An Old Timer
Arsenal were in freefall at the start of 1966. After a 5-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday on December 28, the Gunners won just one of their next 15 games – and collapsed 3-0 at Blackburn in the FA Cup third round.
The problem, as ever through Wright’s reign, was a defence that leaked like a sieve.
That disastrous run dragged Arsenal into the relegation dog-fight. By then though, the fans had seen enough.
Wright’s legacy reads better in hindsight. He brought Don Howe to Highbury. He signed Frank McLintock (though it was Howe who converted him to a centre back in the spring of 1969). He gave a chance to young talent such as Peter Storey, Peter Simpson, Jon Sammels – and John Radford, star of the Arsenal side which reached the FA Youth Cup final in 1965.
His youth set-up paid dividends a year later, when a team including Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson beat Sunderland to win the trophy.
But Wright couldn’t cope on the major stage. His reaction to Arsenal’s slump was to sideline his two best players, George Eastham and Joe Baker – who was sold to Nottingham Forest.
The supporters wanted Wright out. After the Blackburn defeat, on January 3 – two days after a 1-0 loss at Fulham – they started voting with their feet.
A crowd of 51,805 watched the 1-1 draw with Tottenham on March 8.
The attendances thereafter read like a Championship team: 13,979 v Newcastle, less than 9,000 v West Bromwich.
A 2-0 win at Sunderland guaranteed Arsenal’s First Division future. But by then, the hapless Wright was a dead man walking.
The nadir came on May 5, when Arsenal lost 3-0 at home to Leeds, in front of just 4,554, the lowest crowd ever to watch a major match at Highbury.
To be fair, the weather was awful. It was a cold, wet night – and the Cup Winners’ Cup final between Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund was live on TV.
But the atmosphere was the pits. The Leeds team couldn’t fathom what was going on. Don Revie’s players were used to being hated in London. Especially at Arsenal, after Bobby Collins and Billy Bremner had clogged Eastham a year earlier.
My dad, who started watching Arsenal in 1933, was almost in tears. The Clock End was empty. A few fans lit a bonfire on the North Bank – or the Laundry End, as dad knew it. A bloke with a bugle played ‘The Last Post.’ It was that bad.
Wright left a few weeks later. Bertie Mee took over, with a proviso that he could return to his physiotherapist’s job if things didn’t work out.
He was a terrific organiser. But he knew he lacked in the coaching department. So he brought in Dave Sexton (google him, modern fans!) - who’d made an impressive start as Leyton Orient manager – as first team coach.
Again, I’ll leave people to draw their own parallels, if they think there are any.
*Thanks to everyone who replied, commented and expanded on my last piece, on Wright’s teams between 1962 and 1964. It’s good to know there are still plenty of us old Gooners left!
