memory but the smile quickly faded as he went on “Course the war put a stop to that, it put a stop to my dad too, he never came home from Dunkirk”.
In an effort to break the spell I asked “do you still go to matches?” “Well” he said “I still go to the ground and I wander around and watch the crowds enjoying themselves but I can’t afford a ticket and I’m too big to hide under anyone’s coat now” he shrugged resignedly. “so I go and sit in the pub and watch it on tele but it’s not the same somehow”.
It was starting to rain, the wind was getting stronger the old boy shivered. “Look” I said “meet me here at one o’clock next Saturday, I’ll have a spare ticket that you can have and we can watch the game together, how will that be?” His face lit up, a broad smile seemed to sweep away the wrinkles and the years with them. “Do you mean it? Really? He said. “Yes” I replied “I do mean it, we’ll go and watch Arsenal together” The rain was getting heavier, “alright I’ll meet you one o’clock next Saturday on this bench” he said as he got up and walked away in the rain, he looked back smiled brightly and waved, I gave him a thumbs up and turned away.
I got to the bench at a quarter to one, I waited till fifteen minutes to kick off, I watched the game with an empty seat beside me.
I`m no art critic, but surely chas`s @ 12:34pm means that`s where men`s brains are !….so was the sculptor a woman ?……or is it that anyone thinking that is what the meaning is…. has brains down there !……which about summons me up quite well !…….any way just popped back whilst the poofy bit on top is drying and I`ve managed to dig out some Foster Grant mirrored aviator sun glasses !….I like these at it will give the women at the village fete a chance to look their selves drooling over me !.
Need to have Kelsey come back and confirm (like he did last season) that we have about £200M to spend on a striker !. Kelsey goes into great detail on the lines that Gazidis said we had £70M to spend every year and we have only spent about £50m net over 2 years and still have this years £70M…plus all the new TV money !.
What we dont need is Transplant to come here and contradict Kelsey`s obvious more reasonable amounts of funds !…….Yes, I know Transplant is an accountant, but how can you trust someone who uses ring donuts on his Hampton as an abacus !…………..No chance of GIE doing the same !….he eats the donuts before he`s finished paying for them at the till in Tesco`s !…..I should add that that`s straight out of the packet….. not off his Hampton !.
If I was rich, I wouldn`t need a body like Giroud !.
It helps to pay for my beer says `69er !.
right, enough of the filth here
We are very close to signing Alexandre Lacazette. 31 goals in 38 appearances last season.
Is he going to cost over £50M ?……….No !……..then filth is more interesting !. 😆
As soon as I saw Cockie’s green bondage man image, I knew it was time for Arsene to get the cheque book out, and I think he needs to spend very big, very fast, because time is running very short
Arsene has a codpiece like that and it’s where he keeps the £200 million.
Talking of codpieces, I know the bloke who made this one……
8.05 is a brilliant video
Next
Not so good. Never mind, let’s go back to slagging off one of our own 🙂
Love it on here how you’ve got the different Ollie camps.
With other players, there is mild debate. We all love so-and-so, but should he be a first teamer, where should he play, should he score more and so on.
With Ollie, there are the above, and then the “he’s shit, and there is no debate whatsoever” 🙂 🙂
Thought we’d had a perfect day yesterday. Peddled to river, found pool for the summer, swam, saw swarms of dragonflies, came home.
Then found out we had been invited to go jumping off something high into the sea (was ok at this point), then the really bad news, there were 15 or so dolphins/porpoises down there
Bloody hate that
Arsenal are deciding whether to make a surprise move for £10m-rated Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, 27, who is also wanted by West Bromwich Albion. (Sunday Mirror)
Arsenal defender Calum Chambers has rejected an offer to spend next season on loan at his old club Southampton. The 20-year-old joined the Gunners from Saints in the summer of 2014. (Sun – subscription required)
and some humour from Cech
Goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed he will wear the number 33 shirt for Arsenal next season and has given his reasons for his choice. He tweeted: “Starting new chapter at 33 years of age with 333 games in the Premier League … That’s an easy choice.” The former Chelsea goalkeeper added: “Hope to be a part of the spine of the team – spine has 33 vertebrae.”
micky – you could have killed a dolphin!!! Whose crazy idea was that?
Eddie
I’m sure we could help Arsenal in the not very hard decision whether or not to sign Johnny Bloody Evans
I don’t want him, do you?
Relax Eddie
The fish were 20 yards away. Seen the vid
Have you heard of “incorruptible” saints.
Jeeez.
http://allday.com/post/4616-these-revered-saints-creepy-remains-are-on-display-for-anyone-to-see/
Whoa, slow down Tiger. Too much info, too fast
1. What’s with the creepy saints?
2. Cannot tell you how much I love that green eyed cat pic
Bloody hell, Chris Froome is leading Le Tour
Pretty sure that LB said years ago he was better than Wiggins
and a golfer from Mill Hill golf club leads the Scottish Open!!
and the Lionesses cannot take part in the next Olympics despite coming 3rd in the world cup
and you cannot believe anything LB says. He promised to eat his cashmere scarf and some underwear. Did he? Did he feck
I came on here yesterday and it really didn’t seem like a football blog at all 🙂
Hopefully today will bring some more football news.
Chas
I’d only ever seen the Korn version of Word Up. This was…..interesting.
Eddie. Keeping the football part of the blog alive on her own. Cech is apparently hilarious on twitter. Hard to believe a Chelsea player has any personality, but he did choose Arsenal ultimately so he can’t be all bad.
Do you know what these are called, P?
Chas… correct me if I’m wrong but they’re flowers?
Are we supposed to know anyone in 9:10 pic?
Nah, NB, they are the ecstatic manifestations of an artist’s crazed psyche.
Intelligent design – pffffft.
Shard – never heard of Korn. What different experiences we all have.
Flowers? Pea Family? Probably not too helpful
Micky… I’ve just sussud the 9.10… the geezer in the backgtound looks as if he’s a midget sitting on the birds back 🙂
No, Micky.
The pattern on the woman’s dress matches the guy at the back’s trousers so he looks like a casual mini jockey.
Not funny, I’ll stop now.
I have to go to church after looking at those “saints”.
Ha ha bang on NB. Cowboy style 🙂
I reckon the rumours surrounding Wenger signing Lacazette from Lyon are close to the mark, because then we’ll have La “Islington” gazette.
It’s a different kind of interesting chas. Korn are weirdos. Surprised you’ve never heard of them though.
Eddie, the reason the England Ladies can’t compete at the Olympics is that we enter as Great Britain. The Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish FAs wont agree to a GB team entering as they are afraid FIFA will take away their independant status.
Yeah Chas, get yerself to church sinner and get yerself some of that virgin mary
Shard – are you saying I’m a weirdo?
Haha chas. You ARE a weirdo, but that’s not what I was saying 🙂
photos of cute dogs – chas wants to bring me out of hiding
photos of flowers – chas wants to talk to the blog administrator
smut – the rest of you
oh well might as well go with how Eddie has labelled me..
Artistic smut 🙂
Eddie
Because I am such a big fan of gender equality bollocks, I’d like to point out the smut ratios from yesterdays blogging
Ollie 3
Pretty Ladies 1
Perv 1
Time for a glass of wine… chilled vin blanc to counter the heatwave here in Provence.
Chas
Let’s keep this really simple, but is it possible to put pictures onto here directly from my telephone without downloading to laptop, uploading to twitter then back to here?
@ NB
Dear God, here we go
For Christ’s sake Arsene get the cheque book out. Mere minutes remain 🙂
You can put photos on to twitter direct from your phone (if you download a twitter app), but copying the link to paste here from your phone might prove beyond your techno-dexterity.
The quickest way is to send me the photos. 🙂
Are you on Whats APP yet?
Nope, didn’t catch a word of that
I’ll ask my daughter
To post a photo here it must be on the internet somewhere.
Twitter is one way of putting a photo on t’internet.
The whatsapp bit was the quickest way to send me a photo direct from your phone.
Have we spent any of the £190M ( £200M minus Cheque for Cech ) on a striker yet ?.
If we spend £10M on Evans, I swear I`ll become a Spud !.
Chas that’s not always the case… I can post a photo directly from my camera on here… but I’d defo not send any to you and put myself in the frame for blackmail 🙂
One for Eddie…
Ok, off for a few hours, and if Peaches has not appeared to complain by the time I return, I will be very disappointed 🙂
nb – thanks, but no thanks. I would never be interested in a guy who is better looking than me. Hence Delap and Ramos 🙂
NB
How can you do that?
It would save us loads of time when Ant and Ducking.
Which one?
Chas… I upload to Google and then copy the URL… like this, just taken
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bCLjmQAi2-5-4rJUi6QtNauR7hqqeW-LJg4OlEnSBWs=w493-h657-no
Or like this
IMG_20150402_203408.jpg
ah that one didn’t work
Cheers, NB.
If you upload to Google, you are banging it on the internet. 🙂
Company for the tennis……………
Definitely an element of Chelsea about Djokovich.
Even when he plays well it isn’t interesting.
Everyone wants him to lose.
What`s that Ponce baby ?………Djokovich can park a bus !.
This should get Micky`s juices flowing to at least a trickle by a man apparently in the know !………..but who can it be ?.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/453376/Arsenal-transfer-news
Micky’s song
Cavani, woaaoo,
Cavani, woaaoo,
He comes from Uruguay,
A tear to my jap’s eye.
Cavani, woaaoo,
Cavani, woaaoo.
I can’t believe this is real…….hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
” The little boy inside me wanted to find out about real Kebabs !”
ha ha Van Perv playing in Turkey… what a come down 🙂
Hey Rasp… would you consider doing a fantasy football league this coming season?
`69er !…………Rasp is probably too busy cleaning up the mess in his pants after England`s first test Ashes result !.
ha ha Cockie…. perhaps I’ll start one and put details on here.
£49 million for Sterling? Nah.
Unlimited oil money and no home-grown players, maybe.
Wenger’s codpiece bulge still secure.
£49m for Sterling hahahahahahahaha
Alexis Sanchez £35m
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahs
Maybe Pool will spend it better than Suarez money this time…..but then again probably not.
How long before Liverpool bid for Theo, two maybe three days……………
LB
You’ve been predicting this for a while
Good poll for today: how would you feel if we flogged Theo to Pool for an obscene amount of money?
Chas
Massive fan of the Daily Star obviously as they carry by far the best factual stories, but if all around keep strengthening, I’m beginning to get a little edgy
Oh, and why “Jap’s”?
He comes from Uruguay,
A tear to my jap’s eye
I wonder if Eeyor was aimed at me? Quite funny if it was although I accept this could be paranoia but if it was, I have to say that I am so excited about who we would buy if Theo left. The idea of a proper number nine, a player who could add to Ozil, Cazorla and Sanchez gives me goose bumps.
I suppose the problem is that me and Eeyor don’t think that we can win the league with the present strike force.
LB
Personally I’m guessing the eyeore was a general transfer situation visual overview
Chas’ insults are rightly reserved almost exclusively for me
I’m convinced we will buy someone with goals in the them. Just how good will be the question
Eeyore was for you, LB.
🙂
P.s. I hope you’re not right.
Look, we can always “take a positive” from a Theo sale 🙂
Here’s mine. You could upgrade every player in our 1st XI, but only a lunatic would upgrade Theo before Ollie
Ergo, if Theo goes, we’re upgrading both. Wooopee
Actually, I can find “positives” wherever I look
Schneiderlin to Utd? Good news.
There’s £25M saved on a boring defensive player, and logically that reinforces the above theory we’re going large on two forwards
The more I look at Eeyor in that field the more it makes me laugh.
Ok, that’s it. Bored
“NB…WHERE ARE YOU?”
Time for some clarity
1. Peaches’ Mum does not, and never has, read this site. For starters, she’s terrified of electricity and contemporary gadgets like computers
2. No young people read this site. Its the domain of about seven people and we know who we are
Therefore, it’s a green light from me 🙂
Micky
I think it will be a hard sell getting Liverpool to take Ollie. lol
LB
You have to be positive and think Andy Carroll 🙂
Oh and Lambert. There is room for optimism here 🙂
why are we sending Theo to Pool? I would have thought Bridge was the more likely destination. Or abroad, I can see him revolutionising how Italians go into 3 gear
Greeks will get help! What a surprise. I knew Angie would not allow them to exit. Or maybe someone reminded her that humongous German debt was written off in the 50s? Or maybe the EU president Tusk (Polak) remembered how Greece helped Poland in the 90s by giving up on the Polish debt?
what if Pool wanted a swap Sterling for Theo? I don’t like Sterling as a person, I don’t want him at the Ems
Next Monday I can buy my ticket for the West Ham game!!!! How good is that? Very good
last one, I promise:
Arsenal’s Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil, 26, has paid for 11 children to have life-saving surgery in Brazil. (Independent)
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis says he would sell Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain, who has been linked with Manchester and Arsenal if they meet the 27-year-old’s £64.7m buy-out clause. (Daily Express)
Greece has talent 🙂
Eddie
Don’t think for a second ze Germans are doing anything altruistic here. Deutsche Bank is the most highly leveraged bank in Europe and in deep poo
Sorry about that comment.
Higuain has a buy out at £64.7M
That’s having a laugh surely
an altruistic German is an oxymoron if there ever was one 🙂 Except for Ozil paying for those kids
We don’t want Higuan…. over rated and over priced. Just like Falcow…. why else would managers only take him on loan, did nothing special at Utd and won’t set the world alight at the Chavs, total waste of time.
The Walcott situation is worrying, still not signed but if he goes I hope we get a good price from City, Utd or Liverpool! But I think he’ll want to stay in London so don’t rule out Chelsea putting in a bid.
I still think Venger is secretly doing a deal with Lyon for Lacazette, we’ll find out during the Emitates Cup.
If Sterling is priced at £40m + then Theo has to be £30m +?
Brilliant GN5
Arsenal have always moved for the betterment of the club and done so with class and dignity
I myself dislike change. Moving indicates you have goals and aspirations? I find this a delusion and totally accept I have no future worth mentioning. Who wants to here the vision of holes in ones socks and a carer from Zimbabwe citing “Now Mr Terry, bend over so I can reach the parts no sane women would ever wish to reach”. Sod that.
By the way punters…. GunnersoreArse will be up and running again next weekend. Now I have a new reliable internet connection I’ll run it for the new season… watch this space for Smut 🙂
NB
“I still think Venger is secretly doing a deal with Lyon for Lacazette, we’ll find out during the Emitates Cup”
Plays first half for Lyon. Emerges out of tunnel for second half in an Arsenal shirt.
Could be a superb intro
ha ha Micky
That would be real class….. “and here is our new signing…”
Not for me, `69er !………….I only like talking sense and before the watershed stuff !……..also quite offended by the smut stuff !. I`m a teetotal, law abiding Christian who loves to take the minutes at WI meetings .
God Bless You .
Oh Yes !…….Lacazette coming out for us in the 2nd half with a £50M on the back of his shirt would give me a right hard on !.
Spooky
NB likes to sit in on WI meetings as well
Cockie… if you keep talking like that I promise I’ll post one of your classy photos from last seasons GunnersoreArse on here 🙂
ha ha Micky… I prefer the WI to sit on me
11am… time for a glass of wine and some spicy chorizo for breakfast
Meanwhile, back in Blighty, some healthy AA bloggers settle down to a breakfast of unprocessed grains and seeds, soaked in low fat lactose free soya milk with a few scooby dooby berries from the amazon basin sprinkled on top
Lactose free soya milk….. give me a crushed french grape anytime!
Morning all …. and now for something completely different ……
…. New post …..
One glass of wine is good for the health… the rest of the bottle is for the morale
🙂
Oh Dear, is this what you talk about when there is no footie 😦