After the Gunners retained their title, by the start of the 1934/35 season George Allison took over as Arsenal's Secretary Manager, with an away trip to Portsmouth in late August. Goals for Ray Bowden, Cliff Bastin and a goal on his debut for Ted Drake meant a 3-3 draw down in Hampshire. The goal fest was continued as Arsenal scored as many as twenty times in their first five games (on Allison's Highbury debut, Arsenal defeated Liverpool by a scoreline of 8-1!). In his debut season at Highbury, Allison won Arsenal's third League title in succession. After winning a second title in 1937/38, Arsenal's original glory days were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. When football resumed in 1946/47, Arsenal languished mid-table when George Allison relinquished the Arsenal manager position at the end of May 1947.

Tom Whittaker explained in his autobiography that Allison had called him into his office to notify him of his decision to step down. Whittaker states: 'I asked him what would happen when they appointed a successor, and Mr Allison replied: 'I believe they will offer you the job. If they do, take it, and the very best of luck to you'. Allison's final game had been a 2-1 home victory over Everton on the last day of May. When Tom Whittaker took over as caretaker, due to particularly cold winter and the non-permitting of floodlit fixtures, Arsenal had one remaining fixture remaining on June 7th away to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane (Arsenal's latest ever competitive fixture during a season). The Gunners fell to a 1-2 defeat.

Whittaker took over permanently by the start of the 1947/48 season, the season kicked off with a home fixture with Sunderland, which had been captured by the newsreel. The Season kicked off with a 3-1 victory in front of a crowd of 58,000, with goals from Jimmy Logie, Ian McPherson and Ronnie Rooke. It would be the first of six straight victories for the Gunners and a start of a then club record of seventeen games unbeaten from the start of the season (which lasted until it was surpassed by George Graham's side in 1990/91). In this Pathe News piece, Tom Whittaker explains how Arsenal's big spending policy of the time had been a part of that revival. Arsenal went on to win the title in Tom Whittaker's first full season in charge.

After an association with the club which lasted as long as thirty six years, as player, coach, trainer and then manager, and winning a further title in 1952/53, Whittaker died in office as a result of a heart attack in October 1956, in no small part due to the strain of attempting to keep a declining Arsenal side at the top of English game. His final game in charge had been a 3-1 victory over Spurs at Highbury. The Gunners stood eighth in the old First Division. Jack Crayston – a stalwart of the 1930s side – had been Whittaker's assistant and took charge of the side. His first game in charge had been a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton.

The Gunners fell to a 0-4 defeat. Crayston's first season ended with a respectable fifth place finish. In his only full season however, the Gunners languished mid table with notable high scoring games such as a 2-3 home defeat to Blackpool, a 4-4 home draw with Spurs, a 5-4 home victory over Chelsea, a 2-4 away defeat to Man City, a 4-5 away defeat to Portsmouth, a 3-3 away draw to Newcastle United and most famously, the final game of the Man United's Busby Babes before the tragic crash which ended in a 4-5 defeat for Arsenal at Highbury. Crayston's last game at the end of April 1958 had been an away trip to Preston North End, where the Gunners crashed to a 0-3 defeat at Deepdale. Taking over from Crayston after his resignation in the summer of 1958 had been another former player in goalkeeper George Swindin who had been managing a Peterborough United side who had recently been elected to the Football League.

By bizarre coincidence, an away trip to Preston would also be George Swindin's first game in charge of Arsenal. The Gunners crashed to a 1-2 defeat, with Jimmy Bloomfield on target for George Swindin's side. After finishing in third place in his first season, Arsenal endured three mid-table finishes in a row. Denis Hill-Wood confirmed in March 1962 that Swindin's contract would not be renewed. As with Crayston, Arsenal under Swindin suffered the same problem of high scoring, but conceding just as many. Prime examples of this during the 1961/62 season would be a 3-4 away defeat to Spurs, a 4-4 home draw to Leicester City, a 3-2 away win at Wolves, a 4-5 home defeat to Aston Villa, a 3-2 away win over Man United and a 3-3 away draw with West Ham United. In keeping with this, Swindin's final game on Mayday 1962 had been a visit from Everton to Highbury.

It would also be the final game for Jack Kelsey, who initially replaced George Swindin as Arsenal's first choice keeper. The Gunners crashed to a 2-3 defeat. Taking over from George Swindin had been the first manager since the appointment of Herbert Chapman to have previously had no connection with the club whatsoever in former England captain Billy Wright. His first game had been a few miles down the road at Leyton Orient, playing their very first game in the top flight (what turned to be their only top flight season). The match was the English football debut of England international Joe Baker, who transferred from Torino, having started his career at Hibs in Scotland. Baker scored on his debut, as well as a goal for Geoff Strong which gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory.

Wright lasted four seasons at the helm, where Arsenal dropped to mid-table irrelevance by the mid 1960s and saw the former Wolves and England captain relived of his duties as England lifted the World Cup in 1966. The club then took the bizarre decision of appointing Bertie Mee as Caretaker boss to replace Wright. His first game in charge took place three weeks on from England's World Cup win with a trip to Roker Park to face Sunderland. Bertie got off to a winning start, with goals from George Armstrong and two for Alan Skirton in a 3-1 victory (the full account of Bertie Mee's first season in charge at Arsenal can be seen from an Online Gooner piece I wrote last summer).

After seventeen years of mediocrity, following Bertie Mee's appointed in charge full time at Highbury, the Gunners were briefly back to trophy winning ways for a thirteen month period between April 1970 and May 1971 as Bertie formed a formidible Manager/Coach partnership with Don Howe. After Don's departure within weeks of completing the Double, Arsenal again drifted backwards to the verge of relegation between 1975 and 1976. This led to the Gunners parting company with Mee in the Summer of 1976. As described in a recently uploaded YouTube piece from myself, after Mee was ousted, Arsenal turned to a former player who had just quit as Spurs boss. Neill's first game in charge at Highbury was a visit from newly promoted Bristol City. A goal from Paul Cheeseley inflicted a 1-0 defeat on the Gunners.

After a hat-trick of FA Cup finals at the end of the 1970s, as well as a defeat in the European Cup Winners Cup in 1980, Arsenal drifted back to mediocrity under Terry Neill. After four straight defeats at the end of 1983, the Gunners had sunk to as low as sixteenth in the table. The Arsenal board wielded the axe on Terry Neill and appointed Don Howe as caretaker boss until the end of the season. For Don's first game in charge, Arsenal faced a visit from Watford just ahead of Christmas. A Raphael Meade hat-trick gave the Gunners a 3-1 victory. Howe was appointed full time boss the following summer, however his managerial career at Highbury very much contrasted with his time as coach.

By the mid-1980s, all of Arsenal's trophy wins since the abolition of rationing came with Don Howe as head coach. Arsenal however won nothing with Howe as manager. Though where his predecessor's reign ended with four straight defeats, Howe's actually ended with four straight wins. Don resigned on Good Friday 1986, with Chief Scout Steve Burtenshaw standing in as caretaker. At the time, Arsenal stood fifth and eight points behind leaders Everton with two games in hand in what was a very open title race that season. In his very first press conference after taking the job, Burtenshaw even mused on whether Arsenal could make a late title challenge. In fact, the Gunners were four points ahead of a West Ham side who were in the title race until the final Saturday of the season.

Unfortunately, Arsenal's form under Burtenshaw made the idea of a title challenge laughable. His first game in charge had been an away trip to White Hart Lane to face Spurs on Easter Saturday. A goal from Gary Stevens inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Arsenal. During Steve Burtenshaw's time in charge, Arsenal won just three games out of eleven, with two draws (one blowing a two goal lead over a hapless and relegated West Brom side at home) and six defeats (this record made Burtenshaw officially Arsenal's worst performing boss). Shortly after the close of the 1985/86 season, Arsenal appointed George Graham as their new boss. The following August, his first game in charge saw a visit from Ron Atkinson's Man United side.

The previous season saw the Reds win a record ten straight games from the start of the season, with United looking certain to win their first title for nineteen years. An end of season collapse however saw a promising season end trophy-less. The George Graham era however kicked off with a 1-0 victory courtesy of a late Charlie Nicholas goal. George Graham's period in charge at Highbury became the club's most successful period since the 1930s. The GG era however ended with another drift back to mediocrity in the league table. Though trophy wins continued up until his last full season in charge, winning the European Cup Winners Cup), by February 1995 Arsenal stood twelfth and with the Premiership being reduced to twenty sides, the Gunners were just four points from the drop zone.

Despite the poor league form, the actual cause of Graham's dismissal was financial irregularities, because of which he was summarily dismissed in February 1995. His right hand man Stewart Houston took over the reigns for the remainder of the 1994/95 season. His first game in charge came on the day of his appointment at home to Nottingham Forest. Arsenal won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Chris Kiwomya – one of George Graham's last signings for the club, scoring his first goal for the Gunners. During Houston's short reign Kiwomya scored two further goals against Crystal Palace, both however fell down the pecking order when Arsenal appointed Bruce Rioch as manager and signed Dennis Bergkamp over the Summer of 1995.

Rioch's first game in charge came at the start of the 1995/96 season. The Gunners fell behind to a goal by former Spurs midfielder Nick Barmby. An Ian Wright equaliser five minutes later earned Arsenal a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59lqiEuCxFw 1-1 draw. After a respectable fifth place finish, Rioch lasted one solitary season before facing the sack just ahead of the 1996/97 season. Stewart Houston took over again as caretaker boss for the second time. Goals for John Hartson and a Dennis Bergkamp penalty got Arsenal off the mark with a 2-0 victory. Arsenal in the meantime were awaiting the arrival of Arsene Wenger from Japan, however Stewart Houston had been poached by QPR for their vacant manager's role, meaning that the then Youth coach Pat Rice had stepped up to take the caretaker role with the Gunners standing eight in the table with two wins from five.

Pat Rice's first game in charge had been a visit from Sheffield Wednesday to Highbury. The game was also a debut for Patrick Vieira, who had been signed from AC Milan's reserves on the recommendation of Wenger. On twenty five minutes, Arsenal fell behind with a goal from Andy Booth, however goals for David Platt and an Ian Wright hat-trick meant a thumping 4-1 victory for Arsenal. It would be another month before Arsene Wenger finally arrived at Highbury. His first game in charge had been an away trip to Blackburn Rovers. At the time, Arsenal stood third in the table and three points behind leaders Liverpool. Two goals for Ian Wright gave Arsenal a 2-0 victory and kicked off Arsenal's longest and most successful ever managerial reign (albeit creating a legacy which had subsequently came to divide most of the Arsenal fan base)

And so on to Sunday. So far Unai Emery has had a good pre-season, however the action now starts for real with a baptism of fire in the visit of reigning Champions Man City. History however would be on Emery's side, as only one of the last five permanently appointed bosses have lost their opening game. Also, as many as four previous managers have won the league title in what was either their first season, or first full season in the job. The Gunners squad also had little involvement in the latter stages of the World Cup during the summer, meaning there's a chance they may be fresher than Man City. I therefore don't think it too overly optimistic to hope that Arsenal can kick off the Unai Emery era by earning at least a point on Sunday.

Robert Exley is the creator of the YouTube series 'By Jesus Said Paddy: The Story of Arsenal 1976-86' and can be found on Twitter@robert_exley