He was born in Oxford and was a natural sportsman, winning medals for swimming and diving as befitted the son of a Headington boat builder, reared by the river. He was an outstanding school track athlete, played cricket for Essex Seconds for four years, turned down a place as a professional with Middlesex and reserved his penchant for fast-medium bowling in local club cricket.

Later, he became an outstanding golfer, serving on the board at Hadley Wood, still playing off a seven handicap and working for the Herts Handicap Committee. His father’s view was that professional football was a dead-end job which prompted Cliff to become an apprentice tool-maker with Morris.

He began his football life as a defender, serving Isthmian League Oxford City as a full-back before joining Arsenal in 1947. It was not until 1950, after National Service in the Army, that he was switched to centre-forward and he earned a place in the Gunners’ senior side in the spring of 1951. Imposing, strong and far quicker than was suggested by a rather ungainly, loping gait, Holton adopted a rampaging style which unsettled opponents. He wasn’t a bad passer either, but he was most famous for the thunderous power of his shot with either foot, which accounted for many of his goals.

He was in the Arsenal side to reach the FA Cup Final in 1952 and his19 goals in 21 outings helping to secure the League Championship in 1952-53, and the promising 24-year-old was spoken of as an England international of the future. He continued to figure for Arsenal for another three seasons and on 6 October 1956, he scored four goals in a home match against Manchester City, becoming the first player since Jack Lambert to score more than three in a game at Highbury.

He lost his place to an ageing Tommy Lawton but a year later, having been switched to left-half, Holton was restored to the side and became captain for a spell. But despite doughty service in various roles, he was judged surplus to requirements as the new manager George Swindin sought to revamp a lacklustre team. Holton was sold to Watford for £10,000 in October 1958. After taking a little time to settle at Vicarage Road, he became one of the most revered figures in the Hornets’ history, netting a club record for one term of 48 League and FA Cup goals as he skippered them to promotion from the Fourth Division in 1960.

His departure from Vicarage Road in the late summer of 1961 to Northampton Town caused such a furore; his shadow remained over the club for a decade. Fifteen years later, when Jim Bonser resigned as chairman, he was still trying, to no avail, to justify that transfer, which disillusioned a generation of Vicarage Road regulars. He finally admitted when he stepped down, what everybody had known 15 years earlier: “We got rid of the wrong man”.

At Northampton Town in 1961 – he scored a club record 36 goals in 1961-62, achieving the rare feat of holding the all-time goals in a season record at two different clubs. He went on to play for Crystal Palace, signing in December 1962 and was part of the Palace side which achieved promotion to the second tier in 1964, with 43 appearances that season scoring 20 goals. He then returned to Watford on 6 May 1965, before moving on to Charlton Athletic and subsequently Leyton Orient.

Only four men since the Second World War had scored more goals in English League football than Cliff Holton namely Arthur Rowley, Jimmy Greaves, John Atyeo and John Aldridge, all of whom, unlike Holton, concentrated solely on a striking role. However the big, burly Oxonian never scaled the giddy heights predicted for him as a young Arsenal star during the early 1950

He finally retired in 1968, due in part to a knee injury and left the game completely. A forthright and articulate individual, Holton seemed ideal soccer management material but he preferred instead to concentrate on a precision engineering business, which he ran until 1989 before working part-time in sports marketing.

He died suddenly in 1996 at the age of 67 while on holiday in Almeria, Spain.

His scoring record was –

GunnerN5

Apparently it was the anniversary of Brian Clough’s demise as well as the return of Nicklas Bendtner to his adoring Gooner public. A photo of Cloughie, our designated meeting point, was obligatory. He would definitely be a staunch advocate of the style of football played by teams managed by AW.

A merry pre-match bevvy ensued, taking in the Joseph Else, Vat and Fiddle plus the Trip to Jerusalem amongst others.

I’m still not a 100% sure who started for The Arsenal. ElNeny, Xhaka, Lucas, the Ox, Holding and Gabriel seemed like a fairly decent core.

Forest are obviously a lower tier outfit these days and the first half clearly showed how Arsenal’s second string were levels above a fairly average Championship side. The minute’s applause for Cloughie in the 12^th minute was beautifully observed by the whole stadium.

The first half was illuminated by Granit’s shot from distance which the Forest keeper seemed to try and save with the wrong hand, allowing it to spoon into the net. Arsenal’s passing was sharp and gave us hope for some tasty action coming towards us in the second half.

The penalty for the second goal was so clear from the terraces. Akpom was just about to shoot when he was unceremoniously barged off the ball. Lucas stepped up and sent the away fans into raptures with his first Arsenal goal.

The gulf in class, even between an Arsenal second string and a reasonable Championship side grew as the game went on. I doubt the 11 players who started the game had ever played together before but all showed the benefits of the tutelage of our current manager. Xhaka is obviously one of those players foisted on the manager who will clearly struggle to fit into the current Arsenal plan. Not.

Lucas’ second, soon after his penalty, gave us great hope that he might become the finisher we need. He showed magnificent control under extreme pressure and produced a calm finish to boot.

The Ox improved as the game went on and his finish in injury time was sublime.

I must admit to feeling a little sorry for the Forest fans. Their ‘Have you won a European Cup’ was matched by the Gooners’ ’Forty Nine, Forty Nine Undefeated’ and eventually countered with ‘Nottingham Forest, You live in the Past’. I suppose living in the past is inevitable when the present is so mediocre. Ant and me couldn’t agree with ‘Nottingham’s a sh*thole, I want to go home’ as we both love our adopted city. It’s a fine place to live.

What a fine evening out for anyone supporting The Arsenal.

Player Ratings

Martinez – The young keeper makes you feel reassured. Quick off his line, unflustered and agile for a big old unit – 9

Maitland-Niles – Not really troubled. Probably more scared of his Mum than the Forest forwards – 9

Holding – So composed on the ball, strong in the tackle. What a purchase! – 9

Gabriel – Still gets a little flustered in possession but made some excellent blocks and recovery tackles – 9

Gibbs – Looked like he’s been playing regularly for the first team. A fine professional – 9

The Ox – Not his best first half but grew in confidence as the game went on, capping it with a superbly taken goal at the end – 9

Jeff – Great balance, elegant and with a fine eye for a pass. How on earth are we going to fit all of these great players in one starting XI? – 9

Xhaka – Oozes presence on the football pitch. I’m so looking forward to seeing how his Arsenal career develops – 9

ElNeny – a perfect foil for Xhaka. I keep thinking they’ve played together before at Basel but don’t think they were there at the same time – 9

Akpom – Looked fast and aggressive asked to play out wide. Unlucky not to score – 9

Lucas – Strong, skillful and muscular. Superb to see him get off the mark – 9

Written by chas

Saturday 17^th, 17:00 hrs.

I have spent four hours in the car, with the last stretch listening to Fivelive 2, and Arsenal sticking four past Hull. I’m pissed off as I missed the game with that goal from Granit, and what sounded like another fabulous performance from Alex Iwobi. I left the motorway as I approached destination suburbia, and immediately hit traffic. Superb. A chance to go straight on to the mobile device and AA, where Chas had brilliantly linked to the Xhaka goal. I watched it about twenty times on the final straight before arriving on the crest of an enormous wave of Arsenal euphoria (thanks Chas, you made my day).

Now picture this. Twenty minutes later and I am sitting on the floor opposite my eight year old nephew. Between us lies a green felt area, four foot by three foot. It’s a Subbuteo football pitch.

The years suddenly roll back, and I too, am once again eight years old.  Nephew graciously allows his Uncle to take the field with the Gunners. I study my XI carefully. Hooray, two black players. Theo and Iwobi start.

It was strange how seamlessly I slipped back to my old self. Before I could blink, my XI were lined up for kick off in their traditional 2-3-5. Oh happy days. The good times were back.

I stared across the green at his hideous looking  4-4-2. The modern young. How lost and brainwashed they are.

Ok, a little background. Last time I saw Nephew was at Christmas, when he had asked me in his squeaky little voice “Uncle Didit, who’s your favourite Arsenal player?”. “Iwobi, of course” replied I.

Back to Saturday, and he asks me “Uncle Didit, is Iwobi still your favourite player?” “Yes, of course, he’s a tryer, smart, great control, forward going, speedy and shooty”. At this point, he leaps up with a massive smile on his face, and beckons me to his chamber. There, on the wall, is a massive poster of Alex Iwobi. This made me very proud. I have power.

Right, back to the game.

I said two things on AA last week. One was a question “Could Iwobi be a No10?”, and the other was “I think Iwobi is a better footballer than Aaron Ramsey”.

Some think Aaron’s only role is as a No10. I don’t. I think he belongs only in a Nephew style 4-4-2.

My Arsenal had Alex as No10. He scored four as The Arsenal smashed Chelsea 7-2.

Would either Aaron or Alex get into your Arsenal Subbuteo XI, and if so, where?

Written by MickyDitIt89

Arsenal won comfortably away from home, mmmmm, is that true, did they? Was it as comfortable as the score suggests? Not quite. Arsenal started brightly enough creating numerous chances but seemed to lack the ability to clinically finish the opportunities that were being laid before them. Away to Hull should always be regarded as a three point banker but as hard as we tried to even things up by squandering chance after chance the sheer volume of opportunities made it almost impossible to continue this benevolence and avoid converting at least one of the openings. And so it was: Iwobi fired home for what looked like his first goal of the season only to find out on closer inspection that Sanchez touched its way giving him the right to claim it for himself.

One – nil and all was going to plan. We were obviously going to push on from here right? No. More and more chances were being created and all coming to nothing. This wastefulness seemed to lift Hull’s spirits and they were starting to see a way back into the game but being the helpful chaps that they are one of them decided to put his hand out to block a shot that was going harmfully into their keeper’s arms. Hand ball! Yes it was. Livermore was sent off and Sanchez stepped up to put us two ahead and thereby allowing us to relax and enjoy the rest of the game. Nooooo. Sanchez propelled himself high up the charts of Arsenal’s most limp-wristed penalty attempts.

There is always a worry that any opposition can get back into the game when you are only one up even if you they only have ten men. So we had to suffer another twenty minutes of anxiety before Walcott earned his £90,000 wages this week and put us two up and the game to bed. Noooooo again. We ridiculously let them back into the game again when they were awarded a penalty for which Cech was lucky to stay on the pitch.

      Clearly a dive

Snodgrass (yes I know) showed Sanchez how it is done and converted the kick with power and accuracy. This led to more unnecessary worry for the next ten minutes before Sanchez put Snodgrass back in his place with a powerful drive of his own to make it three – one. Not even Arsenal were going to let that one slip and so the game came to an end and we all turned our attention towards the mid week game against Nottingham Forrest.

Smoke coming out of his fingers

Ooooooh no we didn’t; I have just waded through that lot up there to get to the golden nugget lying at the end of this rainbow. There is the small matter of the fourth goal and I am going to savour it. OMG and other very youthful over the top expressions; what a goal? The Exocet, the Howitzer, the Xhaka pile driver, can you think of the last time someone scored a goal from that far out? I just stood clapping in the middle of the 12 Pins for a good full five minutes. Which by the way has been modernised at last, more screens and all in HD. £9 to get in which gets you two drinks.

Back to the game and perhaps a little less of the snippy tone; this was a good win from a continually improving side. Wenger deployed his troops well, slowly introducing the new arrivals and giving opportunities to Iwobi and Walcott who are close to fulfilling their potential. My guess is that at the end Wenger was trying out important combinations in preparation for next week’s test against Chelsea. Can’t wait?

Schadenfreude.

Which gave you more pleasure – seeing the results of both Spurs and Man Utd or Arsenal getting a “plucky” draw (we could remove the P and be more accurate)  in Paris.

In Raddy’s case, the enjoyment of the two losses was considerable but fleeting, a little like a naughty doughnut, whereas the warm feelings created by the series of Cavani misses will help me through the long winter nights. So, on balance, I would have to say that a positive Arsenal result is better than a negative one for our rivals.

This is one of the most enjoyable parts of football fandom –  I care about other teams results in an antipathetic way. It isn’t enough that Arsenal gain 3 points and win handsomely, what heightens the enjoyment is an embarrassing loss for any of the Top 5 clubs.

What really piques the senses is when they lose points in an unjust manner such as Chelsea and Cahill getting “Marriner-ed” at Swansea which, following our questionable last-minute penalty the day before, made for an excellent weekend’s football.

Or is it just me?

written by Big Raddy

A point away to PSG, you’re going to take it all day long, especially when we consider just how many golden chances PSG had to kill the game off; if Giroud had had the chances that Cavani had and missed we would be laying into him like there was not tomorrow. True we could have had a second ourselves when the ball fell kindly to Iwobi and had he converted it we may well have won the game but on balance to win last night would have been very lucky indeed.

We’re getting better slowly but surely, we are obviously not where we want to be yet but it is plain to see that we are moving in the right direction. The encouraging thing is that we all know that there is more to come. It is not as though we are fielding our best eleven and they are playing at the top of their game and we are still gifting the opposition chance after chance. No, the best attack combination has not yet been found neither has the best midfield become clear but I think we all know or certainly hope that this is all doable and will happen. What I am trying to say is that there is a lot more to come from this squad and it is going to be great watching it unfold and develop.

The talking point before the game was the team selection with people questioning quite a few of Wenger’s team selection. As it turned out a lot of it made more sense than many realised and any criticism I make from here I realise I do so with the very useful aid of hindsight.

Ospina’s agility, which could be argued is better than Cech’s, kept us in that game with saves that got better and better as the game went on so much so that towards the end they can only be described as amazing; can’t criticise AW for that choice. The back line is the best we have and all did pretty well once they woke up, got their kit and boots on and took to the field which was shortly after PSG scored.

Mustafi looks as though he has been in that team for about three seasons. If he can be that influential after two games we have got ourselves one heck of a CB.

Coquelin was the right choice; he is so much better at defending than Xhaka but you wait and see what happens on Saturday: Xhaka will start because Hull will be on the back foot and we will need to find a way to break them down, same situation as Watford.

Cazorla? Who else could have played there? It was the right choice. Ozil obviously has to play; Walcott was injured so it made sense to start with Iwobi. Now we come to the problem areas. It is admirable that Wenger is not giving up on Oxlaide-Chamberlain but it is going to get downright infuriating if he continues for too much longer.

Which brings me to the question of Sanchez being or not being a striker? Could you imagine the Barcelona goalkeeper or the Barcelona CBs hoofing highballs up the field for Messi to get his head on? No you can’t. So why on earth do we do this with Sanchez? What is the point? We take a situation in which we have possession and then kick the ball in such a way that then reduces our chances of retaining it to 50-50 at best. The problem is not that Sanchez is not a CF the problem is that so many of the other players are continuing to play as though Giroud is up top. This being the case it is little wonder that we look better for the two or three minutes the FFP comes on before getting sent off for one act of petulance or another.

All that said, Sanchez does seem to be better coming in from the left. Hopefully on the weekend we may get a glimpse of Perez in the middle with Sanchez on the left. I hope so as this in my mind is the Holy Grail of the Arsenal attack.

My perfect team against Watford, Hull etc

—————Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
—————Xhaka
———–Cazorla——Ozil
—-Walcott, Perez, Sanchez

And against Chelsea, Man City, etc

—————Cech
Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal
—————Coquelin
———–Ramsey——Ozil
—-Walcott, Perez, Sanchez

LB

The Man City love in that went into overdrive this weekend is at last starting to abate and the focus is turning towards the appearance of the first chink in Perfect Pep’s amour: Claudio Bravo? Oh boy is he going to be bullied now. Claudio meet Arnoutovic and while I am at it here’s Shawcross……

It didn’t seem to cross a single one of those Guadiola fawning journalists that the reason for City’s dominance was not that they were so good but rather that Manu were so poor — and they were, as poor as pants in the first half. I look forward to playing them I don’t think we have anything to be worried about.

But before that, of course, we have the chance to test ourselves against Chelsea. Yet again I see no reason to be worried or certainly less than in recent seasons. Conte looks out of his depth especially in the transfer window. The idea of a Chelsea manger moaning about the spiraling cost of transfer fees got the same amount of sympathy from me as I did Keith Vaz for his infractions last week; you reap what you sow boys. Only being able to sign Batshuayi and Side Show Bob goes to show how hard it was to bring in big names and that is of course with the help of a billionaire who doesn’t care whether he ever gets repaid or not.

Or does he? We don’t get very much to chew on when it comes to Stan Kroenke but every now and then we get thrown a scrap. The last time was a couple of years ago when he was over and at the training ground where the memorable point he made was how Arsene Wenger was out in the rain taking the training sessions. The odd thing about this was that Kroenke was surprised that Wenger was prepared to get wet rather than, as I saw it, that our manager was simply doing his job for which he is very well paid. I know Wenger’s wages are used as a stick to beat him with but I think that it is appropriate here – a bit of rain, please?

Back to the story, Kroenke made one other observation that stayed with me and that was when asked about Chelsea’s spending, and this is the insight of one billionaire into another, he said that they may spend their money without return for a while but they won’t continue doing it forever and I think that is where we are with Chelsea now; their golden days of care free spending are over and, by contrast, the spending power that our new stadium affords us is now coming to the fore.

It wasn’t great on Saturday; we are not going to have a style of football named after us for that performance Tikka Takka? Nah. But what it did show, and I have been dying to use this line by VP of Oz, was that there was “a real sense that some steel was being forged”. Come on, how good is that? And what’s more, the more I think about it the more it rings true.

Arsene knows already who his “go to” back 5 are, so that is sorted. In the midfield there are many possibilities, all good and that can be altered and adjusted to suit the opposition which leaves the attack. It is not clear which is the best combo and I doubt that AW has it clear in his mind who his “go to” attack is either but fortunately we still have two more games to iron more of these things out and continue to improve before we are tested by Chelsea and if we can just keep 11 players on the field this time I think we will be singing ‘One Team in London’ with a bit more conviction this time around which brings me back to the title.

LB