28 August 1971: Arsenal 0 Stoke City 1: the double winners defeated three times in opening games.

There was a feeling that Arsenal had grown into the Double.  Two League Cup final defeats, the Fairs Cup win, and then the Double.  It was a progression, and I think there were many fans who really thought this rise and rise would be inexorable.

As we know, it wasn’t, and in a very real sense the sign that things would not be the same came as early as 8 July 1971 when Don Howe left Arsenal to manage WBA.  The move was not a success and WBA was relegated in 1973.   Don moved on to Leeds and to Galatasaray, before coming back to Arsenal in 1977 as coach with Terry Neil as manager.  But his loss as the footballing assistant to Bertie Mee was keenly felt.

Then on 22 July Jon Sammels was sold to Leicester for £100,000, after becoming a victim of the “boo-boys” in the crowd.  He had played 215 league games including 13 games in the Double season and went on to play 241 for Leicester, leaving them for Canada in 1977.  There is not question that he would have got a lot of games in 1971/2 had he stayed, but he would have been a valuable reserve.  But that element in the crowd that Arsenal have suffered from even since Chapman, was out in force and it was Sammels they went for.  If he had to go because of that, so be it, but a good replacement was needed.

Two days later the friendlies began and they included…

31 July 1971: Benfica 2 Arsenal 0.   This was designated the “Champions Challenge Match,” celebrating with each club’s victory in their respective leagues.   Again we see Marinello in the starting XI, and there were thoughts that maybe he had turned the corner.

4 August 1971:  The return of the Champions Challenge Match ended Arsenal 6 Benfica 2.  44,244 turned up to celebrate Arsenal as double winners.  Storey, Roberts, Graham 2, Armstrong, and Radford were the scorers.  Unfortunately the ref then reported Benfica for the behaviour of the entire team after he was attacked by several Benfica players.

7 August 1971.  Feyenoord 1 Arsenal 0  (63,000).  This was Charity Shield day, and Arsenal had of course won the double in 1970-71 but did not take part in the 1971 Charity Shield match having organised a pre-season trip to the Netherlands long before the end of the season.  I guess the excuse was that it was so long since Arsenal had played a Charity Shield game (1953 to be precise) that no one even wrote it in their diaries.   With Feyenoord threatening to sue if Arsenal didn’t show, and with no profit to the club from playing in the Charity Shield, the 1971 FA Cup Final runners up Liverpool and second division winners Leicester City were invited to take part instead.

 14 August 1971: And so the season began, and it got off to a cracking start with an opening match of Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0.  49,174 turned up and McLintock, Kennedy and Radford scored.

On August 17 there was more good news withHuddersfield 0 Arsenal 1.  The  attendance was a paltry 21,279.

But then came disaster in the oddest possible circumstances on August 20 withManchester Utd 3 Arsenal 1, in front of just 27,649.

The game was played at Anfield with Man United banned from playing their first two home matches anywhere at all within Greater Manchester, after their fans had thrown objects, believed to be knives into the away section at a match at the end of 1970/71 season.  Anfield and Stoke’s ground were selected as the replacement locations.

The front page of the Guardian announced with ill-concealed excitement and mock horror that “About 100 fans” were thrown out of Anfield, and that “the windows of some houses in Anfield were smashed and “600 skinheads” were said to have been “kept in check” by police.

Liverpool were instructed by the FA to pay Arsenal compensation for lost revenue. 

So Arsenal had an early defeat but in odd circumstances, and for match 4 on August 24 it was an even greater shock with Arsenal 0 Sheffield United 1 in front of 45,395.   

With a second home game just four days later Arsenal needed to pick themselves up, but instead August 28 gave us Arsenal 0 Stoke City 1 in front of 37,637.

After Ritchie scored in the 19^th minute Stoke looked for all the world as if they had done what they wanted and would now just see out the rest of the game – which is what they did.  Where the Arsenal forwards had previously looked capable of finding some kind of way through, now they looked uncertain when facing the packed defence.  It was as if everything that had worked last season, no longer worked this season.

There really was only one explanation: after the games against Man U and Sheffield U, Arsenal had started to lose belief in their own invincibility.

By the end of the month the season was not looking promising, not least because the teams Arsenal had beaten made up two of the bottom three.

Doubts were expressed about not having brought in a player or two to boost the team, and doubts about Mee’s tactics which had looked so right for three years, but suddenly didn’t seem to be all there.

27 August 1932: Arsenal start their run of three consecutive league titles.

The run of three consecutive league championships under three different managers (Chapman, Shaw, Allison) began with Birmingham 0 Arsenal 1.  The first goal of this unique Arsenal run was scored by Reg Stockill in his first match.  He only played four games in the season – but scored three goals.

However this was not his first achievement that would go down in history.   For although he was only 18 when he scored that opener for Arsenal he was already in the record books as being the England Schoolboy international who aged 15 years 281 days scored York City’s first-ever goal in the Football League against Wigan Borough.

And yet he was, utterly amazingly, allowed to leave the club after just two games, and went to Scarborough who in 1929/30 became Midland League Champions.

It was while he was still at Scarborough and still aged just 17 years 6 months that Arsenal signed him.  And yet despite all his promise and success he couldn’t get further goals…

Reg Stockill made his debut against Huddersfield Town on 27 April 1932 and played the last three games of 1931-32 and the first two of 1932-33, scoring in both, before being displaced by Ernie Coleman. He only played two more games for Arsenal, his final appearance being in the 8-0 win over Blackburn, in which Stockill again scored. After playing in the reserves for the 1933-34 season he moved to Derby County in September 1934. In total he played 8 games for Arsenal, (one in the cup) scoring four goals.

At Derby he suffered a serious knee injury on Boxing Day 1934 which kept him out of the game for fifteen months.   But he stayed at Derby for five seasons and played 66 league appearances scoring 29 goals before moving to Luton in 1939 playing the first three games of the season – before football was suspended due to the declaration of war on Germany.

We have no record of him thereafter, save that he died on 24 December 1995, aged 82.  

26 August 1893: James Tennant tricked into signing for East Stirlingshire (when drunk)

James Tennant played outside left for Woolwich Arsenal in 51 league matches, scoring 8 goals.

He was born in Parkhead, Glasgow in 1878, and his clubs are listed as Linton Villa, Parkhead, St Bernard’s, Woolwich Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Watford and Stenhousemuir.  

In 1899/1900 he played in 26 league games and scored 6 goals, and in the following season 25 games and scored 2.

On 2 September 1899 Tennant made his first appearance (along with James Jackson).  It was the first game of the season – Arsenal’s seventh in the league and the first under Harry Bradshaw – the man who gave Arsenal promotion.  

Although the match resulted in the club starting the season with a 0-2 defeat at home to Leicester Fosse, Tennant kept his position for the first four games (the fall guy was another Glaswegian, Hannigan at outside right, for whom that match was his first and last).

But Tennant returned at the end of the year and then kept his place until the end of the season in which Arsenal finished 8th.

His second season was much the same – in the starting XI for the first five games, then a few intermittent appearances, and then a run from January to the end of the season, in which we came 7th.

27 April 1901 saw his final game, a 0-1 defeat to New Brighton Tower. He also made three cup appearances, all in his second season, and scored two goals.

But there is one more thing – and I found this on the Falkirk Football History site and for which I have taken the information mostly verbatim from the site.  I am writing to them today to express my thanks.

In essence, a couple of Falkirk players mistakenly signed for East Stirlingshire.  Both players, through the secretary of the Falkirk club (Mr Robert Bishop) desired East Stirlingshire to release them, which E.S. refused.

Macfarlane and Tennant afterwards made application to the Scottish Football Association for reinstatement as amateurs, which was rejected on the ground that it was the duty of the players to get the professional forms reduced.

Then followed an action by Macfarlane and Tennant in the Court of Session against E.S.F.C., and several of the office bearers, members of committee, and two of the members, to have the professional forms reduced, in which action defences were lodged and expensive and prolonged litigation was in prospect which no one wanted.  Eventually an agreement was reached which read…

First The Falkirk Football Club shall unreservedly withdraw and apologise for, in writing, all insinuations and imputations contained in the various letters sent by their Secretary to the East Stirlingshire Football Club anent the circumstances and others, under which the said Thomas McFarlane and James Tennant signed foresaid professional forms; and the said Thomas McFarlane and James Tennant and the said Falkirk Football Club, for their Interest, shall unreservedly withdraw and apologise for, in writing, all insinuations and imputations contained in foresaid summons and reduction against the East Stirlingshire Football Club and their members.

Second- In consideration thereof the East Stirlingshire Football Club shall, so far as they can competently do so, grant release to the said Thomas McFarlane and James Tennant of their professional engagements with them.

Third- The Falkirk Football Club and the East Stirlingshire Football Club shall play a friendly game at football at Brockville Park, Falkirk, on the afternoon of Saturday, ninth December, eighteen hundred and ninety three, at half-past two o’clock; the game to be suitably advertised. The price of admission shall be sixpence per head. The members of both clubs shall be admitted free on showing their membership cards. The free proceeds of the gate money shall be divided equally between the two clubs. Out of the share falling to the Falkirk Football Club there shall be paid to East Stirlingshire Football Club the sum of seven pounds ten shillings sterling.

Fourth- Both parties shall concur in having the action of reduction before referred to taken out of court with all convenient speed. The pursuers and defenders in said action shall each pay their own expenses.

Fifth- The Falkirk Football Club and the East Stirlingshire Football Club shall pay the expenses of this agreement equally.

25 August 1899: Arsenal chairman warns the club players to lay off the whisky before a game.

The chairman in question was George Leavey who said, “No man with a skinful of whisky can play football.”

For much of its existence Arsenal has been dependant on benefactors – men who put their own money into the club in order that it may survive.

George Leavey ran a chain of Gentleman’s Outfitters, and opened a shop in Woolwich in 1896. For a number of years he put money into the club to keep it afloat, and was first elected a director in 1898, becoming Chairman in 1899 and club president in 1900, a post in which he remained until 1910. He was then re-installed as Chairman again when Norris took over, retiring at the end of April 1912.

At the June 1899 AGM Leavey concluded the meeting with a request to the public present not to offer drink to the players. He went further at a pre-season dinner for the players in August 1899 when he stated: “Woolwich is a place fraught with much mischief to young men. Half past twelve closing may be good in its way, but it is unquestionably bad for football. Don’t let people stand you drinks. They will do you and the club the greatest evil that can be done. No man with a skinful of whisky can play football”.

As chairman at the half-yearly general meeting in January 1900 he made an impassioned speech concerning the very existence of Arsenal as a going concern, but he was determined to keep them afloat during the Boer War and he moved the resolution: “That this meeting hears with regret of the difficulties of the Arsenal Football Club owing very largely to the continuous pressure of work in the Royal Arsenal, and hereby pledges itself to use every endeavour to assist the club through its present financial difficulties and heartily wishes the old club success and greater prosperity in the near future”.

His and Lawrance’s finances, and the re-introduction of Humble’s administrative nous ensured the worst deficit in the club’s history was overcome in 1900. The improvement was such that Leavy was quoted as saying the finances were back to being “eminently satisfactory” by the 1903 AGM.

In 1909 the Kentish Independent stated that Leavey had paid the players’ wages several times during that close season, and it may have been this that was the final proverbial straw which led to voluntary liquidation.  Following the low share take up in 1910, Leavey turned to Norris, and the Kentish Independent noted: “Arsenal club saved. Fulham Gentlemen on the board. The Arsenal Football Club crisis has taken another and a sensational turn”.

Leavey reported the rescue arrangements at the Football League sub‑committee meeting on 18^th May 1910 and thus handed over the financial reins to Norris and as part of the takeover Norris agreed to pay the liabilities of the company.  A large part of those were the £3,600 owed to George Hiram Leavey.

It is frightening to consider how much he had given the club in addition to that which was formally recorded as in 1908 it was stated by Humble that Leavey had lent the club in the region of £15,000 for transfers over the previous years.

50 years ago today: 24 August 1971: Arsenal 0 Sheffield United 1

Arsenal were of course double winners in 1971, and started the following season full of hope for further glory.  Indeed they won their opening two games of the 1971/2 season beating Chelsea and Huddersfield.  But then came a shock – a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.

That game was played at Anfield, as Man U were banned from playing their first two home matches anywhere at all within Greater Manchester, after their fans had thrown objects, believed to be knives into the away section at a match at the end of 1970/71 season.  The front page of the Guardian announced with ill-concealed excitement and mock horror that “About 100 fans” were thrown Anfield, and that “the windows of some houses in Anfield were smashed and “600 skinheads” were said to have been “kept in check” by police.

With the deep analytic ability for which Fleet Street was and is famed we were told that the  hooligans were “mindless”.  That was it.

So Arsenal had an early defeat but in odd circumstances, but  for match 4 on August 24 it was an even greater shock with Arsenal 0 Sheffield United 1 in front of 45,395.   That things were not going to go as well as everyone had hoped was now completely apparent and it was clear that the result against Man U could not be put down to being “just one of those things,” what with the game played at Anfield.

But this was different.   Newly promoted Sheffield United based their game on endless energy – everyone ran constantly looking for the best position, and it left Arsenal unsure who was where, and who should be marked by whom.  Mee’s tactics looked askew, and there was no Don Howe to make suggestions – Don having moved on.

In fact it was Arsenal that looked more like a newly promoted side than the visitors, who controlled the pace of the game in the manner and style of George Graham last season.

Unfortunately, having found the game not going as they expected Arsenal didn’t seem to have another plan, and with no Charlie George to provide the unexpected, Arsenal were reduced to looking very ordinary indeed.

With a second home game just four days later Arsenal needed to pick themselves up, but instead August 28 gave us Arsenal 0 Stoke City 1 in front of 37,637.  After five games Arsenal, the double champions, were 15^th.

23 August 1958: George Swindin’s first match as manager: Preston 2 Arsenal 1.

Arsenal however then won five of the next six, scoring 24 goals in the process and there was real hope that Arsenal would return to the best of days they had under Tom Whittaker, but it was not to be, and under Swindin Arsenal never won a single opening day’s match.

Swindin took over the club in the saddest of circumstances when in October 1956 Tom Whittaker died of a heart attack.  Whittaker had won the league twice and the FA cup as manager of the club, and served Arsenal over the years as player, assistant manager and finally manager.   Like Chapman and Allison before him, Whittaker won the league twice but his championship in 1952/3 was the last trophy of the club until 1971 – and indeed the only near misses in that spell were the two league cup final defeats under Bertie Mee in 1968 and 1969.

George Hedley Swindin, between 1936 and 1954, made 297 appearances for Arsenal as a goalkeeper, including two seasons when he appeared 42 times for the first team.

George was born in Doncaster and played for Rottherham YMCA, New Stubbin Colliery, Rotherham United, Bradford City (his first professional appointment), Arsenal and Peterborough United.

Swindin made his Arsenal début on September 3, 1936, in a team that include Male, Hapgood, Crayston, Copping, Hulme, Drake and Bastin.

He was one of three players used in that season in goal, and was said to be erratic at first. Despite the club again using three keepers the following year under the management of George Allison, we won the league and George Swindin got his league winners’ medal.

In the war, in common with many players, he became a physical training instructor, and continued to play in wartime matches.

In the second season after the war Arsenal won the league with Swindin in goal for every game, keeping clean sheets in 21 out of 42 games.   After 1950 he was again sharing the number 1 shirt, but played in two cup finals in 1950 and 1952, winning the first.

He finally came under the challenge of Jack Kelsey but played enough in 1952/3 to get his third championship medal – the final triumph of the Whittaker era.

Swindin moved to Midland League side Peterborough United as player-manager in 1954, and took his team to several famous FA Cup runs and three consecutive Midland League titles between 1956 and 1958.

When George Swindin became manager in 1958 it is said in most histories that he made huge changes to Jack Crayston’s side that had come 12th in the previous season.  But this is not quite true.

For 1958/9 the opening XI on the first day of the season were all players who were there the year before.  Newcomers did arrive or were promoted from the reserves, but in this first season only Docherty (38 games) and Henderson (21 games) made a significant number of starts.

But Arsenal were top of the league in February 1959 , however they slipped away despite the return of top scorer David Herd after a period of injury at the end of 1958).   After this the chopping and changing did start, and by the end of the year seven players had made their first start for Arsenal, but of these probably only the name of John Barnwell will be particularly remembered.

Eventually the club reached third place, but that was the high point and after that the darkness set in.

George’s record was not too after that.  13th in 1960 (and knocked out of the cup by Rotherham), 11th in 1961, 10th in 1962 – there seemed to be no progress.

What is noticeable is that the number of players who played 25 or more league games a year (out of 42) declined year by year under Swindin, and yet in the 10 years from 1952 to 1962 the best years were the years with the most players playing over 25 games.  Consistency was always a winner at this time.  By his final year as manager all the players he had inherited apart from Jack Kelsey had gone and the regular players we were left with were McCullough, Eastham, Bowen and McLeod – the four who with Jack Kelsey made over 35 appearances in the final season.

After resigning as manager in May 1962 he went to Norwich for five months, and then Cardiff from 1962 to 1964, resigning after the club were relegated to the second division.   After that he moved to Kettering Town and Corby Town, and then left football finally taking over a garage in Corby before retiring to Spain.  He returned to England later but suffered from Alzheimer’s.  He died in Kettering in October 2005, aged 90.

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22 August 1914: Tottenham 1 Arsenal 5.

Much has been written about Tottenham’s objections to Woolwich Arsenal moving from Plumstead to Highbury, with Tottenham fearing that the move would diminish their crowds.

And yet within a year of the move the two clubs were playing a pre-season friendly at Tottenham.

This was Arsenal’s only pre-season friendly recorded for the season, although it is more than likely that a match between the first team and the reserves was also played as this seemed to happen each year. 

13,564 turned up for the first match between the two after the move to north London, reflecting a certain thawing in relationships although the idea of the game was not repeated until 1938, suggesting that one explanation is that Arsenal offered the game at WHL as part of a way of smoothing the situation between the two clubs.

Although it should be noted that games between the two clubs were not unusual for by the time of this match the two had played each other over 40 times.  Many of the games were friendlies but there was also a series in the United League in which both teams played in the late 19^th century.

The first Football League match between them was in 1909, and these games quickly drew the attention of the crowds even when the clubs were on opposite sides of the river.  In fact the league game on Christmas Day 1911 saw a crowd of 47,100 at White Hart Lane.  Unfortunately Arsenal lost 5-0.

Tottenham had feared that Arsenal’s move north would reduce crowds for both the clubs and neighbouring Clapton Orient but in fact the opposite happened.

Yet in the first season at Highbury, with Clapton Orient and Woolwich Arsenal in the second division and Tottenham in the first the local derby was a second division affair – and amazingly it had drawn a record 35000 to Highbury.  But interestingly, as Norris also predicted, Tottenham boosted their crowd figures too, because, it seemed, there was a growth in interest in football in north and north east London generally.  One of the three clubs was in the news each day and the local press vied with each other for some snippet of news from the clubs.

21 August 2001: Arsenal 1-2 Leeds

So why feature a defeat in August in this series? 

The answer simply is that this was League Match 2 of the third double season – after a 4-0 away win on the opening day of the season against Middlesbrough as Arsenal went unbeaten away all season.  But we lost at home and there was much gnashing of teeth and proclaiming that Arsenal were “simply not good enough”

Leeds were managed by David O’Leary and he was keen to prove his metal as a manager and show Leeds could challenge.  They played defensive, they played like Leeds.   Lee Bowyer and Danny Mills were sent off.

But it all started well as Wiltord almost scored in the first minute.  Then the tackles came flying in.  Eirik Bakke, Olivier Dacourt, Bowyer and Mills were all booked early on for evil challenges which would have had rugby league commentators talking about it being a “man’s game”.

Sadly for Arsenal and sadly for football, Leeds prospered after 28 minutes.  The got a free kick for no good reason on the edge of the area after Mills tripped himself up. Seaman started to sort out the wall but Harte shot and scored.   Still, we can’t complain too much – Henry used the tactic later – against the Villa I seem to remember.

Minutes later Wiltord headed in from Cole’s cross and it was 1-1.  But it wasn’t enough – Leeds came back, the tackles came back, and on 52 minutes Leeds scored again via Viduka.

Arsene Wenger brought on Dennis Bergkamp and he nearly equalised, as did van Bronckhorst, but it wasn’t to be.  Two games: one away win, one home defeat.

In the next eight games we won four and drew four, and in fact it wasn’t until 2002 that we really got ourselves together.  But in the opening games it wasn’t looking so certain.

Seaman

Lauren Campbell Adams Cole

Ljungbert Vieira Parlour Pires

Henry  Wiltord

20 August 1960: Alan Skirton plays his first game for Arsenal.

Alan Skirton was born 23 January 1939 in Bath, and was signed from Bath City for £5000 in January 1959 by George Swindin.   In total he had 153 games for Arsenal’s first team in League and Cup.

He moved on to play as an amateur with Bristol City but they chose not to sign him, but having returned to Bath he was picked up as a possible player both by Arsenal and Chelsea.  However he chose Arsenal because they had a reputation for helping to train players for their career after football.

Unfortunately soon after signing, Alan was taken ill with TB and missed a whole year from his career.

His debut came on 20 August 1960 when played at number 7 in the first game of the season, a 3-2 away defeat at Burnley.  In all he played 16 league games that season both at outside right and outside left, sometimes playing on the opposite wing to Danny Clapton, with the players also alternating in playing position on occasion.

In his second season he played in 38 of the 42 league games and became the club’s top scorer.  But, as with so many players before and since, he then lost his place not because of a loss of form but because of change of manager.  However over time other players did emerge to challenge him most notably John Macleod and George Armstrong.

In 1966/7 Alan only played the first two games of the season before being transferred to Blackpool, but this time his transfer was not because of one player taking his place.   Armstrong played most of the season at outside left, but there was no settled player for the number 7 shirt, Coakley, Nelson, Court and Simpson all trying the position without enormous success.

The transfer to Blackpool was for £65,000 and Alan left having played 145 league games for Arsenal, and scoring 53 goals.  After that he played for Bristol City, Torquay United, Durban City (in South Africa) and Weymouth.

Upon retirement Alan became a commercial manager at Weymouth, Bath City and finally, Yeovil.

Although the club won no trophies during Alan’s time with Arsenal, he himself created a record as the first Arsenal player to score a goal in a European game – scoring the first goal in the second leg of round 1 of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup.  The game was against Stævnet of Denmark on 22 October 1963 – Arsenal had won the first leg 7-1 (Geoff Strong got three as did Joe Baker – MacLeod getting the other).  The second leg was lost 2-3 in front of just 13,569 people.

Alan Skirton did an interview for Arsenal.com and speaking of Arsenal he made this comment,

“When you had played 11 games for the first team you got a blazer. I was as pleased as punch going down to the West End to get measured up. It was marvellous. It meant the world to me.

“Arsenal was, and still is, a lovely football club. I came to a tribute night for my friend Frank McLintock and sitting next to me was a lady and her son. It was Geordie Armstrong’s wife and son… tremendous.

^“This is what Arsenal is all about. One of the players who is sadly not with us anymore but not forgotten by the Club who has embraced his family. I just think this is incredible; it’s something Arsenal is so fantastically good at. They never seem to forget. Anybody that has been connected with Arsenal will always be very, very glad about it.

“I enjoyed every minute of my time there and the teams I played in with the likes of George Eastham, Joe Baker, Jimmy Bloomfield, George Armstrong, Jon Sammels, Frank McLintock and others would be a mile in front of the stars of today.”

Alan also had an insight to offer on the fitness approach under Bertie Mee as physio as Alan returned from a year out.   “When I reported to Highbury I was still on 10 tablets a day but he [Mee] ran my guts out to get me fit. I even had to run around Highbury with Bertie on my back. I tell you I threw up every morning and afternoon at those sessions. But I thought the world of that fellow; he was such a lovely man.”

Alan retired in 2002 and passed away on 12 May 2019 at the age of 80.

19 August 1989: The start of a new season after winning the League at Anfield. But what happened?

1989 gave Arsenal its most famous end of season triumph of the modern era – replicating the achievements of 1 May 1953 by winning the league in the last match of the season.  It was the club’s first league trophy in 18 years.

But then what?  

There were only two transfers in the ensuing weeks…

20 June 1989: Goalkeeper Andrew Marriott sold to Nottingham Forest.  He never played a league match for Arsenal, but between 1989 and 2011 he played for 17 clubs, with Wrexham (255 games) being his one long term playing engagement.  He has since become part of the McLaren Formula 1 team and worked with WBA.

14 July 1989: Rhys Wilmot transferred to Plymouth after eight league games for Arsenal and three loan spells.  He played 133 times for Plymouth and retired from playing in 1997, after which he became a goalkeeper coach.

The Sweden Tour

22 July 1989: Skelleftea 2 Arsenal 3 (Smith, Merson, Campbell) [Alan Miller’s first appearance for Arsenal]

24 July 1989: FK Mjolner (Norway) 0 Arsenal 4 (Merson, Adams, Quinn, Campbell)

26 July 1989: Lulea 2 Arsenal 2 (Adams, Campbell)

On 28 July 1989 Sigurður Jónsson (known as Siggi) was signed from Sheffield Wednesday for £475,000 but his time with Arsenal was plagued with injury and he only made 8 appearances. He was however voted one of the 10 top Icelandic players of all time.

The Makita Tournament

29 July 1989: Arsenal 1 Porto 0 (own goal)

30 July 1989: Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0 (Bould)

What was interesting here was the lowness of the crowd at Wembley – 20,000 for the first game and 23,000 for the second.  Although I should add Arsenal’s largest home crowd in the 1988/9 season was just 41,008.  Indeed on 1 May only 28,449 turned up for Arsenal 5 Norwich 0

Zenith Data Systems Challenge Trophy in Miami

6 August 1989: Arsenal beat Independiente 2-1 but had Gus Caesar and Gary Lewin sent off.  Rocastle got both goals.

The Charity Shield

63,149 turned up for this match – by no means a full house, but at least a little better than the Makita.   The news that Gus Caesar was replacing Steve Bould for Arsenal was not exactly what was hoped for.   But it was the first time Arsenal had been in the Charity Shield for ten years, and the previous record was won seven (the same as Liverpool) and lost three so there was hope for a victory.

The press had been practicing the art of football cynicism for a number of years, and showed no signs of changing their tune.  The Times as always, having a profound downer on anything Arsenal were involved in, calling it “little more than another public training exercise for sides who are increasingly being invited to practise for the season in more lucrative and prestigious events on foreign fields,” which was undoubtedly a knock at the USA trip, rather than Sweden and Norway.

On the half hour Liverpool scored through Beardsley.  Richardson missed a chance to equalise and Arsenal looked quite unlike the club that had so emphatically seen off Liverpool at Anfield.  Even the taking off of Caesar and bringing on Marwood didn’t really help that much, and it was not a great advert for adventurous football.  Or indeed football.

The teams…

Lukic, Dixon, Thomas, O’Leary, Winterburn, Adams, Rocastle, Richardson, Smith, Caesar, Merson, (subs Marwood, Quinn)

What happened next…

19 August 1989: In the first league match after winning the title in the last seconds at Anfield, Arsenal lost 4-1 away to Man U.  However the club were then undefeated in the next seven and so went into the Tottenham match having won five, drawn two, lost one.