Part 4 - Building An Empire

Take a stroll up Avenell Road. Turn right and walk up the stairs, through the doors of Highbury's main entrance. Probably the first thing you'll notice is a fine bronze bust on a marble pedestal in front of you. This bust is to immortalise Herbert Chapman, a visionary Yorkshire man who in his 9 years at the club turned potential into reality.

Whilst Chapman's playing career was only really notable for his penchant for wearing yellow boots, his management career was totally different. After being a nomadic player with a host of minor clubs (ending with our neighbours at White Hart Lane) he was offered the post of player manager at Northampton Town. When he joined in 1907 they were bottom of the Southern League, but by 1909 the 'Cobblers' were champions. He was tempted back to his native Yorkshire in 1912 by Leeds City who was in the Second Division of the Football League. In 1919 the club was dissolved (later to be reformed as Leeds United) by the Football League for financial irregularities and Chapman found himself banned from football. He was later fully exonerated and returned to football as assistant manager of Huddersfield Town, taking over as manager one month later. At the time the club, in a Rugby League stronghold, was facing extinction, but with Chapman at the helm things quickly changed with promotion being followed by an FA Cup final place. Then in 1924 his team won the Football League Championship, which he retained in 1925. Then, on May 11th 1925 he saw the advert that Norris had placed in The Athletic News for a new manager. Why he chose to leave the Champions for a team that had escaped relegation by one place is unclear (although some people cite the fact his wages were doubled to £2000pa, he had to give up a very well paid and safe job in engineering to take up the post), the fact he did is something generations of Arsenal fans should be grateful for.

His first act on the playing side was to bring in the experienced and respected inside forward Charlie Buchan as captain. Buchan was from Woolwich and had been a fan of the club in his youth (as a schoolboy he got himself into trouble for skipping school to watch a match). Negotiations with his club Sunderland were difficult, particularly as Norris was reluctant to spend the £4,000 demanded on a 33 year old player, but Chapmans skills as a negotiator came to the fore. The Sunderland board insisted that Buchan was capable of scoring 20 goals for Arsenal, so Chapman insisted on a unique (at the time) deal of £2,000 down and £100 for each goal he scored in his first season. Having been backed into a corner Sunderland agreed and Chapman had a deal Norris would approve. As it happens Buchan scored exactly 20 goals that season, so Sunderland got their money, but more importantly Chapman got his man, and set about his avowed mission of bringing a major trophy to Highbury within 5 years.

The summer of 1925 was notable in general football terms for a major change to the offside rule, the previous three player rule being changed to the still current two player rule, to try and increase the number of goals being scored. The effect was immediate. In the three years before the rule change the League champions had amassed 199 goals in total, in the three years after the figure was 290.

The season didn't start too well. Buchan had been trying to persuade Chapman that the centre half (who up until then had been had been a free roaming playmaker) should be played in a defensive role between the two full backs, dropping one of the inside forwards deep to help in midfield (previously all teams played a 2-3-5 formation). Chapman didn't agree until a 0-7 defeat in October caused him to rethink. He relented and the '3 backs' formation that was to revolutionise football was implemented. Such was the success Chapman achieved with this formation, that by the 30's it was known as the 'Arsenal style'. The success of this new formation was so immediate that we ended the season in second place behind Huddersfield, who completed the first hat-trick of League titles.

Chapman set about securing the services of the players he wanted to complete his 5 years plan with vigour. He decided to base his tactics on fast wingers supported by a scheming inside forward. He had total faith in his own abilities as manager and a proven record of signing the right players. Over the next couple of years he signed many of the payers that would rule football throughout the 30's. Joe Hulme joined from Blackburn. Full back Tom Parker, who would become his captain, signed from Southampton. Herbie Roberts the 'stopper' centre half he needed came from Oswestry. Another full back Eddie Hapgood left Kettering town for Highbury.

In 1927 he almost exceeded his expectations. For the first time in our history we reached the FA Cup final, playing against Cardiff City. A tight game was lost 0-1 and a tradition started that endures to this day. Cardiff's goals came in rather unfortunate circumstances for our Welsh keeper Dan Lewis. In wet conditions he dived to make a reasonably simple save. As he clutched the ball to his chest it squirmed out of his grasp and trickled agonisingly over the line. Lewis blamed the gloss on his brand new jersey, and ever since all of Arsenal's keeper jerseys are washed before use.

Chapman was undaunted, and continued to make signings. David Jack signed from Bolton for £10,890, a figure that staggered football, to replace the aging Buchan. In 1929 a speedy 17-year old winger called Cliff Bastin signed from Exeter, and around the same time he signed the lynch pin of all that was to come. The absolute genius of Alex James was signed from Preston, despite fierce competition from a host of clubs, for £8,750. With his trademark baggy shorts James would astound 30's crowds with his skills and vision, and be accepted as the greatest player of the era. Anyone old enough to have seen him play will tell you he is the greatest player ever to have donned an Arsenal shirt, and it is sad so little footage exists of the mercurial Scotsman.

Another thing happened in 1929, with Sir Henry Norris finding himself banned from football for life for financial irregularities. Corruption in football was rife at the time (there were many proven examples of matches being fixed, and many more suspected instances) and in the days of a maximum wage for footballers, 'under the counter' payments were the norm. Sadly for a man who had invested so much time and money in our club, the main evidence which led to his ban was that he had pocketed the £125 received when the team bus was sold in the mid 20's. He maintained that the money was given to Buchan to compensate him for not being able to run his thriving sports shop in Sunderland when he signed. He had also put up much of the money for the replacement bus from his own pocket, but he was still banned. His replacement as chairman was board member Sir Samuel Hill-Wood, grandfather of the current chairman.

Back on the pitch 1930 marked the fifth year of Chapmans tenure as manager, and he fulfilled his promise. In a thrilling FA Cup Final, Arsenal defeated his old club Huddersfield Town 2-0. The first goal was a perfect example of Alex James' genius. He rarely scored goals himself, but before the game he had told Bastin that if we got a free kick in a favourable position he should start running and James would play him a quick ball. The free kick came in the 17th minute, and James quickly played it into the path of Bastin who was already on the move. James sprinted forward and smashed the return pass into the net before Huddersfield had a chance to react. Despite their complaints the goal was allowed to stand. The second half was played in and around the Arsenal area, but 7 minutes from time Jack Lambert broke from the halfway line to score a second. We were defending so deep that when he turned to celebrate, he found he was the only Arsenal player in their half!

The Cup was won, Chapman's promise was kept, and Tom Parker became the first Arsenal captain to lift a major trophy. But that was just the beginning.

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