(As a preface to this post, I want to make it clear that I have created a list of all of our Division 1 and PL seasons and sorted them first by league position and then by the points won %. Therefore this series may exclude trophy winning seasons where we did not finish high enough in the League).

We start with our 13^th best ever league season 1937-38.

George Allison (1934-37) was our Manager. He was born in Hurworth-on-Tees, County Durham and played amateur football in Stockton-on-Tees while dabbling in writing as a sideline; eventually becoming a full time journalist.

During WW1 he worked for the War Office and the Admiralty, producing propaganda, and later joined the Royal Flying Corps (later renamed the Royal Air Force). After the war he moved into broadcasting, joining the BBC and becoming the first person to commentate on the radio on events such as The Derby and the Grand National, as well as the annual England – Scotland international, and the 1927 FA Cup Final. By this time, he had already formed a strong association with Arsenal and became the Club’s programme editor and also a member of the board of directors soon after the end of the WW1; he was our first club secretary and then managing director. After the sudden death of Herbert Chapman in 1934 he was appointed as his full time successor.

The 1934-35 season ended up with us winning our 4^th league title. Our fortunes turned in 1935-36 and we finished the league down in 6^th position but won our 2^nd FA Cup. The 1936-37 season ended up with us finishing 3^rd in the league and losing 3-1 to West Bromwich Albion in the 6^th round of the FA Cup.

The final round of matches of the 1937/8 season began with Wolves top of the League by a point. Arsenal had to win or draw and hope Wolves did not match the Gunners’ result to gain the title.

Arsenal was playing against Bolton at Highbury with a 3:30 kick off while Wolves were playing away to Sunderland at Roker Park with a 3:15 start. Arsenal were quickly ahead with a goal from Alf Kirchen followed before the end of the half by two goals from Eddie Carr, the second half was a stroll for Arsenal with Cliff Bastin joining in the fun and scoring two more goals. The game ended with wild cheering as the score board showed that Wolves had lost 0-1 leaving Arsenal as League Champions for the 5^th time.

At the end of the game the crowd surged past the mounted police onto the field and started shouting for the team. They finally left after they had seen the team and had a good sing song, ending with the National Anthem.

The players received a proportion of the £275 pot from the Football League to be shared among them – being an amateur, Bernard Joy received a golf bag.

Our team on the day –

G Swindin, G Male, E Hapgood (captain), L Jones, B Joy, W Copping, A Kirchen, G Bremner, E Carr, G Drury, C Bastin

Final League Table 1937-38

There are only nine of the current Premier League (highlighted) in the 1937-38 table with Manchester United and Tottenham nowhere to be seen.

Written by GunnerN5

 Chelsea Football Club was founded in 1905 and since that day their only ground has been Stamford Bridge.  Since then they have had no less than 39 different managers go through their turnstiles.

The following does not make pleasant reading but the facts are that Stamford Bridge has not been a very happy hunting ground for Arsenal in the Premier League era. We have not won a game there since Oct 29, 2011 and have only gained 8 points in the last 13 seasons – so our expectations should be minimal.

Here is our Stamford Bridge record.

From 1993 to 2004 –

P12, W5, D4, L3, GF18, GA13, Pts19, Pts% 52.78

From 2005 to 2017 –

P13, W2, D2, L9, GF11, GA27, Pts8, Pts% 20.51

We fared a lot better away from 1907 to 1992 in the Division 1 era when we spilt the games equally. (The points are based on 3 points for a win).

W18, D19, L18, GF73, GA69, Pts73, Pts% 44.24

Roman Abramovich purchased  Chelsea Football Club in 2003 and the money that he has pumped into the club and squad heralded a change in their fortunes and a major shift of power in the Premier League.

My team.

Now here’s a slice of very pleasant memorabilia.

May 4, 2002: Chelsea 0-2 Arsenal, FA Cup final

Ray Parlour had scored just one goal all season before unleashing a screamer from 25 yards to give Arsenal the lead in the 70th minute. Freddie Ljungberg then added the second with a spectacular solo effort, curling in a shot from outside the area to make sure of the victory. A few days later we beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford to secure the Premier League title and a famous Double.

Oct. 23, 1999: Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal, Premier League

This game looked well out of reach for Arsenal after we conceded two headers to trail 2-0 against a Chelsea side that had not conceded a league goal at Stamford Bridge that season. But substitute Kanu single-handedly lead us to an improbable victory, scoring a hat trick in the final 15 minutes to stun Chelsea and silence the crowd. The winner came in the 90th minute after he came through the puddles to round goalkeeper Ed de Goey near the by-line before scoring from a tight angle with a shot that sailed over the heads of two Chelsea defenders.

Sept. 21, 1997: Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal, Premier League

This proved a key victory in Arsene Wenger’s first title-winning campaign and one of the finest moments for long-serving left-back Nigel Winterburn. Dennis Bergkamp had scored twice to leave the game level at 2-2 before Winterburn unleashed a stunning 25-yard strike with his left foot that curled into the far top corner. Arsenal went on to win their first Double under Wenger.  This game has very special memories for GN5 as it was the last game that I ever watched with my Dad – while he was on a visit to Canada.

Our last PL game against Bournemouth was a very positive sign and even knowing of our misfortunes at Stamford Bridge I still remain positive and hopeful that we will gain yet another memorable win at Stamford Bridge.

Written by GunnerN5

This season we play Thursday night football in the Europa League and our first game is home to Fußball-Club Köln also known as FC Köln or FC Cologne in English. They play in the Bundesliga, the highest league of German football and were Champions in 1962/3, 1963/4 and 1977/8. The club’s nickname Die Geißböcke (“The Billy Goats”) refers to the club’s mascot, a male goat named after the veteran FC player and former manager Hennes Weisweiler. The first mascot goat was donated by a circus entrepreneur as a Cologne carnival joke.

The competition has gone through several changes and was previously known as the Fairs Cup then the UEFA Cup and now the UEFA Europa League.

Below is a comparison of both teams’ records in these competitions.

FC Köln – P98, W52, D16, L30, GF184, GA105, Win% 53.6

Arsenal –   P49, W24, D9, L16, GF91, GA51, Win% 48.98

Arsenal have won 2 European competitions the 1970 Inter City Fairs Cup and the 1994 European Cup Winners Cup.

As far as I could find we have only played FC Koln once before – in the 1971 Fairs Cup when we won 2-1 at home and lost 0-1 away.

My team (Oh dear where is Big Raddy).

An under par Arsenal lost to Liverpool 4-0 in our 3^rd Pl game and then we dominated against an under par Bournemouth to win 3-0.  The boost in confidence we gained from the victory over Bournemouth should be used as a springboard and a reminder of how well we can play.

This competition is very winnable and to start with a home game is a positive; if the crowd get behind the team then I predict (always confident) that today we will have a comfortable 3-0 victory over FC Koln.

Written by GunnerN5

Now that the summer transfer window has closed here is our First Team Squad as shown on Arsenal.com.

Now here is the Academy squad.

I’m not and expert on either squad formation or tactics, all I can intelligently discuss is my opinion of the players skills, attitude and team contribution based on viewing them during televised games. But nonetheless I would enjoy an open dialogue on the merits of this squad.

Written byGunnerN5

Bournemouth FC was founded in 1899, 118 years ago, as Boscombe FC.

They have had 28 different managers in their history including Harry Redknapp; who famously took them to memorable victory over Manchester United in the 1984 FA Cup, Tony Pulis and an ex-Arsenal manager Leslie Knighton.

Their current manager is Eddie Howe who has taken them from League Division Two and now they are enjoying their 3^rd season in the Premier League.

Club Honours:

Football League Championship

Champions: 2014–15

Football League One (Division 3)

Champions: 1986–87

Runners-up (2) 1947–48 (Division 3 South), 2012–13 (Division 3)

Football League Two (Division 4)

Runners-up (2): 1970–71, 2009–10

Play-off winners: 2002–03

Promoted: 1981–82

Southern League

Runners-up: 1922–23

Football League Trophy

Winners: 1983–84

Runners-up: 1997–98

Football League Third Division South Cup

Winners: 1945–46

Not much I can say about Bournemouth as our experience is minimal and we’ve only played them on 5 occasions, winning 4 and drawing the other.

Here is that record –

Even in the aftermath of the transfer window I can only foresee a decisive victory.

Written by GunnerN5

We have just witnessed the biggest “much ado about nothing” period in the history of the Arsenal Football Club. It was ably driven by the usual culprits, the Arsenal hating Media, the fans (those that believe the nonsense they read) and, of course, the “expert pundits” who fuel the fires of discontent.

During the past few days we have seen the worst show of support in my living memory, even going back to the horrendous period between 1953/54 and 1987/88. This was a period during which we only won – 1 League title, 2 FA Cups; I inter City Fairs Cup and I League Cup and zero Charity Shields, only 5 trophies in total over 34 years.

During Arsene Wenger’s 21 seasons in charge we have won 3 League titles, 7 FA cups and 7 Charity Shields a total of 17 trophies in 21 seasons, despite this fact the intensity of criticism is far greater today than I have ever known.

In my opinion it is 100% media created and driven and they are the only winners as our club, our players and potentially our results will all suffer due to the unrealistic expectations that have been created. No other club in England has to endure the amount of negative/destructive press that is directed at Arsenal – why?

Now in the aftermath of the current maelstrom what has actually happened?

Players in –

Sead Kolasinac – Left back.

Alexandre Lacazette – Centre forward.

Players out –

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Right midfield (sold)

Wojciech Szczesny – Keeper (sold)

Gabriel Paulista – Centre back (sold)

Kieran Gibbs – Left back (sold)

Yaya Sanogo – Centre Forward (free transfer)

Emiliano Martinez –Keeper (loan)

Carl Jenkinson – Right back (loan)

Lucas Perez- Centre forward (loan)

Joel Campbell – Right wing (loan)

My summation of the window is that I prefer Lacazette to Oxlade and Kolasinac to Gibbs even though they may play in different positions. I liked both Gabriel and Lucas and I’m sorry to see them leave, the others have rarely played and we knew we needed to scale back the size of our squad.

Sanchez and Ozil have still, as expected, not signed new contracts, so nothing changed there – except for a lot of wasted ink.

Now we can look forward to a season where the black flag wavers, the media and a section of attending fans will do their level best to shovel the players/manager/club into the hole they have already dug/created for them.

Written by GunnerN5