Reasons to be annoyed, part 1

Here’s some stuff that annoys me on Twitter. That’s the kind of mood I’m in. Transfer rumours, where people apparently ‘in the know’ say “Don’t worry about us signing X – that’s 100% a done deal”, and this is about four months before the transfer window opens! Actually no one knows until the contract is…

Alisher Usmanov Q&A: Everything Arsenal Fans Need To Know

Who is Alisher Usmanov? He’s a billionaire from Uzbekistan in the former Soviet Union, though often referred to as Russian, who owns half of Red And White Holdings, along with his partner Farhad Moshiri (whose Wikpedia entry is sadly out of date). How rich is Usmanov? Very rich. Estimates of his wealth vary, but it…

Charlie George Interview: Always One Of Us

May 8 is the anniversary of Arsenal sealing their first Double in 1971, as Charlie George lashed in a 20-yard shot to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley in extra time. To celebrate that fact, here’s an interview I did with Charlie a few years back, when he had just released his autobiography.  This first appeared…

Champions League Qualification or Win Domestic Cups?

I keep seeing the question: What would you rather have, Champions League qualification or win the FA Cup, or both domestic cups? Well the question is a stupid one. I’d rather win the domestic cups one year and then have a crack at Champions League football the next year. And if we didn’t win the…

Arsenal ticket office: sorted!

Arsenal ticket prices inevitably go up (every season these days in Club level), but don’t worry, because they’ve installed a new computer system to handle the demand! Here’s a picture of the new computer from an Arsenal programme in 1983, along with the delightful eighties perm and glasses on ‘box office girl Sue Compton’. I…

Arsenal Legends: A Definitive List

Who are the true Arsenal legends? Words like ‘legend’ and ‘hero’ are bandied around too easily these days, along with ‘World Class’ and ‘Let’s watch X-Factor’. But some do achieve true legend status in the history of the world’s greatest football club, so here’s my definitive list. My criteria for legend are either a huge…

History of Substitutes: Niall Quinn – record breaker?

The commonly accepted story is that the first substitutes during competitive football matches were used in the qualifying tournament for the 1954 World Cup, with the very first being Richard Gottinger of West Germany (who replaced Horst Eckel) in their match against Saarland on October 11, 1953. (Saarland is part of Germany, but in the…