Goalkeepers – Day 2

June 5, 2013

Continuing our search for the goalkeeper of our Greatest Ever Arsenal team ……………………

5. Jack Kelsey: 1949 – 1962

Jack played for 13 years appearing in 352 games.

He was born in the Llansamlet area of Swansea. Les Morris, an ex-Arsenal player, spotted Kelsey whilst he was playing for his local side, Winch Wen. Morris recommended Kelsey to Arsenal, who upon watching the goalkeeper for a few games decided to sign him. Arsenal already had an established first-choice goalkeeper at this time, in Geroge Swindin, so Kelsey could do nothing but wait for his chance to play for the first team.

kelsey_greatThe legendary shot-stopper made his Arsenal debut in a 5-2 home defeat to Charlton Athletic in 1951 and was a world-class goalkeeper during the Gunners’ barren spell in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

With a rugged build and consistently solid catching, Kelsey managed to fully oust Swindin from the side (Swindin making only two appearances in 1953-54) and went on to be Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper for the next eight seasons; only a broken arm sustained in an FA Cup tie against Sheffield United in 1959 put him out of the Arsenal side for any considerable amount of time, with Jim Standen taking over in the meantime.

Jack was a true one-club man. He began and finished his career at Highbury after eventually ousting George Swindin as Arsenal’s No 1 in the 1952/53 campaign.

Dubbed “the cat with magnetic paws” by the Brazilian national side, he won 41 caps for Wales – then a British record for a keeper. He was their goalkeeper at the 1958 World Cup, which remains their only appearance at the finals to date.

He also played for Great Britain v Rest of Europe in 1955.

Jack displaced two vertebrae at the base of his spine while playing for Wales in 1962 and was forced to retire. He later took up the post of commercial manager at Arsenal, retiring in 1989.

He passed away in London in March 1992.

In September 2010 Jack was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.

6. Jim Furnell: 1963-1968

Jim played for 5 years and made 167 appearances.

Born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, Jim started his career at his local club Burnley, signing at the age of 17. As third-choice keeper he only played twice in eight seasons at Turf Moor, before being signed by Liverpool in 1962 where he immediately took the No. 1 jersey, playing all the club’s remaining matches that season, as they won the Second Division title and promotion to the First Division. Due to an accident early in the 1962-63 season, he lost his place and only played two matches in 1963-64.

titleBilly Wright brought Jim to Arsenal in 1963 paying £15,000. The manager was vindicated as Jim slotted straight in to the Gunners’ first XI, making his debut the day after he signed against Blackpool; the match finished 5-3 to Arsenal. He went on to become the long-term successor to Jack Kelsey playing as Arsenal’s No. 1 for the majority of the next five seasons. He was in goal for the Gunners’ League Cup Final defeat against Leeds United in 1968. But in the very next match, an FA Cup tie against Birmingham City, Jim’s mistake led to an unlikely Blues’ equaliser. He was duly dropped and never played for Arsenal’s first team again with young understudy Bob Wilson taking over the mantle.

He was sold in September 1968 for £8,000 to Rotherham United, after two years with Rotherham he moved to Plymouth Argyle and became a fans’ favourite at the club, playing there for five and a half years before his retirement in the summer of 1976. As part of the club’s centenary in 2003, he was named as goalkeeper in the Pilgrims’ all-time greatest XI by the club’s fans.

After retiring as a player, he was a coach at Plymouth before joining Blackburn Rovers in 1981; he served as a coach there until his retirement in 1998.

In a 2007 web poll, Jim was named Plymouth’s best goalkeeper of all time.

7. Bob Wilson: 1963 – 1974

Bob played for 11 years appearing in 308 games.

Bob was born in Chesterfield, he was the youngest child of six and had much older brothers (and an elder sister); two of his brothers were killed in the Second World War, one as a Spitfire pilot and the other as a rear- gunner in a Lancaster.

bob_wilsonHe was a late starter as a professional player, as his father would not let him sign papers with Manchester United as he thought it wasn’t a reasonable job whilst he was a youth. He played in reserve games for Wolves as an amateur and made his debut for Arsenal as an amateur, and was the first amateur to have a transfer fee paid (around £6,500).

Bob was forced to bide his time as understudy to Jim Furnell, and his early appearances for the Club did little to suggest he would make the grade. But a combination of intelligence and sheer hard graft ensured that he seized his chance when it came in March 1968.

He gained his first honour in 1970, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The following year Bob was an ever-present in Bertie Mee’s Double-winning side, gaining the Player of the Year honour. Two years later injury forced Wilson out of the Arsenal side but he recovered to claim back his No 1 jersey. He held it until his retirement at the age of 32.

Wilson was goalkeeping coach for 28 years, working with Pat Jennings, John Lukic and David Seaman. He also forged a successful broadcasting career with the BBC and later ITV. In 2007 Bob received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) as recognition for his work in the Willow Foundation which was set up in memory of his daughter Anna who passed away in 1968.

He made no bones about the deep-seated passion for the Arsenal having the N5 postcode on his car number plate.

8. Jimmy Rimmer: 1974 – 1977

Jimmy played for 3 seasons and appeared in 146 games.

Born in Southport Rimmer joined Manchester United as a schoolboy, turning professional two years later, he played 46 times for United. In October 1973 he was loaned to Swansea City where he impressed as first-team goalkeeper. Arsenal manager Bertie Mee brought him in April 1974 for £40,000 and gave him his first-team debut against Liverpool shortly afterwards.

rimmer2He made only one appearance in 1973-74 (keeping a clean sheet on his debut against Liverpool). After Bob Wilson announced his retirement at the end of that season, Jimmy became Arsenal’s No. 1 for the next three seasons, and was a near ever-present for the Gunners. During his time at Arsenal he also won his one and only England Cap

After Tottenham Hotspur manager Terry Neill took over at Arsenal, he signed Pat Jennings from his old club and he was sold to Aston Villa. At Villa, Jimmy was No. 1 for the next six seasons, winning a First Division winners’ medal in 1981. The following year Villa reached the European Cup Final, but he was injured after only nine minutes, Villa nevertheless beat Bayern Munich 1-0 they then went on to win the European Super Cup.

Jimmy left Villa in 1983 to rejoin old club Swansea City. After retiring from playing, he became Swansea’s goalkeeping coach, having a brief spell as manager. He then spent several years in China working as the goalkeeping coach for the Chinese National team.

Written by Gunner N5 and compiled by Gooner in Exile

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Goalkeepers – Day 1

June 4, 2013

Continuing our series of looking to create the Greatest Ever Arsenal team we move onto Goalkeepers this week. There will be information about various keepers during the week and a vote on Saturday to determine Arsenal Arsenal’s number 1.

1. James Ashcroft: 1900–1908

James was our keeper for 8 seasons and played in 303 games.

Ashcroft, JimmyBorn in Liverpool he played his youth football with Wilbyn’s United FC, Anfield Recreation Club and Garston Copper Works, all in Liverpool. He began with Everton FC Amateurs in 1897 and joined Gravesend United FC in the 1899 close season.

In June, 1900 he was signed for the Gunners by Harry Bradshaw, our manager from 1899 to 1904. He was the first Gunner to keep goal for Arsenal in the top flight, the first to play international football for England, winning 3 caps, the first to play in over 300 games and the first to play in 8 consecutive seasons while starting in over 30 games each season.

He made his first-team debut in the third game of the 1900/1 season at Burton Swifts after which he didn’t miss a game for more than four years, playing in 154 consecutive games, before sitting out the trip to Blackburn in October 1904. From his first game on he only let in 26 goals in the next 34 games, including 17 clean sheets and six consecutive games without conceding a goal. In 1903/4 he let in 22 goals in 34 games including 20 clean sheets.

The 1904/05 season was the Club’s first in Division One after they had won promotion the previous May and Jimmy remained the regular No 1 as Arsenal secured a top -10 finish in the top flight.

He secured another Arsenal goalkeeping first in 1906 after starting the Club’s maiden FA Cup Semi-Final against Newcastle. Arsenal lost that game and suffered the same fate a year later when Sheffield Wednesday beat them at the same stage of the competition with Ashcroft again between the posts.

He passed away in 1943 aged 64.

2. Dan Lewis 1924-1931

Dan was our keeper for 7 years and played in 167 games

Dan was born in Maery, Glamorgan, and after playing for clubs in his area moved to Clapton Orient before joining Arsenal in 1924 he made his debut in a 3-2 victory over Everton in November that year.

Dan worked in the coal mines before taking up football and was a popular choice for Herbert Chapman; but was forced to fight for his place throughout. When Chapman arrived in 1925 he competed for the No. 1 shirt with Jock Robson and Bill Harper; eventually becoming the first choice keeper after they departed in 1926 and 1931 respectively.

gun__1341483330_lewis_danThe most infamous moment of Lewis’ Arsenal career was the 1927 FA Cup Final against Cardiff City at Wembley it was the Gunners’ first Cup final, which we lost 1-0 due to an error by Lewis. In the 74th minute, Cardiff striker Hughie Ferguson hit a tame shot straight at Lewis, who dived down to make what should have been a comfortable save. However, Lewis fumbled the ball as he gathered it, and it slipped between his body and the crook of his elbow; Lewis turned around and tried in vain to reclaim the ball but only succeeded in knocking it with his elbow into the back of the net.

Flickering Pathe newsreel footage shows Lewis, a hapless Chaplinesque figure in baggy shorts, go down on his knees to gather Ferguson’s shot, only for the ball to slip between his body and the crook of his elbow. As his calamity unfolds, in slow motion, the greasy leather ball appears to wriggle through his grasp like a slippery salmon.

On receiving his losers’ medal from King George V, a disgusted Lewis reportedly cried “This is not for me,” before flinging it as far as he could into the Wembley crowd. “According to legend, the entire Arsenal team went back out on to the pitch afterwards and got down on their hands and knees to look for it.” Years later Lewis’s Arsenal team-mate, Bob John, reflected: “Poor Dan. I don’t think he was ever the same again.”

Another version of the story is that Lewis’s son Dave, an Arsenal fan, has kept the solid gold artefact at his Hertfordshire home since his father’s death in 1965. “He said, it has a little dent in it possibly caused by my dad chucking it across the dressing room,” One wonders where the truth actually lies?

Lewis blamed his brand new jersey for the error, saying the wool was too greasy for him to grip the ball properly; since then, according to club legend, no Arsenal goalkeeper has played in a new jersey before it is washed first.

He remained the number one for another three seasons playing in 95 games. He missed out on playing in our 1930 FA Cup Final victory over Huddersfield (our first trophy) after getting injured in a game against Leicester City. He was transferred to Gillingham in 1927.

3. Frank Moss 1931-1937

Frank was our keeper for 6 years and played in 161 games.

He signed for Arsenal from Oldham Athletic in November 1931.

tumblr_lhh63woykd1qftoilo1_400Moss immediately took the first-team keeper’s jersey from Charlie Preedy and was a near regular for the Gunners for the next four seasons; he won a hat-trick of First Division titles 1932-33, 1933-34 and 1934-35 he also played in the 1932 FA Cup Final which Arsenal lost to Newcastle United after a controversial equaliser from Jack Allen where the ball went behind the goal-line and out of play before being crossed back in for Allen to score.

Moss also played five times for England, making his debut on 14 April 1934 against Scotland at Wembley keeping a clean sheet as England won 3-0. His final match for England was the “Battle of Highbury” match against World Champions Italy on November 14th 1935 at Highbury, in which seven Arsenal players started the match; England won 3-2.

Moss is the only Arsenal goalkeeper to score in a first-class match. On 16 March 1935, in a First Division match against Everton, Moss dislocated his left shoulder; with no substitutes allowed in those days, Moss was forced to play the rest of the game on the left wing and incredibly, he scored Arsenal’s first goal in a 2-0 win.

4. George Swindin: 1936– 1954

George played in 297 games over an 18 year career, which included WW11.

Swindin was born in Campsall, Doncastor, and Yorkshire. He played as an amateur for various local clubs, turning professional in 1934 with Bradford City where he played 26 times before being signed by Arsenal in 1936 for £4,000. He played seventeen games in 1937-38 the most of Arsenal’s three keepers, and won a First Division medal.

WW11 interrupted his career somewhat, but Swindin continued to play through the war for Arsenal, whilst acting as a PT instructor for the Army.

063-0009By the time first-class football had resumed after the war, he became Arsenal’s undisputed No. 1, and stayed there for the next six seasons. He was a commanding keeper who was especially known for his aerial ability and assured handling of crosses, as well as his strong physical resilience. He won his second League title in 1947-48 he also played in two FA Cup finals; winning against Liverpool in 1950 but losing to Newcastle in 1952.

By 1952-53 he was beginning to show his age, and another talented keeper, the Welshman Jack Kelsey took his first-team place. Nevertheless, George in played 14 matches that season as Arsenal won the title again, giving him his third Championship winner’s medal.

Despite his excellent form for Arsenal, he was never capped by England.

Written by GunnerN5 and compiled by Gooner in Exile

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Arsenal’s Greatest Squad 1st Vote – Greatest Manager

June 1, 2013

This week GN5 has provided us with a review of our greatest ever managers, its been interesting reading and quite illuminating discovering things about our managers, I knew the names I knew some were physios becoming managers, but there was lots of info I had no clue about.

I have known five managers in my lifetime, Terry Neil, Don Howe, George Graham, Bruce Rioch and Arsene Wenger, only two feature in this poll, which makes voting difficult, but GN5 has given me much food for thought as to where my vote should go.

Below is a handy spreadsheet showing the statistical achievements of the candidates, numbers can’t show what the manager did for the club in other ways.

HC GA TW BM GG AW
# Games 336 294 378 420 364 638
Games Won 157 137 171 181 167 368
Games Drawn 84 80 101 115 108 161
Games Lost 95 77 106 124 89 109
Goals For 736 552 677 554 543 1206
Goals For per Game 2.19 1.88 1.79 1.32 1.49 1.89
Goals Against 541 345 509 444 327 601
Goals Against per Game 1.61 1.17 1.35 1.06 0.90 0.94
% of Points Won 59.3 60.2 58.6 56.8 55.6 66.1
League Titles 2 3 2 1 2 3
FA Cups 1 1 1 1 1 4
League Cups 0 0 0 0 2 0
European Cups 0 0 0 1 1 0
Charity Shields 3 3 2 0 0 4

Also have a look at the posts that have been written over the last week:

Chapman and Allison

Whittaker and Mee

Graham and Wenger

So now its over to you:

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Arsenal’s Greatest Manager pt3 – George Graham or Arsene Wenger

May 31, 2013

Continuing our exploration of Arsenal’s Greatest Managers, see the previous 2 day’s posts for parts one and 2 in the series

5. George Graham: 1986-1995

George was born in Bargeddie, Lanarkshire. He was brought up by his mother and was the youngest of seven children who all lived in poverty. While still a youngster George showed considerable promise as a footballer and professional clubs like Aston Villa, Newcastle and Chelsea showed interest in his ability.

On his 17th birthday, in 1961, he was signed by Aston Villa, and later went on to play for Chelsea before being brought to Arsenal by Bertie Mee in 1966. With Arsenal he won a medal in the 1969–70, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and was a part of Arsenal’s Double-winning side of 1970–71. He was transferred to Manchester United midway through the 1971-72 season and finally finished his playing career in California.

After retiring from playing he coached at Crystal Palace and then later Queens Park Rangers before being appointed manager of Millwall, who were bottom of the old Third Division.

tumblr_ma33knYmO01r7pn9do1_250Arsenal, who had not won a trophy since the FA Cup in 1978–79, appointed him as their new manager in May 1986. Arsenal finished fourth in his first season in charge, and then went on to win the 1987 League Cup. His sides featured tight defensive discipline, embodied by Tony Adams, who along with Lee Dixon, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn, formed the basis of Arsenal’s famous defence for over a decade. However, his teams were not only about defence as he had more than capable midfielders such as David Rocastle, Michael Thomas and Paul Merson, plus striker Alan Smith, who regularly scored 20 plus goals per season. In (1988–89), Arsenal won their first League title since 1971.

In the final game of the season against Liverpool at Anfield; Arsenal needed to win by two goals to take the title; Alan Smith scored for Arsenal early in the second half to make it 1–0 and with only seconds to go Michael Thomas surging through the Liverpool defence and lifting the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar and into the net.

The 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup was his last trophy at the club; the following February he was sacked after nearly nine years in charge, after it was discovered he had accepted an illegal £425,000 payment from Norwegian agent Rune Hauge following Arsenal’s 1992 acquisition of John Jensen and Pål Lydersen, two of Hauge’s clients. George was eventually banned for a year by the Football Association for his involvement in the scandal, after he admitted he had received an “unsolicited gift” from Hauge.

George Graham’s league record –

Games 364, Won 167, Drawn 108, Lost 89,

Goals for 543, Goals against 327,

Goals for per game 1.49, Goals against per game .90

Points won = 55.6%.

Average League Position 5.11

Total # of trophies won – 2 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cups, 1 Cup Winners Cup.

6. Arsene Wenger: 1996 – Present

Arsene was born in Strasbourg, France and raised in Duttlenheim. He was introduced to football by his father, the manager of the local village team, however his playing career mostly as an amateur, was very modest.

He obtained a manager’s diploma in 1981 and started his management career in 1984 with Nancy; after being dismissed in 1987 he joined AS Monaco who then won the league championship in 1988. In 1991, Monaco also won the Coupe de France, but failed to regain the league title in later seasons and he left the club by mutual consent in 1994. He then coached Japanese J. League side Nagoya Grampus Eight and they won the Emperor’s Cup and Japanese Super Cup during his time with the club.

Manager-Arsene-Wenger-of-Arsenal-holds-the-Pr_1639778In 1996, Arsene was appointed as the manager of Arsenal and two years later the club completed a league and FA Cup double. He led Arsenal to appearances in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final and 2001 FA Cup Final, and a second league and cup double in 2002. Arsenal retained the FA Cup in 2003 and a year later regained the league title, becoming the first club to go through an entire league season undefeated since Preston North End, 115 years previously. The team later eclipsed Nottingham Forest’s record of 42 league matches unbeaten and went seven more matches before losing in October 2004. Arsenal made their first appearance in a Champions League final in 2006, though they lost to Barcelona. During his tenure, Arsenal has moved to a new training centre and after 93 years at Highbury they relocated to the Emirates Stadium.

His approach to the game emphasises an attacking mentality, with the aim that football ought to be entertaining on the pitch. Although he has made big-money signings for Arsenal, his net spend record on transfers is far superior to other leading Premier League clubs. The Arsenal defence, which set a new record in 2006 by going 10 consecutive games without conceding a goal in the Champions League, cost the club approximately £6 million to assemble. He is a strong an advocate of financial fair play in football and has been critical of the approach of teams like Chelsea, Manchester City and Real Madrid for spending more than they take from revenue which he refers to as “financial doping”.

In a league match against Crystal Palace on 14 February 2005, Arsenal fielded a 16-man squad, that featured no British players for the first time in the club’s history, he brushed aside criticism by saying, “When you represent a club, it’s about values and qualities, not about passports”.

In February 1999, Arsene offered Sheffield United a replay of their FA Cup fifth round match immediately after the match had finished, due to the controversial circumstances in which it was won. The decisive goal was scored by Overmars after Kanu failed to return the ball to the opposition when it had been kicked into touch to allow Sheffield United’s Lee Morris to receive treatment for an injury, Arsenal went on to win the replay.

In 2002 he was awarded France’s highest decoration, the Légion d’Honneur and was in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 2003. He has also received an honorary OBE for his service to football and was then inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2006. A commissioned bronze bust of Arsene was unveiled as a tribute to him at the club’s annual general meeting on 18 October 2007. An Arsenal fan and astronomer, Ian Griffin, named an asteroid, 33179 Arsènewenger. In January 2011, he was voted “World Coach of the Decade” by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

Arsene Wenger’s Premier league record –

Games 638, Won 368, Drawn 161, Lost 109,

Goals for 1206, Goals against 601,

Goals for per game 1.89, Goals against per game .94

Points won = 66.1%,

Average League Position 2.44,

Total # of trophies won – 3 League titles, 4 FA Cup, 4 Charity Shields.

Written by GunnerN5 and compiled by Gooner in Exile

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Arsenal’s Greatest Manager pt 2 – Tom Whittaker or Bertie Mee

May 30, 2013

Continuing our exploration of Great Managers, see yesterdays post for part one in this series.

3. Tom Whittaker. 1947-1956

He was born at East Cavalry Barracks, Aldershot, Hampshire, but grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne. As a youth he spent his early football career in the North of England and at the same time he was training as a marine engineer. When he was called up to the British Army, he signed up for the Royal Garrison Artillery but later switched to the Royal Navy. He was demobilised in 1919.

In 1919, after serving his country in World War I, he joined Arsenal, under manager Leslie Knighton. He first played as centre-forward then as wing-half, signing as a professional in January 1920 and making his debut in a 1–0 defeat away to West Bromwich Albion.

whitakerHe toured Australia as part of the FA side in 1925, but during the tour, in a match in Wollongong he broke his knee cap and was forced to retire from playing. Following his injury he joined Arsenal’s coaching staff and also studied to become a physiotherapist. He became Arsenal’s first team trainer under Herbert Chapman in 1927, at the time, he was younger than many of the players. He assisted Chapman in transforming the training and physiotherapy regime at the club, and played a major part in the club’s successes during the 1930s.

After Herbert Chapman passed away in 1934, he continued to serve under his successor, George Allison while also becoming a trainer for the English National Team. With the advent of WW11 he began to work as an ARP warden, before becoming a pilot in the Royal Air Force where he achieved the rank of Squadron Leader. For his service in missions on D-Day, he was awarded an MBE.

When George Allison retired in 1947, he became the club’s new manager; after winning the League in 1947-48 and 1952-53 and the FA Cup in 1949-50, the club’s success waned. He tried, in vain, to attract major stars to the club, one being Stanley Matthews who said later – “I felt there was nothing to be gained by moving south, however I was very happy and politely turned down the offer”. “Such an approach was against the rules at the time and, consequently, I couldn’t tell anyone about it, and I never have until now.”

Sadly Tom passed away from a heart attack in 1956, aged 58.

Tom Whittaker’s league record –

Games 378, Won 171, Drawn 101, Lost 106,

Goals for 677, Goals against 509,

Goals for per game 1.79, Goals against per game 1.35

Points won 58.6%.

Average League Position 5.22

Total # of trophies won – 2 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 2 Charity Shields.

4. Bertie Mee: 1966-1976

He was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire and played for both Derby County and Mansfield Town before his playing career was cut short by injury. Bertie joined the Royal Army Medical Corps where he trained as a physiotherapist and in six years he rose to the rank of Sergeant. After leaving, he worked for various football clubs as a physiotherapist, before joining Arsenal in 1960, succeeding Billy Milne.

Billy Wright was sacked in 1966 and the club asked Bertie to become manager, surprising a lot of people, including Bertie himself. He asked for a get-out clause in his contract allowing him to return to be the club physiotherapist, if it didn’t work out after twelve months. To make up for his own tactical deficiencies he recruited Dave Sexton and Don Howe as his assistants.

In 1970 he led Arsenal to the Fairs Cup Final against Anderlecht. After losing the first leg 3-1, Arsenal won the return match at Highbury 3-0, to claim a 4-3 aggregate victory. It ended a seventeen-year drought since the last major honour – the 1953 league title.

bmThe following season Arsenal won the league and cup double, only the second time this had been accomplished in the twentieth century. Arsenal won the League Championship with a victory over Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, then went on to beat Liverpool in extra time to seal the FA Cup at Wembley. Shortly afterwards one of his assistants, Don Howe, left Arsenal to manage West Bromwich Albion.

Arsenal had ambitions to retain their title the following season and signed Alan Ball from Everton but their league campaign faltered and their hopes of a trophy depended on the FA Cup, Arsenal reached the final again, where we lost 1-0 to Leeds. In the 1972-73 season Arsenal managed a serious championship challenge, at one point topping the table, but eventually finished runners-up. A run in the FA Cup was brought to an end by a semi final defeat to eventual winners Sunderland.

The Arsenal side than began to break up with first George Graham then Charlie George and Frank McLintock all leaving the club. A number of less impressive seasons saw Bertie being replaced in 1976, by Terry Neill.

He was made an OBE in 1984 for services to football.

He passed away in London in 2001, at the age of 82.

Bertie Mee’s league record –

Games 420, Won 181, Drawn 115, Lost 124,

Goals for 554, Goals against 444,

Goals for per game 1.32, Goals against per game 1.06

Points won 56.8%.

Average League Position 8.30

Total #of trophies won – 1 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 1 European Fairs Cup.

Written by GunnerN5 and compiled by Gooner in Exile

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Greatest Manager – Herbert Chapman or George Allison

May 29, 2013

Today’s post is a collaborative effort between GunnerN5 and Gooner In Exile and is the first in a series that will be profiling the best managers and players ever to represent the Arsenal.  We will publish a poll at the end of each category to allow readers to choose who they deem to be the best of all time. The end result will establish (after 8 weeks of painstakingly researched articles) who readers believe comprises the best Arsenal team of all time.  

1. Herbert Chapman: 1925-1934

He was born in Kiveton Park, near Rotherham; his father was a coal miner. One of eleven children in a keen sporting family, two of his brothers played professional football. The most successful was Harry, who played for The Wednesday in the 1900s. His older brother Tom played for Grimsby Town and yet another brother, Matthew, became a director of the same club. Herbert’s own playing career was mostly as a journeyman amateur.

His managerial career began with Northampton Town after which he joined Leeds City.

Herbert_Chapman_1During the suspension of league football, during WW1, he decided to help the war effort by becoming manager of a munitions factory in Barnbow. Soon after the end of WW1 Leeds City was accused of making illegal payments to players and as they refused to open their books for examination the club was expelled from the football league. Five officials including Chapman were banned from football for life. However the ban was overturned in 1921, when Huddersfield Town gave him a character reference, he then joined them as assistant manager on February1st 1921 and was appointed secretary/manager the following month. He went on to win the FA Cup in 1924-25 and consecutive League Titles in 1923-24 & 1924-25.

In the 1925 close season, Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris placed the following advertisement in the Athletic News.

“Arsenal Football Club is open to receive applications for the position of Team Manager. He must possess the highest qualifications for the post, both as to ability and personal character. Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exorbitant transfer fees need not apply.”

WMHerbert moved to Arsenal soon after, attracted both by Arsenal’s larger crowds and a salary of £2,000, double what he earned at Huddersfield Town. Arsenal’s league form was indifferent but in 1927 they reached the FA Cup Final losing 1–0 to Cardiff City. That same year, Arsenal became embroiled in a scandal over illegal footballers’ pay. Sir Henry Norris was indicted for his part and banned from football, but Chapman escaped punishment.

He showed his cunning during negotiations held in a hotel when looking to buy David Jack from Bolton. Chapman met with the barman and gave him two pounds and then said “This is my assistant Mr Wall; he will drink whiskey and dry ginger. I will drink gin and tonic. Our guests will drink whatever they choose but you will give them double of everything while Mr. Wall’s drinks and mine will contain no liquor.” His cunning worked as Arsenal paid 3,000 pounds less than Bolton had first asked.

He went on to establish Arsenal as English footballs dominate force and his football concepts and ideas served as a template for teams and managers all over the globe. He won the first trophy for the club winning the FA Cup in 1930. His 1930/31 team scored an incredible 127 goals – still a club record. He championed innovations such as floodlighting, European competitions and numbered shirts.

Tragically he passed away from pneumonia in 1934 aged 55 years.

A bronze bust of Chapman stood inside Highbury as a tribute to this outstanding manager.

Herbert Chapman’s league record –

Games 336, Won 157, Drawn 84, Lost 95,

Goals for 736, Goals against 541,

Goals for per game 2.19, Goals against per game 1.61

Points won 59.3%

Average League Position 6.25

Total # of trophies won – 2 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 3 Charity Shields.

2. George Allison: 1934-1947.

Born in Hurworth-on-Tees, County Durham, he played amateur football in Stockton-on-Tees and dabbled in writing as a sideline and eventually became a full time journalist.

During WW1 he worked for the War Office and the Admiralty, producing propaganda, and later joined the Royal Fling 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 v.Scotland international, and the 1927 FA Cup Final. By this time, he had already formed a strong association with Arsenal and he became the club’s programme editor, becoming a member of the board of directors soon after the end of the WW1; he was first club secretary and then managing director.

-Images-a-allison_georgeAfter the sudden death of Herbert Chapman in January 1934, he was appointed Chapman’s full-time successor, in the summer of that year. Arsenal had already won the League Championship twice in a row (1932-33 and 1933-34), and he made it a hat-trick, winning a third successive title in 1934-35.

He famously appeared in a 1939 movie that was set at Highbury, “The Arsenal Stadium Mystery”, where he had a speaking part as himself. Amongst his lines included one uttered at half time: “It’s one-nil to the Arsenal. That’s the way we like It.”, a line which had resonance with the team’s penchant for 1-0 score lines many decades later.

Unlike Herbert Chapman he took a hands-off approach to managing and left Joe Shaw and Tom Whittaker to take care of the training and squad discipline, while he concentrated on transfer policy and the club’s relationship with the media. He was known as being tactful, friendly and good-hearted but it was felt that he fell short in his handling of the squad and lacked a professional’s deep knowledge of the game. However his proponents have cited the amount of trophies won in his reign, although by the end of the 1930s Arsenal were no longer the all-conquering team that they had once been and he was unable to replace many of the stars from the first half of the decade. With the start of WW11 football in England was suspended; after the war ended, many of the players that had made Arsenal great had retired from playing. Arsenal finished a disappointing 13th in 1946-47, by now he was in his mid-sixties and being tired of managerial life, he decided to step down and retire from the game.

He died in 1957 after several years of illness.

George Allison’s league record –

Games 294, Won 137, Drawn 80, Lost 77,

Goals for 552, Goals against 345,

Goals for per game 1.88, Goals against per game 1.17

Points won 60.2%.

Average League Position 4.29

Total # of trophies won – 3 League titles, 1 FA Cup, 2 Charity Shields.

Written by GunnerN5 and compiled by Gooner in Exile

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Our Greatest Ever Squad

May 28, 2013

Anyone who has been to the Emirates has probably seen this picture.

SPIRIT OF HIGHBURY full image

I personally love it, it shows me what we as a football club are about, the years of traditions and the number of players and managers that have represented our club.

So this summer to keep our minds off arrivals and departures I thought it would be a good time to revisit some of the history of our club and to have a Greatest Ever Team Poll. GN5 however had other ideas……..here is his summation of what you lucky souls are in for the the summer:

Choose AA’s Greatest Ever Arsenal Squad

Over the next 8 weeks we will be profiling the very best players and managers in Arsenal’s history. They have been chosen based on various criteria which include, games played, goals scored, international careers and their overall importance to Arsenal. We apologise, in advance, if your personal favourites are not included.

The historic records do not always give us their precise positions, and in many cases players have changed positions during their careers. With this in mind we will be dividing the players into four groups, however even with this grouping there are still some that have played in more than one group – so keep an open mind.

Group 1 – 6 Managers

Group 2 – 12 Goalkeepers

Group 3 – 20 Defensemen

Group 4 – 20 Mid-Fielders

Group 5 – 20 Forwards

Each week we will have three days devoted to player profiles and one day for you to cast your vote for the week’s best players. You can vote two players as the end of the eight weeks there will be a final “AA Squad Reveal Day” when we will reveal your choices for both our “A” and “B” squads.

We hope you enjoy…….

Written and compiled by GunnerN5 and Gooner in Exile

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Staying Sane Through The Transfer Window

May 24, 2013

According to popular opinion this summer is going to be different we are told we have money to spend, we are told we don’t need to sell.

There is increasing clamour for expensive signings from the fans, the press are doing their best in fuelling the expectation further maybe with the clubs PR doing the briefing, who knows.

But let us learn some lessons from previous windows and reserve judgement until it closes before we declare it success or failure:

1) ignore all talk of “done deals” until the player is announced on the club website

2) if the quote used by the press is not attributed to anyone then ignore

3) similarly if there isn’t even a quote and the article implies a source or uses the words xxxxx understands that…. ignore

4) there has been much talk from football pundits that we need 3 players, some even 4…..these pundits have previously said we wouldn’t finish in top 4, that Spuds have the greatest side ever, and that Arteta was a spent force before he arrived and the BFG was the worst PL defender ever. Basically if we are listening to pundits to make football judgements we are listening to imbeciles (unless its Gary Neville)

5) We took 24 from 30 in our last 10 games, in fact we were second to ManUre in points haul in the last 20 games, how far away are we in reality?

So remember the above and relax through the summer transfer window, it’s a done deal when it’s a done deal, we are interested when the player is at the ground having a medical.

All other news is not news, enjoy the window….we get what we get.

Gooner in Exile

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Cazorla Conducts : Arsenal 4 Wigan 1

May 15, 2013

Last night was the next in a long line of must win matches, must win if staying ahead of that lot down the road is important, which it is.

This will be a slightly more sketchy report than I usually do because:

a) I was there so did not have benefit of copious replays
b) I’d met other AAers in the Tavern prematch.

Everywhere you looked every conversation you caught was tense and nervy, the Dean effect was discussed, the ability to throw away good work with a defensive lapse, the lack of a much needed finisher.

Come full time we were happy Gunners wondering why we were so worried.

The early goal a poachers header by Podolski from Cazorla’s corner took some fingernails away from teeth, the ball had gone over Mertesacker’s head and Wigan defenders failed to clear the danger, the story of their season.

poldi and per wigan

Unfortunately the team then found the handbrake as they have done so often during this run in and seemed to decide one was enough.

This affected the crowd, tension grew as we sat deeper allowing Wigan to play their patterns, I really like the way Wigan play forward, they always seemed to have an extra man even when we were well set defensively, we got pulled about left and right. But with a bit more quality when we were in possession we should have been able to punish them on the counter, however we didn’t appear to want to leave our half.

Everyone put in a shift, then Dean started to try and influence the game, allowing some robust challenges on red and white shirts to go unpunished, one particularly memorable one was on Santi which led to a Wigan attack while Dean surprisingly to everyone but the conspiracy theorists waved play on.

Not so long after Dean awarded what appeared to be a very soft free kick on the edge of our area. Maloney stepped up and looped it over our wall into the corner of the net, it was a well taken free kick, but Pod could have been a little braver in the wall.

The boos at half time were reserved for Mike Dean as he left the pitch.

The second half started and we were still a little nervy but at least we were now on the attack a bit more, and trying to use the ball better in possession.

It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that we could breathe a little easier, Santi released down the right flank produced the best cross of the game, Theo had taken a good position in the centre and met the ball to finish. Theo Theo reverberated around the Emirates, but the real difference was Santi’s cross, we had put in many a poor cross from the right before that or chose the wrong options, Santi just looked up saw his target and put it on a plate.

Moments later we were on our feet again, Santi helping the ball through to Podolski who flicked it over the approaching Wigan keeper.

Ramsey then rounded off a very productive 10 minutes and another high energy display from himself with a much deserved goal, you could see the relief in his celebration. It was a very good goal, finding himself on the left wing he was released by Santi again, he ran with purpose towards the area, and without many options he decided he would have one for himself, cutting onto his right foot and finishing high into the net.

ramsey v wigan

“Are you watching Tottenham?” Asked the Emirates faithful, I’m pretty sure they were, and the thought of them crying in their beer was very heartwarming.

The only worrying development towards the end of the game was Arteta limping off with a calf pull, which leaves us a selection dilemma come Sunday, Podolski’s goals also give Arsene another decision to make with Giroud available for the final game.

At the final whistle celebration in the home end quickly turned to respect for Wigan players, manager and fans, with most around us applauding Wigan players as they came over to commiserate with their fans. The Premier League will be a less entertaining place without them.

The team then went on its traditional lap of appreciation, BFG walking closest to the fans, fist pumping his way round, the crowd sang to the players, after this troubled season it was as if some of the wounds have healed, we can see they care, they know we care, and in unity we can only grow stronger.

Player ratings

Szczesny 7 could have done better with goal

Sagna 7 solid at back, crossing poor

Koscielny 7.5 solid

BFG 7.5 solid

Gibbs 6.5 not his attacking self in the run in

Arteta 7.5 keeps us ticking

Ramsey 8 Another high energy display wrapped up with a goal

Rosicky 7.5 took up good positions, moved the ball on

Cazorla 9 Genius

Theo 8 worked hard tonight, good finish

Podolski 8 two good goals

Written by Gooner in Exile

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Tony Pulis : The Greatest Ever Manager

May 11, 2013

In the last week there have been two very important fixtures for Arsenal’s season, we featured in neither and to be honest neither fixture really went our way.

First Fergie kicked us in the nether region one last time by going back on a promise to honour the race for Champions League spots, then Adebayor gave his most productive display if the season to help Spurs avoid defeat in West London.

So it made me think we suffered for our hatred, and now with important games this weekend again neither featuring the Mighty Arsenal it is time for drastic measures to appease the footballing gods and offer some kind of metaphorical personal sacrifice in the hope that either Villa and Stoke will do us a favour this weekend.

With Stoke virtually safe it is doubtful that Pulis will go all out to deny Spurs when he can upset us instead.

In a brazen attempt to win favour my headline is my penance to those lovely fellows in the Potteries, you will know how much it hurts me to say it, so how low will you sink this weekend in an attempt to conjure up the Arsenal friendly footballing spirits.

While I’m at it I would like to say I also think Ryan Shawcross really isn’t that kind of player.

Gooner in Exile

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