July 22, 2006: The Emirates Stadium Opens

July 22, 2006, 20 years ago: The Emirates Stadium, the new home of North London's Arsenal Football Club, opens, just 500 yards from their former home since 1913, Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its neighborhood.

Arsenal had played at Highbury since 1913, but after the Taylor Report demanded that all British soccer teams convert to all-seater stadiums, its seating capacity was reduced to about 38,000. In order to compete for top players with the more successful teams in Europe, Arsenal needed a bigger stadium with better amenities to meet revenue needs.

The first event at the 60,704-seat bowl is a testimonial match for retiring forward Dennis Bergkamp.

The current Arsenal players are joined by several former club stars in a game against the club with whom the man Arsenal fans called "God" began, AFC Ajax of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The 1st half was each team's current players, although several on each side were unavailable due insufficient rest from the recently-concluded World Cup. Arsenal would have Bergkamp (the guest of honor usually plays in the testimonial, presuming he can), but no one else of note, as Thierry Henry was being held back for the "Legends" team in the 2nd half. In contrast, Ajax were able to field Maartin Stekelenburg, Jaap Stam, Wesley Sneijder, Jan Vertonghen, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, and a man who would later captain Arsenal, Thomas Vermaelen. In the 37th minute, Huntelaar scored the stadium's 1st goal.

Bob Wilson, the goalkeeper for Arsenal's 1971 Double-winning team, introduced the Legends teams. Ajax's players included Frank Rijkaard (who had just managed FC Barcelona to defeat Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League Final), Marco van Basten, Edgar Davids, Danny Blind, twins Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edwin van der Sar, and Ajax' greatest legend, Johan Cruijff, 59 years old and 22 years past his last competitve match, who managed and appeared as a substitute.

Arsenal's legends included Henry, David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Patrick Vieira, Steve Bould, Ian Wright, Emmanuel Petit, and 3 men who had played for both teams: Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and Nwankwo Kanu. Also appearing for Arsenal, though he had played for them for just 2 seasons, was Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who had captained the Netherlands at the World Cup, but had starred for Ajax's arch-rivals, Rotterdam side Feyenoord, and had played against Arsenal in the recent CL Final. No hard feelings on either side.

In the 55th minute, Henry put a shot past van der Sar, then the star goalie of Manchester United. Ronald de Boer missed a penalty in the 61st. Kanu gave Arsenal the lead in the 80th. Every Arsenal player seemed to be trying to Bergkamp the ball to let him score, but it just didn't happen. It did still end 2-1 in Arsenal's favor. Afterward, Bergkamp said a few words to the crowd, and was picked up on his teammates' shoulders, and given a lap of honor.

The 1st competitive match at the stadium didn't go so well: On August 19, 2006, Arsenal opened their Premier League season at home, against Birmingham team Aston Villa. Olof Mellberg, a Villa defender, scored the 1st official goal at the stadium in the 53rd minute. Gilberto Silva scored the 1st Arsenal goal in the 84th, and the match ended 1-1.

Arsenal were in a transition period, and not just from the old stadium to the new one. Paying off the stadium debt meant selling off some stars, including Vieira the season before, and Henry the season after; and some players who were not yet stars.

Manager Arsène Wenger had won 3 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups, including 2 Doubles in 1998 and 2002. But now, he had broken his great team up and rebuilt around youth: Whereas the centerpiece of his trophy-winning side had been French-Senegalese defensive midfielder Vieira, it would now be Spanish-Catalan attacking midfielder Cesc Fàbregas.

But it never seemed to be enough. There was a 2nd-place finish in 2008, trips to the Semifinals of both the CL and the FA Cup in 2009, and defeats in the League Cup Final in 2007 and 2011. But he couldn't finish the job. Over the next few years, for reasons of both finances and players' egos, Wenger would also have to sell Fàbregas, Ashley Cole, Freddie Ljungberg, Jens Lehmann, Aliksandr Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie. Wenger still managed to win the FA Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2017, and keep the team in the top 4 places in the PL, thus keeping them in the CL.

Some of these players were more easily forgiven for leaving than others, but many fans blamed Wenger, rather than team management who had to pay off the stadium's debt, for a period of "decline" that would have been considered a spectacular success by most teams' standards. Many people, including Arsenal fans, blamed the new stadium itself, claiming it lacked sufficient "atmosphere." Fans of arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur, as they had with the previous stadium, called it "The Library," since it sort-of rhymed with "Highbury." Begging the question: How would a Tottenham fan know what the inside of a library sounds like?

On a personal level, knowing that the United Arab Emirates are a dictatorship, treating women, immigrants, and people of religions other than Islam badly, but ignoring such things if they happen to be wealthy tourists for their resort cities such as Dubai, I would prefer that both the stadium's name and the team's shirts would no longer have Emirates Airways as a sponsor.

In 2018, Wenger was given the 1960 Casey Stengel treatment, and he "resigned." Then came a true decline, but it was stopped before it could become disastrous. Mikel Arteta, one of the Cup-winning players Wenger had signed, became the manager, and won the 2020 FA Cup, before restoring Arsenal's PL position. In 2026, he won the PL title.

Statues of Wenger, Bergkamp, Henry, former Captain Tony Adams, 1930s manager Herbert Chapman, and Ken Friar, who started working for Arsenal as a 12-year-old messenger boy and, in 2022, is the 87-year-old president emeritus of the club, now stand outside the stadium.

The Emirates Stadium has hosted international matches, including 9 by the Brazil national team through the 2025-26 season. It has also hosted concerts, including by Bruce Springsteen in 2008, Coldplay in 2012, Green Day in 2013, and The Killers in 2022. In 2008, considered "a shining example of Anglo-French co-operation," it hosted a summit meeting between Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Great Britain and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Fans of other big clubs, or would-be big clubs, wanted their own showplace stadium now. Manchester City had already gotten one in 2003. In 2016, West Ham United moved from Upton Park in the East End to the 2012 Olympic Stadium, renamed the London Stadium, not tucked so deep into East London, and, like Arsenal, their fans complained about a loss of atmosphere.

In 2019, Tottenham, a.k.a. "Spurs," having left their old White Hart Lane stadium, and spent 2 years playing home games at Wembley Stadium while the new stadium was built on the site of the old one, moved into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which, to one-up Arsenal, had a slightly higher capacity of 62,850. Of course, Arsenal fans called The Lane "The Shithole," and noticed that the new stadium, from the outside, actually looked like a toilet bowl. Clearly, Spurs management didn't think the design through. Nevertheless, it has begun regularly hosting regular-season NFL games, as had the old Wembley, the new Wembley, and rugby venue Twickenham Stadium.

In Liverpool, Everton FC replaced Goodison Park with Hill Dickinson Stadium in 2025, while neighboring Liverpool FC have instead chosen to modernize and expand Anfield. Also in 2025, Manchester United approved a 100,000-seat "New Trafford," a.k.a. "Wembley of the North," adjacent to Old Trafford, hoping to open it by 2030. Contractual issues still stall West London team Chelsea FC's plans to either expand or replace Stamford Bridge, mostly rebuilt in the 1990s and 2000s but with one stand still in use since 1973.

July 3, 2001: Arsenal sign Sol Campbell

Sol Campbell with the FA Cup (in his right hand)

and the Premier League trophy (in his left)

July 3, 2001, 25 years ago: Arsenal Football Club sign Sol Campbell. The centreback had been Captain of their North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., and had led "Spurs" to the 1999 League Cup. But, his contract having run out, he was not given any assurances by team management that they would bring in new talent to improve the team.

In contrast, Arsenal offered the 26-year-old East Londoner the chance to stay in London, and play Champions League games. After he had rejected all overtures by Spurs, and from European giants FC Barcelona, Internazionale Milano and Bayern Munich, Campbell signed with Arsenal. Spurs' Captain was now the rock of Arsenal's defense, ready to replace the aging team Captain, Tony Adams.

Tottenham fans were livid, turning as red as their rivals' shirts. Not with embarrassment, as they should have, but with rage.

Result? In his 1st season with Arsenal, they won the Premier League and the FA Cup -- the Double. 2nd season? The FA Cup again. 3rd season? An unbeaten League season, clinching the title at, of all places, Spurs' White Hart Lane. 4th season? Another FA Cup. 5th season? Arsenal reached the Champions League Final, and Sol scored in the game, although Arsenal lost.

He then left Arsenal, signing with Hampshire team Portsmouth FC. In 2008, Portsmouth made an unlikely run to win the FA Cup, with Campbell as Captain.

To this day, Spurs fans sing about Sol being "Judas," and that's one of the more printable things they say. But he says he has no regrets.

Since he made the North London switch, Spurs have won just 2 major trophies, and that's if you consider the League Cup to be a "major trophy," doing so in 2008, meaning that Campbell still outdid them that season by leading Portsmouth to the FA Cup; and the Europa League to be one, doing so in 2025.

July 3, 2001 was a Tuesday. Folarin Balogun, a Brooklyn native of Nigerian descent who has played for Arsenal, AS Monaco, and the U.S. National Team, was born on this day.

May 7, 2006: The Highbury Farewell & the Tottenham Lasagne

May 7, 2006, 20 years ago: The rivalry between the professional soccer teams of North London takes its strangest turn ever.

Arsenal Football Club (a.k.a. "The Arsenal") and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (a.k.a. "Spurs") are separated by 4.7 miles in North London. To put that in perspective: Imagine that, in New York City, the Yankees and Mets played each other regularly, and that, while the Mets played in Flushing Meadow as they actually do, the Yankees played in Astoria, instead of the South Bronx.

The relationship is similar -- or it would be, if the Mets, instead of being the successors to the baseball version of the New York Giants, were a continuation of the same team: Great long ago, but only sporadically so since the Yankees first began winning, perennially getting humiliated by the more successful club, treating every win over the more successful club like you'd just won a world championship, and collapsing just as glory seems within your grasp.

But Met fans think the Yankees have unfair advantages: Money (true), getting the benefit of the doubt from the officials and the league office (don't make me laugh), favorable treatment by the media (don't take drugs). Tottenham fans think Arsenal have these advantages, and one more: Arsenal "bribed their way into the First Division in 1919." (It's been over 100 years: Not one shred of evidence has ever been found to back up this fact that "everybody knows is true.")

Therefore, both Met fans and Spurs fans claim a moral high ground over their local rivals. This results in a huge superiority complex and a huge inferiority complex at the same time.

Even the mottoes are similar: The Mets' is "Ya gotta believe!" while Spurs' is "To dare is to do."

I've mentioned before that the Mets are the Tottenham of New York, and that this might not be fair... to the Mets. Tottenham have not won their league since 1961, while the Mets, who started in 1962 as a replacement for the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers (who left for California in 1957), have now won their league 5 times. (The real "Tottenham of New York" is hockey's Rangers, complete with their idiot thug fans: They talk as much trash as Yankee and Arsenal fans do, but they don't get the results to back it up.)

Tottenham have won England's top division of soccer (or, as they say, "football") twice, both times clinching at their home ground of White Hart Lane: In 1951 and 1961. They beat the same opponent both times: Sheffield Wednesday.

Arsenal have also twice clinched England's top division of soccer (or, as they say, "football") at White Hart Lane: In 1971 and 2004. They beat the same opponent both times: Tottenham.

Arsenal have won the League 13 times, including 6 times since Spurs' last title: 1971, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002 and 2004.

Tottenham have won the FA Cup, England's national tournament, 8 times. This is actually a very impressive total. But they haven't won it since 1991, when they beat Arsenal in a Semifinal. They haven't even been to a Final since, going 0-3 in Semifinals, including losing to Arsenal in 1993 and 2001. Arsenal have won the FA Cup 14 times, more than any other club, including 9 times since Spurs last did: 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

Because of their association with the old Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, in what's now Southeast London, Arsenal have always had a cannon on their club crest, and are thus known as the Gunners. Their fans, known as Gooners, like to say that Tottenham Hotspur, named for early 15th Century English rebel Henry Percy, a.k.a. Lord Harry Hotspur, are "forever in our shadow."

But every so often -- currently, we are in one of those moments -- the lopsided advantage in honors that tilts toward Arsenal looks like it might be reversed, what Spurs fans call "a power shift in North London."

A decade ago, there was one of those moments. But it ended up getting flushed down the toilet. Almost literally.

In 2005-06, Arsenal had their best Champions League campaign ever, reaching the Final. That Final, still the closest Arsenal have ever come to winning the European Cup (the UEFA Champions League format kept the name for the trophy), turned out to be the last appearance in Arsenal's colors for Dutch forward Dennis Bergkamp, French winger Robert Pires, English centreback Sol Campbell (who controversially transferred from Spurs to Arsenal 5 years earlier), and, controversially, English left back Ashley Cole.

Cole had grown up as an Arsenal fan and in Arsenal's youth system, but had been "tapped up" by West London rivals Chelsea, and would go to them due to new owner Roman Abramovich's spending spree, which had gotten Chelsea the 2005 and '06 Premier League titles. Cole has been known as "Cashley" to Gooners fans ever since.

But the 2005-06 season was the end of an era for another reason: It was the last season for the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury. The new Emirates Stadium -- some call it The Emirates, some by the area's former name Ashburton Grove, some cheekily call it New Highbury -- was going up, 500 yards away, and would open in the summer, the product of the success Arsenal had enjoyed in its 1st 10 years of management by the Alsatian genius, Arsène Wenger.

Arsenal wanted very badly to end the last game at Highbury with a win. It was against Manchester area club Wigan Athletic, and was expected to not be hard, but Arsenal have a history of losing the occasional game that they really should win.

But it wasn't just sentiment: Arsenal went into the season's League finale in 5th place in the Premiership, with Tottenham in 4th. All Spurs had to do in their game, which was away to East London club West Ham United, was match Arsenal's performance on that final day of the Premiership season, and it would be Spurs in the 2006-07 Champions League, with Arsenal "relegated" to the UEFA Cup -- unless, of course, Arsenal could win the CL Final, as the defending champion is always invited back.

The night before, Tottenham manager Martin Jol had secluded his players at a hotel, the Marriott Canary Wharf, in London's financial district, a.k.a. The City. This is not unusual: Many managers do things like this, even before home games. American football head coaches, in both the professional and the collegiate ranks, also do this. The players would have a nice dinner the night before the game, and get a good night's sleep, and would have a nice short bus ride to the stadium, all away from the prying of fans and the media.

What did Scottish poet Robert Burns say? Translated into modern common English, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray."

In the middle of the night, 10 Spurs players woke up, vomiting, and/or having diarrhea: Robbie Keane, Edgar Davids, Michael Carrick, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson, Lee Barnard, Calum Davenport, Teemu Tainio, Lee Young-Pyo and Radek Cerny.

Someone decided to blame the lasagne they'd eaten for dinner that night, and after the whole thing was over, some Spurs fans started a conspiracy theory (shades of their delusions about 1919) that the Marriott chef was an Arsenal fan, and had purposely poisoned the Spurs players! It became known as Lasagne-gate.

In the morning, several Spurs players were still, uh, indisposed. So club chairman Daniel Levy called the League office, and asked League chairman Richard Scudamore to postpone the game.

Nothing doing: With 1 League game to go, all teams were to play their games at the same time, 3:00 PM. This was a change from past policy, to avoid teams whose League place had already been decided from laying down on the job, thus giving gamblers some easy pickings and paying customers a less than honest performance.

Levy protested: We have sick players, so can't the game be postponed until tomorrow? Or even until tonight, just to give us a few more hours to recover? Scudamore asked if Spurs had 11 players who could play. Well, yes, but... Then the game would go on. If Spurs wanted to postpone, they could refuse to play, but an inquiry would be held, and Spurs would likely lose that appeal, and the penalty for refusing to play would be a deduction of points, which would make a win in the rescheduled match meaningless.

West Ham officials said they were willing to accept a postponement, so long as it wasn't too close to the following Saturday, when they were to play Liverpool in the FA Cup Final (which Liverpool went on to win). Unlike Spurs, West Ham were not threatened with a points deduction for going along with the postponement (which makes sense, since it wasn't their idea).

But the police were afraid of what additional time to drink that day would do, considering the reputation that both Spurs' and the Hammers' fans had for hooliganism, including against each other. (A fight between fictionalized versions of hooligan firms from those clubs opened the 2005 film Green Street.) So the cops said they would allow the game to start no later than 5:00 -- an extra 2 hours, not much of a help for the last 2 players who still needed rehydration, Carrick and Lennon.

Carrick and Lennon

In the end, the game kicked off on time, at the traditional English football starting time of 3:00 in the afternoon, and only one of the affected players, backup goalkeeper Cerny, did not make it into the game, although Carrick had to be subbed off after 63 minutes, Lee (for fellow affectee Barnard) in the 78th, and Tainio (for fellow affectee Davenport) in the 87th.

*

That season was Wigan's first-ever season in the Premiership, and they had achieved midtable respectability, finishing 10th. An Arsenal win shouldn't have been assumed, but it was well possible. West Ham were about Wigan's equal, finishing 9th, and were hosting Spurs -- hence the Canary Wharf hotel, not far from the Hammers' Boleyn Ground, a.k.a. Upton Park.

Pires scored the Highbury opener, and, for the last time at that ground, the song "One-nil to The Arsenal" was sung -- by both Arsenal fans at Highbury and West Ham fans, learning by radio and text message, at Upton Park.

But Wigan struck back, and led 2-1. Spurs fans, getting calls and messages on their mobile phones, found out, and were ecstatic. And when Jermaine Defoe scored in the 35th to match Darren Fletcher's goal for the Hammers in the 10th, meaning Spurs were looking at a draw while Arsenal were losing, it looked like it would be Spurs' day.

It wasn't. Arsenal's superstar French forward Thierry Henry scored a hat trick, tallying in the 35th, the 56th, and the 76th with a penalty that was the last goal ever scored in the ground's 93-year history. Feeling that history, after putting the ball in the net, instead of launching a ghastly celebration, he bent down and kissed the grass. The final score was Arsenal 4-2 Wigan Athletic.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if Spurs had also won. But West Ham came from behind, and won 2-1 on a goal in the 80th minute by Yossi Benayoun, a midfielder from Israel.

Arsenal finished 4th, 2 points ahead of Tottenham, and qualified for the Champions League; Tottenham, finishing 5th, went to the UEFA Cup.

*

The remains of the supposedly offending lasagne were sent to a laboratory, and tested. As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with it, at least not medically. The virus that spread among the Spurs players was real, but it had nothing to do with food.

Still, Spurs fans blame that lasagne, and the chef that served it. Just like the Yankees-Red Sox "Curse of the Bambino," the lasagne contagion never really existed, but it has taken on a life of its own, because the afflicted team's fans believed it. And so, to spite them, ever since, Arsenal fans have sung, to "Volare":

Lasagne, whoa!
Lasagne, whoa!
We laughed ourselves to bits
when Tottenham got the shits!

Which matches another Arsenal chant. I don't know how far back it goes, but it was already in place in early 2007:

Q: What do you think of Tottenham?
A: Shit!
Q: What do you think of shit?
A: Tottenham!
Q: Thank you!
A: That's all right! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We hate Tottenham and we hate Tottenham! We are the Tottenham haters!

Indeed, Tottenham didn't finished higher than Arsenal in the League between 1995 and 2017. They then did it 4 times in a row, before Arsenal took over again in 2022.

For talk among their organization, and talk among their fans, and talk among the media, all combined, and then divided by results, Tottenham Hotspur are arguably the biggest joke franchise in sports on planet Earth, any sport, any country.

Lasagne-gate may have been the highest moment -- or the lowest, if you prefer.

March 31, 2001: The Death of David Rocastle

March 31, 2001, 25 years ago: David Rocastle dies of lymphoma. He was just 33 years old, and was one of the best English soccer players of his generation.

He was born on May 2, 1967 in Lewisham, South-East London, the son of Caribbean immigrants. He was 5 when his father died of pneumonia, and his mother remarried and had 2 more children. He became an expert schoolboy midfielder, to the point where Terry Murphy, a scout for North London team Arsenal Football Club, told team owner Peter Hill-Wood, "I think I saw a Brazilian today." Murphy also discovered centrebacks Tony Adams and Martin Keown, and midfielder Michael Thomas.

Rocastle, nicknamed "Rocky," and Thomas joined midfielder Paul Davis and forward Kevin Campbell to give Arsenal one of the earliest groups of talented young black players in England. He made his debut early in the 1985-86 season, and a replay of the 1987 League Cup Semifinal, away to Arsenal's North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, he scored the winning goal as regular time ran out, sending them to the Final, where they beat Liverpool.

He gained a penchant for superb dribbling and passing, and scored some wonder goals. He was a key figure in Arsenal winning the Football League Division One title in 1989, with Thomas' goal in the last minute of play against Liverpool clinching it. But a knee injury in 1990 curtailed Rocastle's career. He was able to help Arsenal win the League title again in 1991, but in the 1992 off-season, manager George Graham, sensing that, despite being only 25, the knee injury had ended his effectiveness, sold him to Yorkshire team Leeds United. This proved to be incredibly unpopular among Arsenal fans.

Leeds fans liked him, but injuries limited his appearances, and after 1 season, he was sold to Manchester City. After a difficult season there, he was sold to West London team Chelsea in 1994. He played 4 painful seasons for them, including loan spells with Norfolk team Norwich City and Yorkshire team Hull City, before closing his playing career in 1999, with a season in Malaysia, for Sabah.

He played 14 matches for England, and never lost: 7 wins and 7 draws. But he was never selected for a major tournament: Not Euro 88, not the 1990 World Cup, not Euro 92, not Euro 96. (England did not qualify for the 1994 World Cup.)

He married Janet, and has son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique. His brother Stephen played for Norwich City, and a cousin, Craig, went on to play for several teams, including Yorkshire team Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester-area team Oldham Athletic, and U.S. team Sporting Kansas City.

In October 2000 -- shortly before a previous Arsenal Number 7 with similar skills, George Armstrong, then an assistant coach, died at age 56 -- David Rocastle was diagnosed with terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He underwent chemotherapy, and announced in February 2001 that he was hopeful of recovery, but he died early in the morning of March 31, 2001.

It was mere hours before Arsenal were scheduled to play Tottenham at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury. Some of his former teammates were still with the club. And there was the worry that the visiting "Spurs" fans, who hate Arsenal much more than Arsenal fans hate their team, might boo during the minute's silence that would be held in his memory before the kickoff. After debating whether to appeal to the Premier League (founded in 1992) to postpone the game, the Arsenal board of directors decided to go forward with it.

The silence was respected by the visiting fans. The game was a bit slow, taking on the character of the muted atmosphere, until Robert Pires found a goal in the 70th minute. Thierry Henry added one in the 87th, and it ended 2-0. As with Yankee Stadium the night after Thurman Munson's funeral in 1979, this may be the only time Arsenal fans left Highbury in tears after an Arsenal win.

Matching his uniform number, Arsenal fans still sing his song during the 7th minute of home games: "Oh, Rocky, Rocky! Rocky, Rocky, Rocky, Rocky Ro-cas-tle!" In 2006, Arsenal named a training facility at their academy after him: The David Rocastle Indoor Centre. Inside, there is a mural of him, and a quote which, while not originating with him, became associated with him: "Remember who you are, what you are, and what you represent."

November 14, 1934: The Battle of Highbury

Left to right: Italy Captain Attilio Ferraris,

referee Otto Olsson, England Captain Eddie Hapgood

November 14, 1934, 90 years ago: The most-hyped soccer game ever to that point is played. And, while the competition lived up to the hype, everything else was horrible.

In 1928, a dispute with the governing body of world soccer, the Fédération internationale de Football Association (FIFA), England left their jurisdiction. The other "home nations" of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland -- followed suit. (To this day, I don't know why they compete as a single united kingdom in the Olympics Games, but, for every other event, the home nations each have their own separate teams.)

This made the home nations ineligible to play in FIFA's signature tournament, the World Cup, which began in 1930, with Uruguay winning on home soil. The 1934 tournament would be the 1st held in Europe, in Italy, then ruled by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. With a team dominated by players from Juventus FC of Turin and FC Internazionale Milano of Milan, Italy won it.

But England, which "invented football" (at the least, it did so in an organized way), still thought it had the best team in the world. So they challenged Italy in a game to decide "the real world championship." Italy accepted. The game would be in England, so Mussolini couldn't use his authority to cheat. But he did offer an incentive: If they won, each player would receive a new Alfa Romeo car and a cash prize which, converted into 2024 U.S. money, was about $7,500, a pretty good figure during the Great Depression.

Italy manager Vittorio Pozzo sent out this lineup (with neither side wearing uniform numbers):

* Goalkeeper: Carlo Ceresoli of Inter. This was a change from the World Cup, where his keeper, and his Captain, was Gianpiero Combi of Juventus.

* Right Back: Eraldo Monzeglio of Bologna FC.

* Left Back: Luigi Allemandi of Inter.

* Right Half: Attilio Ferraris of SS Lazio of Rome, Italy's Captain for this game.

* Center Half: Luis Monti of Juventus.

* Left Half: Luigi Bertolini of Juventus.

* Outside Right: Enrique Guaita of AS Roma of Rome.

* Inside Right: Pietro Serantoni of Juventus.

* Center Forward: Giuseppe Meazza of Inter. He had been the inside right in the World Cup, but was moved to center forward for this game, replacing Angelo Schiavio of Bologna. The Milan stadium used by both Inter and AC Milan, known worldwide as the San Siro for its neighborhood, is officially named for Meazza, as he was the greatest Italian player of his generation.

* Inside Left: Giovanni Ferrari of Juventus.

* Outside Left: Raimundo Orsi of Juventus.

At the time, England did not have a "manager" as we now understand that term. Essentially, the team Captain was the head coach. Rather, a board of directors selected the starting eleven:

* Goalkeeper: Frank Moss of Arsenal FC. Arsenal, of North London, were the dominant team in England in the 1930s, winning 5 Football League titles and 2 FA Cups.

* Right Back: George Male of Arsenal.

* Left Back: Eddie Hapgood of Arsenal. So respected by his peers was Hapgood that he was named Captain of his country before he was named Captain of his club: Arsenal's Captain at the time was the great Scottish forward Alex James.

* Right Half: Cliff Britton of Everton FC, based in Liverpool.

* Center Half: Jack Barker of Derby County FC, in the East Midlands.

* Left Half: Wilf Copping of Arsenal. A purely defensive player, he never scored a goal for Arsenal. But he was the most feared player in the league. Not that he was dirty: Not once was he ever booked for a foul. (This was before Mike Riley, a known Arsenal hater, was in charge of English referees.)

* Outside Right: Stanley Matthews of Stoke City FC. At 19, he was the youngest player on the team. He would eventually become the grand old man of English football, playing for Stoke in Division One at age 50. In between tenures at Stoke, he would play for Lancashire side Blackpool FC. Playing his career for struggling teams, "The Wizard of Dribble" only won 1 trophy in his career, the 1953 FA Cup. In that game, his teammate Stan Mortensen became the 1st, and remains the only, player to score 3 goals in an FA Cup Final. And yet, the game is still called "The Matthews Final," such was his dominance of the game.

* Inside Right: Ray Bowden of Arsenal.

* Center Forward: Ted Drake of Arsenal. Recently acquired from Hampshire team Southampton FC, he became the top scorer in the country. The following year, he would tie the League record by scoring 7 goals against Birmingham team Aston Villa.

* Inside Left: Cliff Bastin of Arsenal. Normally an outside left, he would score 178 goals for "The Gunners," a team record that would last until surpassed by Ian Wright in 1997. He finished with 185, which was surpassed by Thierry Henry with 228.

* Outside Left: Eric Brook of Manchester City FC.

Seven players from Arsenal. It remains the only time 1 team has had 7 players in the England starting XI. So the match was set for Arsenal's home, Arsenal Stadium, known for its neighborhood as "Highbury." Although having little experience at the international level, these players were battle-tested in the toughest league in the world.

The referee was Otto Olsson, of Sweden. The crowd was given as 56,044 people. England wore white shirts and navy blue shorts, while Italy wore sky blue shirts and white shorts.

But when the game began at 3:00 on that Wednesday afternoon -- 10:00 in the morning, U.S. Eastern Time -- it was pouring rain, and the rain continued throughout the game. And the Italians were dirty from the outset. In only the 1st minute of the game, Drake had a one-on-one with Ceresoli, who crashed into him. Olsson awarded a penalty, but it was taken by Brook, who missed it.

Just a minute later, Monti tackled Drake, and broke his own foot in the process. A minute later, Brook headed in a cross from Matthews, and it was one-nil to England. Shortly thereafter, Hapgood took an elbow to the face, breaking his nose. In the 10th minute, Brook fired a free kick that Matthews said was "like a thunderbolt." It was 2-0 England. Just 2 minutes later, Drake made it 3-0. It looked like a wipeout.

By the 15-minute mark, both Monti and Hapgood had to leave the pitch. Both sides were down to 10 men. Pozzo changed tactics, and the Italian defense got tighter. And dirtier: Drake was punched, Brook's arm was broken, and Bowden got his ankle hurt. Olsson booked none of these offenses.

The Italians kept their tactics up in the 2nd half, and the tide of the game turned. Meazza scored twice within 4 minutes on either side of the hour mark. He fought hard for an equalizer, denied by saves from Moss and once hitting the post. When Olsson blew his whistle for full-time, it was still England 3, Italy 2.

England claimed to be the true world champions, their "gentlemen" having defeated the World Cup winners at their dirtiest, in a match that Matthews, whose length and greatness of career can be compared to American baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan and Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe, called it the most violent match in which he had ever played.

But Italy received its players as heroes. Recognizing that they had played under completely unfavorable conditions, they were hailed as "The Lions of Highbury." Mussolini, not bound by his promise because of the defeat, followed through anyway, giving the players the cash prizes and the cars.

Ceresoli lived until 1995, making him the last surviving Italian player from this game. Matthews was the game's last survivor, living until February 23, 2000.

Italy would repeat as World Cup winners in 1938. World War II canceled the World Cup of 1942, and the inability to set up qualifying matches because the European phase of the war didn't come until 1945 forced the cancellation of the 1946 edition. FIFA and the British home nations settled their differences, and England entered the 1950 World Cup, but failed until hosting the tournament in 1966. That remains the only international tournament that England have ever won. Italy have won the World Cup again in 1982 and 2006; and the UEFA European Championships of 1968 and 2020.

January 6, 1934: The Death of Herbert Chapman

January 6, 1934, 90 years ago: 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.

The State of The Arsenal on Founders Day

December 11, 1886, 135 years ago today: The Arsenal Football Club played its 1st game. It was on the Isle of Dogs, at a ground recently occupied by Millwall Football Club, against a team named Eastern Wanderers, which went out of business a few years later. The new club won, 6-0.

They were originally a works team -- what we in the U.S. would call a company team, as both the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers began -- at the Royal Arsenal (hence the nickname "The Gunners," which led to their fans later being tagged "The Gooners") in Woolwich (the 2nd W is silent), in what was then the county of Kent but is now part of Southeast London (SE16).

They called themselves Dial Square Football Club, after the section of the Arsenal where they worked. On Christmas Day, December 25, 1886, they met at the nearby Royal Oak pub, to make things more official, and changed their name to the Royal Arsenal Football Club.

The 1st game under the new name, and the 1st game that could be called a "home game" for them, was on January 8, 1887, at Plumstead Common, 2 miles away, against a nearby club called Erith, and Royal Arsenal won, 6-1.

(The Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. Photo dated 1960.)

In 1893, they turned professional and were admitted to England's Football League, but had to change their name, as Queen Victoria had signed a law prohibited any professional team from having "Royal" in its name. (This is not the case in Spain, where there are professional soccer teams named Real Madrid, Real Mallorca, Real Betis, etc.) And, of course, being professional, they had ceased to be a "club," even though the word remains part of the organization's name, and the fans continue to call their team "my club."

So they took on the name of their locality, and were Woolwich Arsenal from then until 1913, when they moved to a new stadium at Highbury in North London, "The Arsenal" until 1919 and "Arsenal Football Club" since, although "The Arsenal" is frequently still used, especially by the club's fans.

They could have changed their name to "Highbury Arsenal," or "Islington Arsenal," even though neither the Borough of Islington nor the Highbury neighborhood had any connection to the Royal Arsenal, aside from the club. As a result, Arsenal are 1 of only 2 professional clubs in England without a locality as part of their official name. The other is Port Vale, located in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Not quite the 1st Arsenal team, but perhaps the earliest known team photo, 1888.

Herbert Chapman was signed to manage Arsenal in 1925. He led them to win the Football Association Cup in 1930, and the Football League Division One in 1931 and 1933, before his death midway through the 1933-34 season. Under Joe Shaw, and then George Allison, the team he built went on to win the League again in 1934, 1935 and 1938, and the FA Cup in 1936. A rebuild after World War II, under manager Tom Whittaker, resulted in League titles in 1948 and 1953, and an FA Cup in 1950.

Like Chapman, Whittaker died in office, in 1956, and a down period resulted. The team's fortunes were turned around under Bertie Mee. In 1970, he guided the team to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League. In 1971, Arsenal took both the League and the FA Cup, "The Double." A mid-1970s rebuild under Terry Neill led to an FA Cup win in 1979.

In 1986, George Graham, one of the players from the '71 Double was named manager. He led the team to the 1987 League Cup, the 1989 and 1991 League titles, the 1st-ever English domestic "cup double" (the League Cup and the FA Cup) in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup (a tournament that no longer exists) in 1994.

In 1996, Arsène Wenger was named the team's 1st manager not a native of the British Isles, and he revamped everything, from tactics to exercise to diet. In 1998, now in the era of the Premier League, he took Arsenal to another Double. He did it again in 2002. He led them to another FA Cup in 2003. And he led them through the entire 2003-04 Premier League season without losing a game: Played 38, won 26, drawn 2, lost exactly none. It had never been done before, and it hasn't been done since. The unbeaten string eventually reached 49 games.

(The 1st season of the Football League was in 1888-89, and Lancashire team Preston North End went through the 22-game season unbeaten, and also won the FA Cup. But 38 is a lot more games than 22.)

After another FA Cup win in 2005, Arsenal advanced to the Final of the UEFA Champions League in 2006, their last season at Highbury. With the opening of the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, the construction debt had to be paid off, and Wenger had less of a budget than before. Still, he managed to keep the team in the Champions League places.

A small but loud and angry section of the fanbase began to demand that Wenger spend more money on "world-class players," because they believed that winning the League title was all that mattered. When Wenger ended a 9-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup, this small but loud and angry section decided that it wasn't enough.

Nor was it enough when he did it again in 2015 and 2017. They demanded that he be fired for not giving them another League title -- as if he hadn't already given them 3, as many as any other Arsenal manager had ever done. (Allison had won 3; Chapman, Whittaker and Graham had each won 2, Shaw 1.)

By 2017, Arsenal had been surpassed by bigger-spending teams run by billionaire owners, and fell out of the Champions League places. Late in the 2018 season, Wenger announced he was leaving. It is still debated whether he was fired, or he quit due to even his great patience finally being worn out by the whiners.

New manager Unai Emery turned out to be a poor replacement, and was fired in favor of Mikel Arteta, the Spanish midfielder who had captained the 2014 and '15 Cup wins. Things have been shaky under his leadership.

On this Founders Day, Arsenal hosted Hampshire team Southampton, and beat them 3-0, following 2 awful-looking losses to the only 2 teams in England that have won more trophies, Liverpool and Manchester United.

The Arsenal have a great past, and a promising future. But the present is a bit of a mist. The hope is that the team can, within a short time, return to its former heights.

Good old Arsenal, we're proud to say your name.

While we sing this song, we'll win the game!

Happy Anniversary, and come on you Gunners! (COYG)

May 8, 1971: The 1st Arsenal Double, Part II

May 8, 1971, 50 years ago: Having won the Football League 5 days earlier, Arsenal Football Club of North London now prepared to take on Liverpool Football Club, at England's national stadium, the original Wembley Stadium in West London, for the FA Cup Final.

This is what the world was like at the time:

The monarch of both nations was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. The Prime Minister of Britain was Edward Heath, and of Canada, Pierre Trudeau. The President of the United States was Richard Nixon. The Pope was Paul VI.

The current holders of those offices? Boris Johnson was about to turn 7. Pierre's son Justin wasn't born yet. Joe Biden was in his 1st year in public office, on the New Castle County Council in Delaware. Pope Francis, then Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was teaching at a seminary in his native Argentina. There have since been 10 Presidents of the United States, 10 Presidents of the United States, and 5 Popes.

There were still living veterans of the Indian Wars and the Northwest Rebellion. Peter Mills, the last American known to have been born into slavery, was still alive. Norman Borlaug, leader of what was being called the food production revolution, was the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Arsenal had dethroned Everton of Liverpool as Champions of England's Football League, and would play Liverpool to dethrone Chelsea of West London as holders of the FA Cup. The winners of Europe's other major soccer leagues that year were Celtic of Glasgow in Scotland, Olympique de Marseille in France, Valencia in Spain, Benfica of Lisbon in Portugal, Feyenoord of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Borussia Mönchengladbach in West Germany, Internazionale of Milan in Italy, Górnik Zabrze in Poland, Dynamo Kyiv in the Soviet Union, and Galatasaray of Istanbul in Turkey.

A month later, Ajax of Amsterdam in the Netherlands would win their 1st European Cup, defeating Panathinaikos of Athens, Greece. The year before, Feyenoord had become the 1st Dutch team to win it. The holders of the North American sports titles were Baltimore in both baseball (the Orioles) and football (the Colts), the Milwaukee Bucks in basketball (beating the Baltimore Bullets and denying Charm City a treble), and the Boston Bruins in hockey (but the Montreal Canadiens were about to take the Stanley Cup back). The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Joe Frazier.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America 4 times; Canada 3 times; twice each in Japan, Russia, Korea; and once each in Germany, Austria, Bosnia, France, Spain, Norway, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Britain and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in Germany twice, and once each in America, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

Major novels of 1971 included The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines, Being There by Jerzy Kosinski, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, Honor Thy Father by Gay Talese, and The Winds of War by Herman Wouk.

Under his pen name Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel published his environmental allegory The Lorax. Books that were edgy about sex were still very much in, including Joan Garrity's The Sensuous Woman and Xaviera Hollander's The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.

J.R.R. Tolkein was still alive. Stephen King was a newlywed, and had yet to publish a novel. George R.R. Martin was about to get his master's degree from Northwestern University. J.K. Rowling was 5 years old.

Major films of the Spring of 1971 included Summer of '42, Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Woody Allen's Bananas, Billy Jack, The Beguiled, They Might Be Giants (inspiring the name of a band), a remake of Wuthering Heights, Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Klute, Carnal Knowledge, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Gene Roddenberry was kind of lost after the end of Star Trek, writing and producing the sexploitation film Pretty Maids All In a Row. George Lucas had just premiered his 1st directed film, THX 1138. Steven Spielberg's 1st, Duel, would premiere on ABC on November 13. Sean Connery had just wrapped up his last official James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever. Jon Pertwee was playing The Doctor. George Reeves, dead for 12 years, was still the last live-action Superman, while Adam West was still a recent Batman.

All in the Family had recently debuted. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, Columbo and Soul Train were on their way. CBS had just done its "Rural Purge," ending The Beverly Hillbillies, Mayberry R.F.D. and Green Acres. The Ed Sullivan Show had to be canceled after 23 years, because Ed was slipping into dementia, and died in 1974.

The Number 1 song in America was "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. The Rolling Stones released their album Sticky Fingers, they introduced their lips-and-tongue logo, and lead singer Mick Jagger married model Bianca de Macias. John Denver released "Take Me Home, Country Roads," Stevie Wonder "If You Really Love Me," Jerry Reed "When You're Hot, You're Hot," Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story, Johnny Cash The Man In Black, Paul McCartney Ram, Ringo Starr "It Don't Come Easy," and Elvis Presley Love Letters from Elvis. The Carpenters and The Doobie Brothers each released their self-titled debut album. 

The Temptations released "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," and Eddie Kendricks left the group. The Doors released L.A. Woman. Within weeks, lead singer Jim Morrison was dead. The 1st Glastonbury Festival was held, and promoter Bill Graham closed the Fillmore East in New York and the Fillmore West in San Francisco. Don McLean first performed his song "American Pie," and referenced the closings in the last verse: "I went down to the sacred store, where I'd heard the music years before, but the man there said the music wouldn't play."

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $6.49 would buy now -- or, more to the point in the country in question, £1.00 then would be £15.60 now. The tallest building in the world was the Empire State Building in New York, but the World Trade Center in New York and the Sears Tower in Chicago were both under construction, and would surpass it. Mobile telephones were still in development.

There were no home video game systems. Computers could still take up an entire wall. Steve Jobs was 16 years old, and Bill Gates and Tim Berners-Lee were about to be. Apollo 14 had landed on the Moon 3 months earlier. Automatic teller machines were still a relatively new thing, and many people had never seen one. There were heart transplants, liver transplants and lung transplants, and artificial kidneys, but no artificial hearts. There were birth control pills, but no Viagra.

During the Spring of 1971, there was a military coup in Argentina. East Pakistan declared its independence, becoming Bangladesh, and suffering a war, a famine and a cyclone, which led to the charity concert at Madison Square Garden, hosted by former Beatle George Harrison.

An earthquake killed over 1,000 people in Turkey. A plane crash in Rijeka, Yugolsavia killed 78 people, mostly British tourists. Neville Bonner became the 1st Indigenous Australian to sit in his country's Parliament. And the Montreal Canadiens overcame internal strife, made worse by recent Quebec separatist terrorism, to win the Stanley Cup.

In America, on the day of the decisive North London Derby, the largest antiwar demonstration in the nation's history, 750,000 people, hit Washington; and President Nixon ordered Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, named in memory of a former political rival, to be used as a giant holding center for arrestees, who numbered over 12,000 -- about 1 out of every 62 demonstrators.

The Ed Sullivan Show aired its final episode. Lieutenant William Calley was convicted in the My Lai Massacre. Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Federal Express were founded. The Supreme Court ruled that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation. Amtrak took over the nation's passenger rail service. The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers. President Richard Nixon declared the War On Drugs. And the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship.

Thomas Dewey, and Igor Stravinsky, and Ogden Nash died. Ewan McGregor, and Selena Quintanilla, and David Tennant were born. So were legendary athletes Pavel Bure and Picabo Street. Pep Guardiola was born the preceding January, Neil Lennon and Fabien Barthez were both in June, Howard Webb in July, and a less important person in Manchester United's eventual success, Roy Keane, in August.

*

On May 3, Arsenal beat their North London arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, a.k.a. "Spurs," in the final game of the League season, 1-0 on a late goal by Ray Kennedy, to win the League title.

When Spurs became the 1st team in the 20th Century -- since Aston Villa in 1897 -- to win The Double, in 1961, they had time to properly prepare: They won the League on April 17, beat Sheffield Wednesday at home, and didn't have to play the FA Cup Final for 3 weeks, beating Leicester City on May 6.

That Leicester team included Frank McLintock, who would also lose the 1963 FA Cup Final with them, to Manchester United; and captain Arsenal onto the Wembley pitch in the League Cup Finals of 1968 and 1969, also losing. He was winless there, about to make his 5th attempt.

Arsenal would have just 4 days to prepare. As a result, although Liverpool finished 5th in the League, 14 points behind Arsenal, some betting companies installed them as the favorites. It was not outrageous, as they had won the League in 1964 and the FA Cup in 1965, and they still had some of the players from those teams. But they were in a bit of a transition, as those players were starting to get old, and the players who would help the Mersey Reds dominate the 1970s were still working their way in.

Liverpool did have one big advantage in getting there: A home draw in every round, until the Quarterfinal, with the Semifinal and the Final being on neutral ground. Arsenal, on the other hand, had gotten away draws in every round.

May 8, 1971. An unseasonably warm day in London. For some reason, Liverpool had the choice of kit for the Final. so they wore their all-red gear, meaning Arsenal couldn't wear their usual home kit, red shirts with white sleeves, and white shorts. Instead, Arsenal wore their "change strip," yellow shirts with blue trim, and blue shorts.

Arsenal had several chances in the game. In the 1st half, Charlie George, who grew up within walking distance of the Arsenal Stadium at Highbury, and rode his local status, long hair, rebellious attitude and great ability to become the team's most popular player, blasted one just over the crossbar. This led Brian Moore, broadcasting the game for British network ITV, to say, "He really does strike those balls beautifully."

In the 2nd half, Kennedy hit a dribbler that just scurried past the goalpost, leading Moore to say, "Kennedy! Oh, what a miss!" When the 90 minutes, plus stoppage time, was over, it was 0-0. Arsenal had dominated play, but had nothing to show for it.

This was Arsenal's 66th game of the season, combining all competitions, and McLintock and played every minute of every game. Now, physically and mentally exhausted, and seeing Liverpool's Emlyn Hughes receiving treatment for a cramp, he had to convince his teammates, equally "knackered" (as they say over there), to hang on through extra time. On the video, he can be seen gritting his teeth and pumping his fist, telling them to keep going.

But right after the restart, Liverpool's Irish forward Steve Heighway fired a shot from a ridiculous angle, and put the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson. Liverpool were up 1-0, and all seemed lost for the Gunners. Yes, they had the League title, but now, it looked like the talk would be that they had "bottled" The Double.

But it wasn't sudden-death: The entirety of extra time would be played, no matter what. McLintock rallied the troops, telling them to get Bob off the hook.

They did. They stiffened up, and prevented Welsh forward John Toshack from making it 2-0 to the Scouse team. And then, in the 101st minute, there was a scramble, and the ball went past Liverpool goalie Ray Clemence. 1-1.

George Graham claimed the goal. But did he score it? Interviewed many years later, forward John Radford said, "Every time I look at the tape, he's got a guilty look on his face." Indeed, the video replay showed that Graham never touched the ball, sweeping his left foot at it, and missing. The last man to touch the ball was Eddie Kelly, who had been brought on in the 64th minute, as a substitute for midfielder Peter Storey. Substitutions had only been legal in English football since the 1966-67 season, and this made Kelly the 1st sub to score in an FA Cup Final.

In the 111th minute, Radford was on the left wing, and sidefooted a pass to George, at the edge of the penalty area. He launched a net-seeking missile. Moore had the call: "Radford. Oh, Charlie George, who can hit 'em, oh, what a great goal! Charlie George! Oh, what a fabulous goal by George! Clemence had no chance with that!"

Charlie turned, and dropped to the ragged Wembley turf, his arms spread out. No smile this time, like there was in the Manchester mud earlier in the tournament. He was as tired as anybody else.

The soundtrack to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar had been released during the season, and Charlie's raised arms reminded people of the lead character. Soon, to the theme song, people began singing, "Charlie George, superstar, how many goals have you scored so far!" (Opposing fans, noting his long hair -- though not as long as Jesus' -- sang, "Charlie George, superstar, looks like a woman and he wears a bra!")

But the celebration made him an icon, making him more famous than his talent, as great as it was, would otherwise have taken him. To the tune of the Christmas carol "The First Noel," fans went on to sing, "Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie! Born is the Ki-ing of High-igh-bur-y!"

King Charles with the FA Cup

It was 2-1. The Arsenal defense held on for another 10 minutes, and the Double was won. Although Arsenal had previously won 7 League titles and 2 FA Cups, this game would be their signature victory -- until 1989, when another 18-year League title drought came to an end. That legendary game would also be against Liverpool.

The Arsenal players climbed the steps to Wembley's Royal Box. King George V had handed the FA Cup to Arsenal Captain Tom Parker in 1930. His son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, had handed it to Alex James in 1936. In 1950, the Duke, now King George VI, handed it to Joe Mercer.

That King's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, supposedly an Arsenal fan, hasn't attended an FA Cup Final in many years. In 1971 -- as it would be again in 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2005 -- it was the Queen's cousin, another grandchild of George V, who gave the Arsenal Captain the Cup: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.

McLintock holds high the Cup.

Bob Wilson shakes hands with the Duke of Kent.

The woman in yellow is Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

(Charles, Prince of Wales, would give the Cup to Pat Rice in 1979. In 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, handed the Cup to Arsenal's Captains.)

McLintock later said he was so knackered, he couldn't feel anything as he walked up the steps. The ITV cameras told another story, as did their commentator, Brian Moore, who noted, "What a smile!"

*

In his 1992 memoir Fever Pitch, Arsenal fan Nick Hornby would call 1971 "Arsenal's annus mirabilis" -- "Miracle Year." It took Bertie Mee, Don Howe, Frank McLintock and the rest 5 years to build a dual champion, and one particularly hard year to finish the job.

But it quickly ended. Howe was offered the manager's job at his former team, West Brom. He took it, and later admitted, "That was the time that I left when I should have stayed. Because that team, the Double team, had more in it."

He was probably right. The 1971-72 season was the closest in League history. Derby County won the title, and Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester City were all just 1 point behind. Arsenal were 5th, 6 points back; Tottenham, 6, 7 points back. And Arsenal again reached the FA Cup Final, this time losing to Leeds, who got a little bit of revenge for losing the '71 title to Arsenal. (They had won the League in 1969, and would again in 1974. And they didn't walk away empty-handed in '71, winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.)

But without Howe, Mee had no one to rein him in, no former player in a place of some power to serve as a buffer between him and the players. Team scout Steve Burtenshaw became the assistant manager, but it ust wasn't the same. So Mee became more and more tyrannical. He had already alienated midfielder Jon Sammels, who put in a transfer request, and as sold to Leicester City.

Mee purchased Alan Ball, a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team. He had helped Everton win the League title in 1970. But his addition meant the end at Arsenal for George Graham, whom Mee sold to Manchester United.

Things weren't bad, but the seeds of getting worse were sown. Mee began to push McLintock out, buying centreback Jeff Blockley from Coventry City. Mee decided that buying Blockley was his biggest mistake as Arsenal manager. In 1973, Arsenal fought Liverpool for the League title all season long, including a 2-0 win away to Liverpool on February 10. They were still close on March 26. But their last 6 League games were 1 win, 3 draws and 2 losses, and they finished 2nd, 3 points behind Liverpool.

McLintock was sold to West London team Queens Park Rangers, a.k.a. QPR, and the era was over. Wilson, Radford and George Armstrong got older. Mee alienated Ray Kennedy, and sold him to, of all teams, Liverpool in 1974. He starred for them for a few years. Pretty much anybody who remembers him, unless they're an Arsenal fan, remembers him with Liverpool. His career began to decline when he developed Parkinson's disease: While still alive, he has had to leave not just football in any role, but public life entirely.

Mee alienated Charlie George, and ended up selling him to Derby in 1975. And replacements simply weren't forthcoming. The next-to-last game of the 1974-75 season was a Derby at home to Tottenham, and it was "a relegation six-pointer," won 1-0 by Arsenal. Spurs survived by winning the next week. But Arsenal finished 16th, and 17th in 1976. Mee was fired.

Former Arsenal centreback Terry Neill was brought in to manage, and he brought Howe back. Together, they led Arsenal to the 1979 FA Cup. Pat Rice had become Captain, and was the only 1971 regular still with Arsenal as they won the 1979 Cup. Sammy Nelson, a backup on the '71 team, started in '79. And the '79 Arsenal goalkeeper? None other than Pat Jennings, whom Spurs had let go a few years before.

But they lost the FA Cup Final in 1978 and 1980, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1980. Neill was fired in 1983, and Howe promoted to replace him. "Now, that was the time I stayed, when I should have left!" Howe said. After 3 years of being good, but not quite good enough, Howe resigned.

*

For reasons that have never been made clear to me, neither England nor Scotland gave many chances to Arsenal players. Look at these totals for Arsenal players of the 1970s:

Total caps for England: Alan Ball 72 (but only 12 after he came to Arsenal), Ray Kennedy 17 (but none until '76, after he left), Graham Rix 17, Malcolm Macdonald 14 (the last in '75, before he arrived), Brian Talbot 6, Bob McNab 4 (the last in '69), John Radford 2 (the last in '71), Brian Kidd 2 (the last in '70, before he arrived), Charlie George 1 (in '76, after he left), Alan Sunderland 1; George Armstrong, Jon Sammels, Peter Simpson, David Price and Steve Walford, between them, none. Peter Storey was an exception, getting 19.

Hell, Jeff Blockley, considered by some to be the worst Arsenal defender of the decade, got as many England caps as Charlie George, considered the most talented Arsenal player of the decade: One.

Total caps for Scotland: George Graham 12, Frank McLintock 9 (the last in '71), Willie Young (the last in '75, before coming to Arsenal), Bob Wilson 2 (the last in '71), Eddie Kelly none.

It was different for the other "nations" of the British Isles, due to manpower levels. The Republic of Ireland gave Liam Brady 72, Frank Stapleton 71 and David O'Leary 68. Northern Ireland gave Pat Jennings 119, Terry Neill 59, Sammy Nelson 51, Pat Rice 49. Wales gave John Roberts 22.

*

Bob Wilson, Pat Rice and George Armstrong went on to be assistant coaches for Arsenal. George Graham was named manager in 1986, and led them to the League Cup in 1987, the League title in 1989 and 1991, the 1st-ever FA Cup and League Cup "double" in 1993, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1994.

Arsène Wenger was named manager in 1996, and kept the '71 Double players on as coaches. In 1998, Arsenal came from 12 points back in March to defeat Manchester United for the Premier League title (which replaced the old Football League Division One in 1992), and beat Newcastle United for the FA Cup, for Arsenal's 2nd Double.

In 2000, Armstrong became the 1st player from that 1971 team to die, as he suffered a brain hemorrhage while running a training session at London Colney, Arsenal's training camp in suburban Hemel Hempstead. He was 56 years old, and a training pitch (practice field) there was named for him.

Wilson and Rice remained, and Arsenal won a 3rd Double in 2002. This time, the way the scheudule worked out, they had even fewer days to prepare than in 1971: They beat Chelsea in the Final on May 4, and Man United to win the League on May 8. They nearly won yet another Double in 2003, taking the Cup, but faltering in the League to finish 2nd. At that point, Wilson retired from coaching. Rice remained on through the 2012 season, helping Wenger guide Arsenal to an unbeaten season in the League in 2004, another FA Cup in 2005, a trip to the UEFA Champions League Final in 2006, and into the new Emirates Stadium the next year.

Bertie Mee died in 2001, at the age of 82. Don Howe died in 2015, at 80. Backup centreback John Roberts died in 2016, at 69. Backup goalkeeper Geoff Barnett died this past January 15, at 74.

Steve Burtenshaw is 85, Frank McLintock is 81, Bob Wilson is 79, Terry Neill (sold right before the Double season) is 78, Bob McNab is 77, George Graham and Peter Simpson are 76, Jon Sammels and Peter Storey are 75, John Radford is 74, Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson are 72, Peter Marinello is 71, Charlie George and Eddie Kelly are 70, and Ray Kennedy is 69.

25th Anniversary Reunion at Highbury, 1996.

Back row, left to right: John Radford, assistant coach Steve Burtenshaw,

Peter Marinello, Peter Simpson, Jon Sammels, Geoff Barnett, Bob Wilson,

John Roberts, Charlie George, David Court, Pat Rice.

(Court had played for Arsenal 1962-70,

but was already gone before the Double season.)

Front row, left to right: Bertie Mee, Bob McNab,

George Graham, Don Howe, Frank McLintock,

George Armstrong, Sammy Nelson and Ray Kennedy.

The 1970-71 Double team was, for many years, the signature Arsenal side. It was succeeded as such by the 1988-89 League title winners, and then by the 2003-04 "Invincibles." Now, with the great teams of the 1930s, '40s and '50s having passed into afterlife, they are the oldest remaining great team. They remain a precious memory for whose who are old enough to remember, and a milestone in team history for those of us who are not.