Top row, left to right: Jack Lambert, David Jack, Bill Seddon,
Frank Moss, Herbie Roberts, Eddie Hapgood, Tom Whittaker, Alf Baker.
Bottom row, left to right: Joe Hulme, Jimmy Brain,
Tom Parker, Bob John, Alex James, Cliff Bastin.
The famous shirts, a lighter shade of red
with white sleeves, debuted in 1933.
April 18, 1931: Arsenal Football Club defeat Liverpool Football Club, 3-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. "Highbury" for its neighborhood in North London. This clinched the Football League First Division title for Arsenal, their 1st-ever such win, with 2 games to spare.
Herbert Chapman had been named Arsenal's manager, following his successes at Yorkshire team Huddersfield Town. In his 1st season, 1925-26, he improved them from 20th place and near relegation to 2nd place. But they fell back a bit: Despite reaching the FA Cup Final for the 1st time in 1927, losing to Cardiff City, they finished 11 in the League. They were 10th in 1928, 9th in 1929, and 14th in 1930, though they beat Huddersfield in the Final to win their 1st FA Cup. But by 1930-31, Chapman had built a team ready for the title.
A crowd of 39,143 saw the match. Herbie Roberts accidentally conceded an early own goal for Liverpool in the 3rd minute due to wind, but David Jack equalized in the 25th minute. Arsenal took control in the second half, with goals by Jack Lambert and Cliff Bastin.
Lambert, no relation to the later American football star of the same name, led the team with 39 goals, 38 in League play. Bastin, just past his 19th birthday and still nicknamed "Boy Bastin," went on to become the team's all-time leading scorer, with 178 goals. Through the 2021-22 season, he has been surpassed only by Ian Wright with 185, and Thierry Henry with 228.
At a time when 2 points were given for a win, and 1 for a draw, Arsenal reached 62 points for the season, while Aston Villa of Birmingham had 57. Two more wins for Villa and 2 losses for Arsenal would have meant Arsenal still won, 62-61. The final tally was Arsenal 66, Aston Villa 59.
In contrast, Arsenal's 1st defense of the FA Cup, won the previous season, did not go well: They needed a replay to defeat Villa in the 3rd Round, and lost to Chelsea in the 4th. This was well before there was any European club competition. The only game Arsenal played that season against a team from outside England was their Armistice Day game of November 11, 1930, a victory over Racing Club de France in Paris, which became an annual tradition until 1962.
In 1932, Arsenal had a "dubious double," finishing 2nd in the League to Liverpool team Everton F.C., and losing the Cup Final to North-East team Newcastle United. They won the League again in 1933. In the middle of the 1934 season, Chapman caught a cold and, this being the era before antibiotics, he died at the age of 55. Assistant manager Joe Shaw served as caretaker manager for the rest of the season, and led them to another title.
George Allison was then appointed manager, and led them to the League title again in 1935 and 1938, and to the Cup in 1936. Only World War II truly stopped Arsenal as the dominant team in England.
Of the players in Arsenal's 1930s dynasty -- all players were from England unless otherwise stated:
* Centre forward Jack Lambert was killed in a car accident in 1940. Centre half Herbie Roberts died in World War II, from an illness rather than anything to do with combat, while serving at a London post in 1944. Irish centre forward Jimmy Dunne died of a heart attack in 1949. Each of these players lived to see the next Arsenal League title, in 1948.
* The great Scottish inside left and later Captain Alex James died of cancer in 1953, right half Alf Haynes also in 1953, right half Alf Baker in 1955, team physiotherapist and manager starting in 1947 Tom Whittaker in 1956, manager George Allison in 1957, outside right David Jack in 1958, Scottish outside left Jackie Milne in 1959, assistant coach Joe Shaw in 1963, Welsh right half Charlie Jones in 1966, centreback Norman Sidey in 1969, goalkeeper Frank Moss in 1970, and Scottish goalkeeper Alex Wilson in 1971. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the FA Cup win of 1950 and the League title of 1953. Wilson also lived to see Arsenal win the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970.
* Centre forward Jimmy Brain died in 1971, left back Eddie Hapgood in 1973, Scottish inside left James Marshall in 1977, and goalkeeper Charlie Preedy in 1978. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the 1971 League and FA Cup "Double."
* Left half Wilf Copping and Dutch goalkeeper Gerrit Keizer died in 1980, Welsh left half Bob John in 1982; centre forward Ernie Coleman, centre half Bernard Joy, and centre half Leslie "Les" Compton in 1984; right back and team Captain Tom Parker in 1987, and Scottish inside left Bobby Davidson in 1988. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the 1979 FA Cup win. Parker and Davidson also lived to see the 1987 League Cup win.
* Outside right Joe Hulme and outside left Cliff Bastin died in 1991, right half Jack Crayston in 1992, and centreback Bill Seddon in 1993. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the 1989 and 1991 League titles.
* Scottish right half Frank Hill died later in 1993, centre forward Ted Drake in 1995, outside left Denis Compton (Les' brother) in 1997, and right back and later Captain George Male in 1998. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the 1993 FA Cup and League Cup "double," and the 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup.
* Centre forward Ray Bowden died later in 1998, centre forward Alf Kirchen in 1999, outside right Ralph Birkett in 2002; and goalkeeper George Swindin, who arrived in 1936, was the last survivor, living until 2005. Each of these lived to see the preceding, and also the 1998 Premier League and FA Cup Double. Birkett and Swindin also lived to see the 2002 League and Cup Double. And Swindin, who unsuccessfully managed the team from 1958 to 1962, lived to see the 2003 FA Cup, the 2004 unbeaten Premier League title, and the 2005 FA Cup.
*
April 18, 1931 was a Saturday. American-style football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The Stanley Cup was awarded 4 days earlier, as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks.
And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium. Despite pitching 15 innings, Roy Sherid was the losing pitcher for the Yankees. The winning pitcher was former Yankee Wilcy Moore, who pitched the last 9 innings.
Jack Rothrock led off the top of the 15th with a double, and Earl Webb singled him home. That season, Webb hit 67 doubles, to set a major league single-season record which still stands. Lyn Lary hit a home run for the Yankees. Babe Ruth went 2-for-6, and Lou Gehrig went 1-for-5.
* The New York Giants beat to the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-1 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Bill Terry went 0-for-5, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Mel Ott went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Hall-of-Famer Chuck Klein went 1-for-4 for the Phils.
* The Brooklyn Robins lost to the Boston Braves, 8-3 at Braves Field in Boston. This would be the last season for Brooklyn with Wilbert Robinson managing. For 1932, they dropped the name they took in his honor, and went back to the name they'd last used in 1913: The Brooklyn Dodgers.
* The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Former Yankee "Sad" Sam Jones outpitched Lefty Grove, holding Mickey Cochrane to 0-for-4 and Al Simmons to 1-for-4, while Jimmie Foxx did not play.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 11-2 at League Park in Cleveland. Mel Harder was the winning pitcher, and had an RBI single in his own cause. Joe Vosmik went 5-for-5, and Bibb Falk went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Luke Appling went 2-for-4 with both RBIs for the Pale Hose.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. Lon Warneke, later to be an ace pitcher for the Cubs, allowed a double and 4 walks, 2 of them with the bases loaded, in the top of the 10th inning. Jimmie Wilson went 2-for-4 with a walk and 4 RBIs. Former Cardinal Rogers Hornsby went 0-for-4 with a walk for the Cubs.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-6 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.) Harold "Pie" Traynor went 2-for-5 with an RBI, Paul Waner went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs, and Lloyd Waner went 4-for-6 with 1 RBI.
* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Jim Levey went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs. Charlie Gehringer and Gerald "Gee" Walker both went 3-for-5 for the Tigers, but it did no good.
No comments:
Post a Comment