Robert Exley
Arsenal’s return to football after the close season of 1971 came in late July with a pre-season friendly against the club that loaned Jack Wilshere from Arsenal last season, who were then known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic (this the last season before they changed their name to the streamlined moniker of AFC Bournemouth). Goals for Ray Kennedy, and two goals apiece for Peter Simpson and John Radford meant a 5-0 win for the Gunners. Once again, Arsenal made no further additions to their squad, however the main change came off the pitch when Coach Don Howe left to take up the vacant position at West Bromwich Albion in July 1971.
As Peter Storey would explain in his autobiography: ‘Bertie Mee was manager in name, but our coach was the motivating force. If Denis Hill-Wood and the directors couldn’t see that, then they were fools’. Howe also raided the Highbury backroom staff with physiotherapist George Wright and youth team coach Brian Whitehouse joining him at the Hawthorns with Steve Burtenshaw from Brighton coming in as coach and Fred Street from Stoke City as Physio. The summer of 1971 saw the exit of Jon Sammels to newly promoted Leicester City. Usually, League Champions and FA Cup winners would be kicking off their season with the FA Community (nee Charity) Shield. Arsenal however took the unprecedented step of pulling out of the Charity Shield due to having agreed to play friendlies with Benfica of Portugal and Feyenoord of Rotterdam.
Arsenal cancelled a game with Benfica toward the end of the previous season, but the demands of the League title run in and FA Cup run, as well as pressure from the Football Association regarding the Home Internationals meant it was cancelled. Arsenal director Bob Wall claimed that this ‘left a nasty taste in the mouth of the Portuguese’ and hence honoured the agreement with them at the expense of the F.A.’s traditional curtain raiser. The only player therefore involved in the 1971 Charity Shield who had any form of involvement with a League title or FA Cup winning side from the previous season was Jon Sammels as Second Division Champions Leicester City were to play FA Cup runners up Liverpool at Filbert Street. The Foxes won 2-1.
Their new boss former Gunner Jimmy Bloomfield took inspiration from Arsenal’s Cup Final win stating: ‘In the final, Liverpool were caught by the long through ball. We planned to take advantage of this – and it worked’. Arsenal’s non-participation in the Charity Shield started a trend with Arsenal’s trip to Lisbon in contrast saw them crashed to a 0-2 defeat. Four days later, Benfica came to Highbury for the return fixture. Arsenal ran out 6-2 winners, though the jostling which referee Norman Burtenshaw suffered saw him report the whole Benfica side to the Football Association. The following Saturday saw Arsenal head to Rotterdam to play Feyenoord. The Dutch inflicted a 0-1 defeat on Arsenal.
Three days ahead of the start of the Football season, Prime Minister Edward Heath participated in Britain’s victory in the Admiral’s Cup yacht race. Arsenal’s opening League fixture of the 1971/72 season saw them host Chelsea at Highbury. Ahead of kick off, saw a trophy parade which included the League title, FA Cup, the FA Youth Cup and Bertie Mee’s manager of the year trophy. When the game kicked off, the Gunners ran out 3-0 winners with goals for Ray Kennedy, Frank McLintock and John Radford. Twenty four hours later, the Nixon administration in the White House made an economic decision that would come to reshape the World economy with the ending of the ‘Bretton Woods’ system that had run since the dying days of the Second World War in 1944 and practically built the immediate post-war economic stability of the Western World in the years which followed.
Meanwhile, back to the Football and forty eight hours later Arsenal headed to Leeds Road to face Huddersfield Town. A goal for Ray Kennedy gave Arsenal a 1-0 win. Three days on, it would be Leeds United’s turn to come to Huddersfield to play a home fixture – as a result of the crowd disturbances emanating from the hoo-ha at Elland Road against West Brom they were forced to play their first three games away from their home ground. Leeds were not the only side forced to do so that season, so too were Man United due to a knife thrown from the Stretford End in the direction of Newcastle United goal keeper Willie McFaul the previous February.
Arsenal’s away fixture with United that season would be played at Anfield and not Old Trafford as a result of the FA ordering that their first two league fixtures be played at neutral grounds (the other was played at Stoke City’s Victoria Ground). The game was played on a Friday night so as not to clash with Everton’s home fixture with Sheffield United the following day on the other side of Stanley Park. Arsenal took the lead after four minutes with a goal from Frank McLintock. However goals for Alan Gowling, Bobby Charlton and Brian Kidd inflicted a 1-3 defeat on the Gunners.
Man United however paid a heavy financial price as a result of this fixture – 15% of gate receipts were given to their hosts Liverpool FC. At the time, a percentage of gate receipts were given to the away side as standard. As the attendance of just 27,649 was some way beneath the 48,000 that turned out for Arsenal’s visit to Old Trafford the previous December, Arsenal had to be compensated by United for their loss. Everton’s gate the following day too was under the figure of 46,000, meaning that Man United too had to pay compensation to the Toffees. The following Wednesday saw Sheffield United visit Highbury.
The Blades ran out 1-0 winners becoming the first away side to win at Highbury for twenty two months. This was Sheffield United’s fourth win in a row as they shot to the top of the old First Division after sealing promotion the season before. Arsenal were back at Highbury on Saturday and suffered a third defeat in a row with Stoke City inflicting a 0-1 defeat. Arsenal ended August 1971 in sixteenth place and seven points behind undefeated league leaders Sheffield United. Arsenal got back to winning ways in their first fixture in September 1971, as a superb volley from Jon Roberts guaranteeing a 1-0 win over Don Howe’s West Brom side at the Hawthorns, which was captured by ATV’s ‘Star Soccer’.
Four days later, Arsenal met Barnsley at home in the second round of the League Cup. A goal for Ray Kennedy gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory. The following Saturday saw the Gunners take on old sparring partners Leeds United at Highbury for the first time since pipping them to the title four months prior. The West Yorkshire side stood in second place, three points behind Sheffield United. Goals for George Graham and a penalty for Peter Storey gave Arsenal a 2-0 win which pushed Arsenal up to eighth. Four days on, Arsenal made their European Cup debut with a first round tie with Norwegian side Strømsgodset IF. In the first leg in which Arsenal triumphed 3-1 with goals for Peter Marinello, Peter Simpson and Eddie Kelly.
This match also featured an Arsenal debut for Paul Davies, not he who broke Glenn Cockerill’s jaw but a member of Arsenal’s 1971 FA Youth Cup winning side who was the brother of Southampton’s Ron Davies and transferred to Charlton within twelve months of his debut. The following Saturday, Arsenal then headed to Goodison Park to play an Everton side who had fallen from League Champions in 1969/70 to languishing in nineteenth place. The Toffees however inflicted a 1-2 defeat on Arsenal with goals for David Johnson and Joe Royle, while Ray Kennedy was on target for the Gunners. In the midweek, the very first episode of the BBC’s seminal music show – the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ – was first broadcast. Arsenal’s final league fixture of September 1971 saw the visit of newly promoted Leicester City who languished in twentieth place. Goals for Pat Rice and two for John Radford meant a 3-0 victory for Arsenal.
The month ended with the second leg against Strømsgodset IF at Highbury. Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners with goals from George Armstrong, Ray Kennedy and two for John Radford. October started with a trip to the Dell to play Southampton. A Peter Simpson goal secured a 1-0 victory for the Gunners. Arsenal were drawn at home to Newcastle United in the third round of the League Cup, who came to Highbury in the midweek. The programme for this fixture featured in this edition of Phil Wall’s ‘Angry of Islington’ blog. Goals for George Graham, Ray Kennedy and two for John Radford gave Arsenal a thumping 4-0 win. The Magpies came back to Highbury three days later this time to face Arsenal in the League.
Goals for George Armstrong, George Graham, Ray Kennedy and Eddie Kelly made it eight goals against the Geordies in three days as the Gunners ran out 4-2 winners. The two goals for Newcastle were scored by future Arsenal star Malcolm MacDonald – Supermac having joined Newcastle from Luton the previous summer. Seven days later, Arsenal headed to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea in a fixture captured by LWT’s ‘The Big Match’. The Gunners went into this game having won only one game at Stamford Bridge over the previous twelve years. Two goals for Ray Kennedy finally gave Arsenal both points for the first time since 1962, as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners. On target for Chelsea was Peter Osgood.
Three days later, Arsenal met Grasshoppers of Zurich in the first leg of their second leg European Cup tie. Goals for George Graham and Ray Kennedy meant that the Gunners took a 2-0 lead back to Highbury. Three days later, Arsenal headed to the Baseball Ground to face Brian Clough’s Derby County, who stood in third place – one place above Arsenal in fifth. Coverage of which was captured by ATV’s ‘Star Soccer’. An Alan Hinton penalty and a goal for John O’Hare inflicted a 1-2 defeat on Arsenal. George Graham meanwhile would be on target for the Gunners. In the midweek, Arsenal faced a visit from Sheffield United in the fourth round of the League Cup. The Blades who stood in fourth place managed to hold the Gunners were held to a 0-0 draw. On the final Saturday of October 1971, the incumbent PM’s current allies – the DUP – were founded by the Reverent Iain Paisley in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, that same day at Highbury on for the final League game of October 1971, goals for Charlie George and an own goal meant a 2-1 victory over fourteenth place Ipswich Town. Arsenal’s first fixture of November 1971 would be the visit of Grasshoppers for the second leg tie at Highbury. Goals for Charlie George, Ray Kennedy and John Radford meant a 3-0 win (5-0 on aggregate) which put North London’s finest into the Quarter Finals the following March. In the meantime, Arsenal headed to Anfield to face seventh place Liverpool in the Gunners first League fixture of November 1971. Liverpool had been eliminated from the European Cup Winners Cup with a 1-3 away defeat to Bayern Munich with goals for Uli Hoeness and two for Gerd Muller.
Arsenal took the lead through future Liverpool star Ray Kennedy after five minutes, Emlyn Hughes however equalised for Liverpool four minutes ahead of half time. Eight minutes after the restart, Liverpool took the lead with Ian Callaghan lobbing Bob Wilson. Arsenal drew level with a Tommy Smith own goal, though with three minutes left Liverpool secured the points with a goal from Ian Ross to inflict a 2-3 defeat on Arsenal which saw the Gunners sink to ninth. Forty eight hours on, the Gunners headed to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United in their replayed League Cup tie. By now, the Blades had experienced four straight defeats meaning they crashed from top of the league to fifth. Arsenal however crashed out of the League Cup with a 0-2 defeat.
Next up for Bertie Mee’s side was a visit to Highbury by third place Man City. Highlights would be captured by LWT’s ‘The Big Match’. Goals for Ian Mellor and Colin Bell inflicted a 1-2 defeat on Arsenal, while left back Sammy Nelson bagged his first goal for the Gunners. The following week, Bertie Mee’s side headed to Molineux to face twelfth placed Wolves, highlights of which would be captured by the BBC’s ’Match of the Day’. Arsenal took the lead with a blinding shot from Ray Kennedy. The Gunners however crashed to a fourth straight loss with a 1-5 battering which sunk Arsenal to eleventh place in the table. On the back of this poor run of results, Bertie Mee’s side headed to White Hart Lane in midweek for the first time since sealing the title six months earlier.
Spurs were three points above Arsenal in seventh place. The Gunners took the lead with a goal from Ray Kennedy. Martin Chivers however pounced on a misplaced pass back from Pat Rice to equalise, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. The weekend would see another London Derby back at Highbury, with the visit of bottom of the table Crystal Palace. Arsenal took the lead with a goal from Eddie Kelly. John Radford added a second with a close range header. Palace pulled one back in the second half with a long range shot from Craven. North London’s finest however hung on for a 2-1 victory and their first win since the start of the month. Arsenal ended November 1971 in eighth place, though nine points off of Frank O’Farrell’s Man United at the top of the table.
On December 2nd 1971, the nation after which Arsenal’s stadium is officially named (the United Arab Emirates) was formed after the seven constituent Emirates received independence from British governance. Two days later saw Arsenal’s third London Derby in a row – this time at the Boleyn Ground against a West Ham side in thirteenth place who had lost their last four games. The two sides however played out a 0-0 draw. This would be followed by fourteenth place Coventry City’s visit to Highbury. Two goals for John Radford meant a 2-0 victory in front of a crowd of just 28,599. Arsenal managed back to back wins in the league for the first time in two months.
On Don Howe’s return to Highbury one week before Christmas 1971, two goals for John Roberts meant a 2-0 win for Arsenal over a West Brom side languishing at the foot of the table losing their last six games. A present just ahead of Christmas for the Gunners came in the form of signing Everton’s Alan Ball for a record breaking fee of £220,000. Ball would be Arsenal’s first signing since Peter Marinello nearly two years prior. His debut in an Arsenal shirt would come in the interim between Christmas and New Year in an away trip to meet second from bottom Nottingham Forest, where a George Graham goal cancelling out an Ian Storey-Moore opener gave Arsenal a 1-1 draw. Arsenal ended the calendar year of 1971 in eighth position.
On New Years’ Day, Alan Ball’s home debut would be against the side who sold him a little more than a week earlier. The Toffees had failed to win their last five games and sat in sixteenth position. Everton however took the lead with a Howard Kendall volley. With eight minutes left to play, Arsenal equalised with a goal from Peter Simpson. Arsenal’s indifferent form continued into the New Year, with a 0-0 draw against Stoke City at the Victoria Ground. Next up would be the third round of the FA Cup and Arsenal’s defence kicked off against Swindon Town. The Gunners humiliation of three years prior had been fresh in the memory. Lightning however would not strike twice this time. Goals for George Armstrong and Alan Ball’s first goal for the Gunners meant a 2-0 win for Arsenal.
Five days later, the official number of unemployed people in the UK exceeded one million for the first time since the 1930s (nearly double the figure when Ted Heath took office eighteen months). For Bertie Mee’s side however, the Swindon victory would bring a reversal of fortune over the next five games. A goal for George Armstrong game Arsenal a 1-0 victory. January 1972 ended with a trip to Bramall Lane for the Gunners. Bertie Mee’s side had already suffered two defeats at the hands of the Blades already this season. This afternoon however would be payback time. Sheffield United stood in fifth place at the start of the day. Goals for Peter Simpson, Ray Kennedy, George Graham and two for Charlie George meant a 5-0 victory for the Gunners which saw them leapfrog Sheffield United in the table, five points off of league leaders Man City in fifth.
Alan Ball also wound up the home crowd by sitting on the ball – an act that wouldn’t be forgotten at Bramall Lane in a hurry. One day later in Northern Ireland, saw fourteen unarmed protestors shot by British troops in Derry, in what came to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. The following week would bring the fourth round of the FA Cup and a trip to Elm Park to meet Reading, who at the time languished in fourteenth place in the old Fourth Division. A goal from Pat Rice and a Reading own goal meant a 2-1 win for Arsenal over the Berkshire side to progress to the last sixteen. Back in the League, next to visit Highbury would be Brian Clough’s Derby County side who stood three points above Arsenal in third.
The game would be captured by LWT’s ‘The Big Match’. Two goals for Charlie George, one from the penalty spot, gave Arsenal a 2-0 win which pushed North London’s finest up to fourth and now just four points behind Man City who dropped points with a 3-3 draw away to Sheffield United. Arsenal would face Derby County again in the FA Cup, before then however would be a trip to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town. Peter Storey notes in his autobiography that the match was a heated affair, due to twenty man brawl which occurred between the players, for which no-one was booked for. A Charlie George headed goal after six minutes gave Arsenal a 1-0 win and a sixth straight victory for the Gunners. Arsenal then headed to the Baseball Ground for a fiercely contested Cup tie. A Charlie George volley put Arsenal ahead, though Derby equalised from the penalty spot through Alan Hinton.
George scored again to put Arsenal 2-1 up, though Derby forced a replay with a last minute equaliser from Alan Durban. Charlie however got himself into hot water. After Derby County fans serenaded George with the song: ‘Charlie George, superstar. Looks like a woman and he wears a bra’. On scoring, Charlie flicked a V-Sign at the Derby County fans, which saw him hit with a fine. Three days later on February 29th came the replay at Highbury, played out during the afternoon as a result of power restrictions imposed by the government because of a Miner’s Strike which ended just a day earlier.
The game was played out in front of a mammoth 63,077 crowd, which led to a crash barrier collapse that saw fans spilling onto the pitch and a delay in proceedings. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. The following Saturday, Arsenal headed to Maine Road to face top of the table Man City at Maine Road. City held a four point lead at the top, though second place Leeds United had two games in hand. Arsenal ahead of the game stood six points off of City with two games in hand, meaning that a win may well put them back in contention. Two goals for Francis Lee however inflicted a 0-2 defeat on Arsenal, leaving the Gunners with an eight point deficit to make up.
That same day, showboating Leeds United stayed in contention by thumping Southampton 7-0 at Elland Road. Arsenal next headed to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the first leg of their European Cup Quarter Final tie in front of 63,000. ITV covered the game, with commentary from Brian Moore who keeps referring to the opposition as the same name as a well-known bathroom detergent. Arsenal took the lead with a goal from Ray Kennedy after fifteen minutes, however Ajax drew level with a goal from Gerrie Muhren, the older brother of former Ipswich and Man Utd midfielder Arnold, ten minutes later.
Muhren would strike again with seventieth minute penalty in the second half to inflict a 1-2 defeat on Arsenal. The away goal in their favour meant that Arsenal may have fancied their chances back at Highbury. By the following weekend however, there would be a third straight loss for Arsenal at St. James’s Park. A month prior, the Magpies crashed out of the FA Cup with a 1-2 loss to non-league Hereford with Arsenal name sakes Radford and George among the goals. However with Jimmy Smith and future Gunner Malcolm MacDonald on target, it meant a 0-2 defeat for Arsenal in the league at the hands of eleventh place Newcastle United.
This match though would make history as Brendan Batson became the first player of Afro-Caribbean origin to play first team football for the Arsenal, after coming on as sub for Charlie George. Defeat however would leave Arsenal ten points adrift of league leaders Man City with just eleven games left to play. Forty eight hours later, Arsenal headed to Filbert Street to play a second replay with Derby County at a neutral ground. Ray Kennedy pounced on a misplaced back-pass from John McGovern to secure a 1-0 win for the Gunners and a trip a few miles down the road to Leyton to play Orient just five days later. In the previous round, the Orient caused a shock by beating Chelsea 3-2, after coming back from two goals down.
In this game, Orient hit the post and bar. A goal for Alan Ball however secured a 1-0 win for Arsenal which had taken them through to the Semi Finals. Four days later, Ajax came to Highbury for the Second Leg. The match was captured in its entirety by Dutch TV, while in England the public had to make do with highlights on BBC’s ‘Sportsnight’. A George Graham own goal had sealed Arsenal’s fate as they crashed to a 0-1 defeat (3-1 on aggregate), which put paid to Arsenal’s European Cup hopes. The Gunners would not be competing again in Europe’s Premier club competition for another twenty years, under the management of the player whose own goal eliminated them.
The Double seemed like an eternity ago by now, however the following Saturday on visiting Elland Road to play second place Leeds United, the home side and their fans gave Arsenal a guard of honour to commemorate the achievement. That’s all Leeds gave away that afternoon, as goals for Alan Clarke, Mick Jones and Peter Lorimer inflicted a 0-3 defeat on the Gunners, captured on camera by Yorkshire TV. Defeat saw Arsenal slip to ninth and thirteen points away from leaders Man City, despite still having three games in hand. Just ahead of Easter weekend, Arsenal received a visit from a Southampton side hovering one point above the relegation zone. A goal for Peter Marinello, playing his first league game for nineteen months, gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory.
On 30th March 1972, the Northern Ireland troubles had escalated to the point where the Northern Irish parliament was suspended and directly ruled from Westminster. Two days later on Easter Saturday, Arsenal received a visit from bottom of the table Nottingham Forest. A Charlie George penalty, as well as goals from Ray Kennedy and George Graham gave Arsenal a 3-0 win. In midweek, Arsenal played out a 0-0 draw with Leicester at Filbert Street, which left the Gunners in seventh position. The following Saturday saw the visit of Wolves, who were just one point behind Arsenal in eighth. John Richards put Wolves ahead, however two goals for George Graham gave Arsenal a 2-1 win. Four days ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup Semi Final date came a London Derby against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The South Londoners were battling relegation in twentieth position, just two points from Nottingham Forest at the foot of the table. Palace hadn’t even won a home game since the turn of the year. After four minutes, goals for Alan Ball and John Radford put Arsenal two goals up. Palace however pulled it back to 2-2 to see the points shared. And so on to Villa Park, as Arsenal faced Stoke City in the FA Cup Semi-Finals for the second time in two years. Though sitting in sixteenth place in the League table, Stoke secured their first major trophy seven weeks prior after defeating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley with a goal from former Arsenal midfielder George Eastham. The Potters therefore were hoping to make history as the first side to complete a domestic Cup Double.
Arsenal took the lead with a twenty yard drive from George Armstrong. The Gunners’ lead was cancelled out with a Peter Simpson own goal, however the main point of interest with regard to this tie was a knee injury suffered by Bob Wilson, who collided with a post. He played on for another fifteen minutes with his leg bandaged, however was forced to withdraw from the game. This long before the permitting of substitute goalkeepers meant that Ray Kennedy came on for Wilson, with John Radford covering in goal. Ironically, this was the second time this season that Stoke would play a Semi Final against a side with an outfield player going in goal. In their League Cup Semi Final tie with West Ham, Bobby Moore covered for the injured Bobby Ferguson and even saved a penalty (though scored on the rebound).
Radford however bravely saw out the game, with Arsenal holding on for a 1-1 draw. In the other Semi-Final, Leeds United progressed to the final with a comfortable 3-0 win over Birmingham City. The replay took place four days later at Goodison Park. After five minutes, Stoke were denied what photographic evidence proved to be a legitimate goal, after Bob McNab cleared off of the line. Covering in goal for Bob Wilson would be former Everton keeper Geoff Barnett. It was Barnett who brought down Stoke’s Jimmy Greenhoff to concede the penalty from which Stoke took the lead, as Greenhoff himself converted. After a poor first half, Arsenal came out to turn matters around in the second half. After seeing one penalty appeal turned down, Arsenal were awarded a spot kick after a foul on George Armstrong. Charlie George converted for an Arsenal equaliser.
As the second half progressed, Charlie George was allegedly played onside by the linesman mistaking a programme seller on the touchline wearing a white coat for a Stoke defender. George pulled the ball back for John Radford. The goalkeeping hero of the previous Saturday put the ball away to give the Gunners a 2-1 win and secure their second FA Cup final appearance in successive years. For Stoke, who had played their sixtieth competitive fixture the frustration was clear. Arsenal physio Fred Street on attempting to console his former Stoke colleagues was warned by Stoke boss Tony Waddington: ‘I would wait a little while if I were you…the boys are a bit violent at the moment’.
Ahead of their fifth Cup final in five years, Arsenal stood eleven points off of Derby County at the top of the old First Division table and, though they had three games in hand, the Gunners had just five games left to play meaning that the League title was now out of reach. The following weekend, fourteenth place West Ham came to Highbury for a London Derby. Two goals for Alan Ball meant a 2-1 win for Arsenal, with Trevor Brooking on target for the Hammers. With Brendan Batson’s introduction as substitute, as well as the involvement of Clive Charles, Ade Coker and Clyde Best meant the then notable occurrence of four black players competing in one game with the new emergence of Afro-Caribbean footballers within the English game.
