April 26, 1930: The Final's Clubs Come Out Together

The Captains: Tom Parker of Arsenal (left)

and Tom Wilson of Huddersfield Town

April 26, 1930: The FA Cup Final is held at the old Wembley Stadium in London. North London team Arsenal, managed by Herbert Chapman, are looking for their 1st Cup win since their foundation in 1886, having previously made the Final in 1927, losing to Cardiff City.

Their opponents are Yorkshire team Huddersfield Town, formerly managed by Chapman. He had led them to win the Cup in 1922, and the Football League in 1924 and 1925, setting them up to win it again in 1926, under his successor, Cecil Potter. They were now managed by Clem Stephenson, who had played for Huddersfield under Chapman; and, before that, had played for Birmingham team Aston Villa, winning the Cup in 1913 and 1920.

As a tribute to Chapman, For this reason, the 2 teams -- Arsenal in scarlet shirts with white collars, but not yet with the famous white sleeves, Huddersfield in blue and white stripes -- come out together, the 1st time it was ever done. It started a tradition, and now, all over the world, for games large and small, the teams come out together in a show of sportsmanship.

Shirt from the 1930 FA Cup Final,

worn by Arsenal right half Alf Baker

Shirt worn by Huddersfield left back

Marshall Bonwell "Bon" Spence.

Note the White Rose of Yorkshire.

In the middle of the game, the Graf Zeppelin flew over the stadium. This was during Germany's Weimar Republic, not yet the Nazi era.

Note also that the roof at Wembley Stadium

does not yet extend around the ends. That was done in 1963.

Arsenal won, 2-0. Alex James scored in the 16th minute, and Jack Lambert (no relation to the later Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker of the same name) put the game away in the 88th. It was the 1st major trophy for the Gunners, who would go on to dominate the 1930s in English soccer the way Huddersfield had dominated the 1920s.

Before the game, both teams met with Britain's King George V. After the game, Arsenal Captain Tom Parker (no relation to the man of the same name who would later be Elvis Presley's manager) led the team up the 39 steps to the Royal Box, and accepted the Cup from the King.

King George V, the Cup, and Captain Tom Parker at center.

Note Prince Albert, Duke of York, the future King George VI, at left.

Note also the the future King Edward VIII is not in the royal box.

Foreshadowing, perhaps?

As of their 2020 win, Arsenal have won the FA Cup more than any other team: 14 times. Huddersfield Town are still looking for their 1st Cup win since 1922.

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April 26, 1930 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium. George Pipgras went the distance for the win. Lou Gehrig hit a home run. Babe Ruth went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 13-2 and 7-5 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Over the 2 games, Travis Jackson went 5-for-10 with a home run in each game and 4 RBIs, Bill Terry went 4-for-9 with a home run in each game, a walk, and 3 RBIs, Mel Ott went 4-for-7 with 2 walks and 5 RBIs, and the Phils' Chuck Klein went 2-for-9 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Robins (as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager from 1914 to 1931) lost to the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 8-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The A's bullpen blew it for Lefty Grove. Al Simmons went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Mickey Cochrane went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Jimmie Foxx went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Lloyd Waner did not play, but Paul Waner went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, and Frankie Frisch went 2-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-4 at League Park in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Benny Frey pitched a 7-hit shutout. Rogers Hornsby appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Cubs, but did not reach base.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Alvin Crowder, known as "General" after World War I figure General Enoch Crowder, pitched a 6-hit shutout to beat future Hall-of-Famer Ted Lyons.

April 18, 1931: The 1st Football League Title for Arsenal (Or Any Southern Team)

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.

It was also the 1st top-flight title for any team in the South of England, let alone one in London. Most titles had been won in the North: In Liverpool (4 by Liverpool, 3 by Everton), in Manchester (2 by United), in Lancashire (2 by Preston North End, 2 by Blackburn Rovers, 1 by Burnley), in Yorkshire (4 by Sheffield Wednesday, 3 by Huddersfield Town, 1 by Sheffield United), in in the North-East (5 by Sunderland, 4 by Newcastle United). Titles had also been won by Midlands teams (6 by Aston Villa, 1 by West Bromwich Albion). But, from the founding of the Football League in 1888 until 1931, never a Southern team, until The Arsenal did it.

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.

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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.

January 6, 1934: The Death of Herbert Chapman

January 6, 1934: Herbert Chapman dies of pneumonia, just short of his 56th birthday, at his home in Hendon, North-West London.

Chapman was born on January 19, 1878, in Kiveton Park, South Yorkshire, England. An inside forward, he was, like many great managers and head coaches in sports, an ordinary player. In 1907, he became the manager of Northampton Town, and he led them to the Southern League title in 1909. In 1912, he moved on to Leeds City. Financial irregularities forced the team out of business, and Chapman was disgraced, even though he had nothing to do with the irregularities.

But in 1921, Yorkshire team Huddersfield Town hired him, and he took them to glory, winning the FA Cup in 1922, and the Football League Division One in 1924 and 1925. Desperate for the same kind of glory, Sir Henry Norris, chairman of North London team Arsenal, hired Chapman.

It took 5 years, and a lot of money and transactions, but Chapman made Arsenal the best team in England -- maybe the best in the world. With a defense led by Tom Parker and Eddie Hapgood, and an attack led by Alex James and Cliff Bastin, they won the FA Cup in 1930, and the League in 1931 and 1933. 

In the process, he undertook a massive overhaul of the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its neighborhood. In 1932, the East Stand, with its Art Deco front and marble halls, opened. He began to rebuild the West Stand in the same fashion.

The East Stand

He also made the Arsenal name known through Europe, by taking on all comers in exhibition games, or "friendlies" as they're known in soccer. Typical of this was the annual contest on or near Armistice Day, November 11, against Racing Club Paris. (They were one of the leading teams in France at the time, but this has long since stopped being the case.) There were also tours of Austria and Scandinavia, and games against the top teams in Scotland. And he wrote a column that appeared in a national newspaper, The Sunday Express.

On December 30, 1933, he managed Arsenal to a 0-0 draw against Birmingham City at St. Andrews' Stadium in Birmingham. No one knew it at the time, but it would be his last match. On January 1, 1934, after a a New Year's celebration in London, Chapman went on a scouting trip to Nottingham, to see Notts County play Manchester area team Bury. We may never know which player he was looking to buy, as Arsenal did not end up buying any players from either team over the next year. The next day, he went to Yorkshire to watch Sheffield Wednesday, Arsenal's next opponent. He spent the night at his hometown of Kiveton Park.

When he got back to London, he had a cold, but instead of staying inside, he braved the Winter chill to watch an Arsenal reserve team match. He developed pneumonia. In those pre-antibiotic days, there was little that could be done. Early in the morning of January 6, he died. Incredibly, Arsenal's match that day with Wednesday, then a very good team, was played as scheduled, and ended in a 1-1 draw.

As great a tragedy as it was for Arsenal, Chapman gave them the greatest gift of all: He built a team that didn't need him. Joe Shaw, former player and now assistant coach, was named caretaker manager, and he took them to another title in 1934.

George Allison, a longtime associate of Chapman's, was named the new manager, with Shaw remaining as an assistant, essentially running the play while Allison ran the business side. In U.S. terms, Shaw was head coach, while Allison was general manager. Together, they led Arsenal to League titles in 1935 and 1938, and the FA Cup in 1936, with the West Stand being finished that year.

A bust of Chapman was placed in the main entrance of the East Stand, and was moved to the accompanying spot in the new Emirates Stadium when Arsenal moved there in 2006. In 2011, a life-size statue of Chapman was dedicated outside the Emirates, a permanent memorial to one of the greatest and most innovative managers in the history of soccer.

The statue seems like a small price to pay for leaving the stadium he turned into one of the most famous in the world.

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January 6, 1934 was a Saturday. In addition to Arsenal's draw with Wednesday, these games were played in Division One. Arsenal's North London arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur went to Birmingham, and beat Aston Villa, 5-1. Huddersfield Town hosted Portsmouth and won, 4-0. Blackburn Rovers hosted and beat Derby County, 2-1. Manchester City hosted Leicester City, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Stoke City hosted and beat Sunderland, 3-0. Middlesbrough hosted and beat West Bromwich Albion, 3-0. Newcastle United hosted about and beat Leeds United, 2-0. Everton hosted Birmingham City and won, 2-0. Wolverhampton Wanderers hosted Chelsea, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. And Sheffield United hosted Liverpool, and it ended in a 3-3 draw. Manchester United? They were stuck in Division Two, and nearly got relegated from that. On this day, they visited Lincoln City, and lost, 5-1.

In America, baseball and football were out of season. There was no NBA yet. Two games were played in the NHL. The Montreal Maroons beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 7-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.