Arsenal in October 1970, the great march forward begins.
Our current series is “100 years in the top division”
The latest pieces are…
- 100 years in the top division. The end of Swindin; the awful tenure of Wright
- 100 seasons in the top division. The rebirth of Arsenal 1967-68
- 100 seasons in the top division – 1969/70, and building a new team
- The first double: from advancement to a Midlands disaster
The full index of articles so far is published here
By Tony Attwood
In the last episode, we left Arsenal fourth in the 1st divsiion, having played ten games., the last of which was a disastrous 5-0 defeat to Stoke City on 26 September 1970. Arsenal had now played ten games and won five of them, drawn three and lost two. They were fourth in the league behind Leeds, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. I don’t think anyone would have even thought about winning the league at that stage, let alone winning the league and the FA Cup.
But some help to restore our nerves was at hand as October opened with a 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest at home. This now took Arsenal up to third in the league. And there was something else rather interesting for those willing to look beyond the headlines – and that was that suddenly Arsenal were the top scoring team in the league with 22 goals!
What’s more, and this is one of those things that only the real fans of facts and figures noticed, Arsenal were not only the top scoring team, but also had what these days we would call a rather good goal difference.
Of course, goal difference was not a feature at this time, as clubs with identical points were separated by goal average – a process that tended to reward clubs with good defences rather than clubs that scored a lot. And Arsenal were scoring a lot – more than anyone else in fact.
So yes, after 11 games played, Arsenal were third in the league, with the second club still having a game in hand, but there was a real feeling that Arsenal were the exciting team of the moment. 22 goals in 11 games doesn’t sound that wonderful today, but in the days when even the positioning of clubs on equal points in the league rewarded the defensively minded teams, it was something to note.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 18 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 15 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 12 | 15 |
Kennedy got a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest, which helped everyone forget the previous match, which had been that 5-0 away defeat to Stoke City. But the talk about Arsenal was still fairly negative, particularly as after six away matches, Arsenal had only won one game away from home. Worse, their goal tally away from home was six scored and 11 conceded.
Interestingly in terms of league tables on October 11, after Arsenal’s away draw with Newcastle, (had anyone looked at the home and away tables separately, which mostly people didn’t, unless gambling on the football pools, which at the time was a very major activity) Arsenal were 11th in the league in terms of away form, and second in terms of home form, behind, of all clubs, Stoke City!
In the next game (league match 12 of the 42-match league season), Arsenal played Newcastle away. Newcastle were eighth in the league and Arsenal third. The match and the result didn’t raise much interest beyond the supporters of the two clubs, as attention was very much focused on Leeds United, who were still three points clear at the top.
The fact that Arsenal had the equal best attack in the league with 23 goals scored from 12 games was not a matter of discussion.
However, it did start to become one when on 17 October Arsenal played their 13th league game of the season and beat Everton 4-0 at Highbury. Kennedy got his eighth and ninth goals of the season as Arsenal rose up to second.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 20 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 13 | 18 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 17 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 17 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 17 |
There was also a little mention of the fact that London now had three teams in the top five of Division One, although there was no real sense of celebrating that Arsenal actually had the best attack in the league. Indeed, Kennedy had now scored nine goals in 13 games, but it was hardly mentioned.
So, there were always those willing to dismiss Arsenal and everything the club did, and for the moment, they turned on the issue of the Arsenal defence, perhaps forgetting that following the 0-5 defeat to Stoke City, Arsenal had played three league games, won them all, with nine goals scored and just one conceded. But for the media, the defence remained “suspect”.
Match 14 of the season was Coventry away on October 24, and Arsenal won 3-1. The result lifted Arsenal to second in the league after 14 games, andthey were now just two points behind the league leaders, who were still Leeds United. And despite Arsenal having what today we would describe as the best goal difference in the league, in terms of the goal average system that was used at this time, Arsenal were only the third best team at this time, behind Leeds and Tottenham.
The final game of October was on the last day of the month, and Arsenal approached it having won three and drawn one of the last four. This time it was Derby County at home and Arsenal won 2-0. The league table now read…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds United | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 9 | 24 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 14 | 22 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 21 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 19 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 15 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 22 | 18 | 19 |
Once again, although Arsenal had the best goal difference in the league (+18) in terms of the actual measure to separate clubs on the same number of points that was in use at the time, Arsenal were behind Leeds and Tottenham. The problem was that the defence was conceding too many goals. And no matter how many more the attack scored, that curious “goal average” system was pushing Arsenal back.
But things were improving, as in the five games since the 5-0 thrashing by Leeds, Arsenal had conceded only two goals, compared with the 14 Arsenal had scored. The future was indeed looking rather bright. And indeed everyone was recognising this, as the crowd for the Derby game was over 43,000, which, although by no means the best of the season so far, was considered rather promising for a match at the end of October.
Just as interesting was the source of the goals. Kennedy had scored nine in the last eight league games – a very promising sign indeed.
The series continues….