A Cultured Left Foot

Arsenal - A History From 1930

An interesting variation on the usual history style books, this is a collection of newspaper cuttings, culled from Mirror Group Newspapers. No narrative is added to the scanned front and back pages, leaving the unexpurgated news reports of the day intact. Those who remember the ‘Arsenal Reports’ from the late 1980s and early 1990s will be familiar with format, albeit not in the nicely bound version of this tome.Despite covering nearly eighty years, the focus is heavily on the ‘Wenger Years’. The past decade comprises the material for over half of the book. In some respects, this is disappointing given the rich heritage that Arsenal has but understandable in others, for example pages not scanning correctly or being illegible over time.

The book opens with the Sunday Pictorial from Sunday, April 27, 1930, and an A4 reproduction of the Graf Zeppelin over Wembley and the news that,

The King, after an earlier announcement that he would be unable to see the game, made the journey from Windsor when the weather improved and was accorded a tumultuous ovation

The style of journalistic writing may have changed but the tabloid element has not, ‘Arrest Ghandi!’ screams the headline above the FA Cup Final for that day. In this day of CGI and computer graphics, The Daily Mirror of April 25, 1932 proves that the new technology does not necessarily mean that they are an improved, showing that the referee and linesman could not possibly have seen that the ball was out of play before Boyd centred for Allen to score Newcastle’s equaliser in the previous Saturday’s FA Cup Final. The white dotted lines are just as, if not more, effective as their modern counterparts.

Major games in the clubs history are covered and you get some opinion columns such as Stan Halsey’s from April 1950 commenting about how ‘Arsenal didn’t need any luck’. Reflecting the paucity of silverware, the 1960s are barely mentioned other than a 4 - 1 drubbing of Manchester United in 1965 and 1969s 3 - 1 win over Wolves that ensured European qualification for the following season.

The modern era is better served and not limited to Cup Finals or League Title wins. Dennis Bergkamp’s signing merits a page on its own along with the wild rumour that Arsenal and Spurs were going to battle for Paul Ince’s signature if his move to Internazionale fell through. Pires, Reyes and Henry’s arrivals get similar treatment. Individual match reports of wins over Middlesbrough and Birmingham sit somewhat uncomfortably next to the 5 - 4 at White Hart Lane, 4 - 0 in Eindhoven and 5 - 1 in the San Siro. Birmingham seemingly included for containing Robert Pires’ 50th League goal for the club which is as good a reason as any in my book.

If I do have a gripe, the reports for losing finals are missed out but not en masse. Zaragoza (1995) and Barcelona are included but Galatasaray (2000) is not; Ipswich [1978] is there but 1980 is wiped from the map in its entirety as is Luton [1988] and Chelsea (2007). The latter is baffling as the victory over Manchester United at The Emirates six weeks earlier features. A pity also that the semi final victories over Tottenham through the ages are missed out. Inconsistencies that perhaps the publishers will iron out in future editions for this book deserves to be sitting on bookshelves as a contemporaneous record of the clubs history.

You can purchase directly from Historic Newspapers at their site, Devoted To Sport.

Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly Arsenal Gift Book (Ed. Simon Inglis)

In an age of materialism and shallow celebrity, the modern footballer has it all. The tabloids feed off them and vice versa in a mutually destructive relationship, for those who crave the attention will be eventually roasted on its fires or are a part of the salacious roasting that takes place.

It is refreshing to read of days gone by, not through the rose tinted spectacles of a former player but through the articles of the time. Synonymous with an era long since ended, Charles Buchan’s Arsenal Gift Book (Ed. Simon Inglis), is a selection of articles from Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly covering the period of its existence in 1951 before being cast to the publishing winds in 1973.

The book opens and closes with successful periods in the clubs history . Following on from the League title in 1953, there would be no honours until 1970, title and cup dreams fading to sepia as the years wore on.

That this is from a different age is reflected in John Thompson’s recollections of the story of the magazine,

There was a certain dream-like quality in reading Lord Londonderry’s description of how he had become a director of Arsenal…because of a conversation over dinner at Buckingham Palace with the Master of the Horse, who happened to be Chairman of Arsenal

A reputation as the ‘Establishment’ club seemed well deserved.

The contrasts between the players of then and now could not be highlighted more starkly than the images of Joe Mercer in his butchers shop in Hoylake. Or reading how Cliff Holton had joined the RAF as a tool-maker when a delay in producing documents meant he was at home to receive news that Arsenal ‘were interested in me‘.

This should be a required book for all current ‘stars’ of the game. Next time they argue over five thousand pounds on a sixty thousand pound per week deal, perhaps consideration could be given to Mercer and his peers who struggled to earn those sums in a career, even allowing for decimalisation and monetary inflation.

If the journalism reflects a more respectful time, players such as Derek Tapscott relish the chance of signing, surprised that such a club would be interested in them. It reflects the standing of the club in the game, they were honoured to be part of Arsenal.

The latter years continue the style of reporting, more human interest than analysis. Frank McLintock asks ‘How do you explain to a five-year-old that the bottom had just fallen out of your world‘ following on from the 1 - 3 defeat to Swindon following on from a couple of pages of how Arsenal could not possibly lose the game.

There is little analytical or investigative reporting into what was actually going wrong at the time; that simply was not the magazines style although one article from October 1968 qualifies as such a piece and finishes by showing how cyclical football really is,

Perhaps too we will see some Arsenal-raised youngsters coming off the assembly line into the First Division. This will be a new and refreshing thing to behold. For in this era of inflated transfer fees dominating an often lunatic market, Arsenal’s cash is no better than the next club’s when it comes to buying current success.

It would have been easy for the book to be interspersed with commentary between the articles. As it is, the editorial foreword and postscript are accompanied by an excellent contextual introduction by Jon Spurling leaving the articles to be reproduced, providing a marvellous flowing timeline in the clubs history.

The book can be bought online for £14.99 from Played In Britain and is thoroughly recommended as a present this Christmas.