Arsenal anniversaries 6 July: Granit comes good.

6 July 1916: During the 1st world war Arsenal’s chair, Henry Norris, undertook work for the War Office.  The records of this work were later destroyed so piecing together his work is difficult but we know he worked in Worthing for the WO sorting out recruitment before this date, but was back in London by the summer of 1916 as he made a speech at a Chamber of Commerce event in Fulham. Such is the way the story is recovered – by joining the dots from the information we do have.

6 July. 1959:  David Bowen sold to Northampton Town for £5,000.  He had previously been purchased from Northampton, and now went on to play 22 times for them in the 1959/60 season before retiring from playing, but staying as manager of the club.  He took Northampton from the 4th to the 1st division in five seasons. He was also manager of Wales (1964/74) and remained on the board of Northampton until retirement. He died in 1995 and the north stand of the Northampton stadium is named in his honour as is the street where he lived.

6 July 1980: Colin Addison became Derby County’s manager.  He played 28 games for Arsenal in 1966-7 before moving onto Sheffield United.  As a manager he was in charge or assistant at 22 different clubs in England, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East mostly staying for one season.  He remained at Derby until 1982.  In all he managed 22 clubs and ended his career as a commentator and football advisor across the UK and Europe, also consulting for clubs and media entities in Spain, USA and Asia.

6 July 1995: Jimmy Carter left on a free transfer for Portsmouth.  Having come from an unsuccessful spell at Liverpool he played just 25 times in four years for Arsenal and had had two loan spells at Oxford.   After leaving Arsenal he played almost 100 more league games for Portsmouth and Millwall.  He retired from playing in 1999 and moved into support and charity work for clubs he has been associated with.

6 July 2021: Matteo Guendouzi loaned to Marseille for the season.

6 July 2023: Arsenal announce Reiss Nelson had signed a new long-term contract

6 July 2023: It was announced that Granit Xhaka, who had at times been booed by people in the Arsenal stadium, was being transferred to Bayer Leverkusen after 297 games and two FA Cup winners’ medals for £21.4 million.  On 14 April 2024, Xhaka scored in Leverkusen’s 5–0 win over Werder Bremen to win the German league title.  Just over a month later he scored in the German cup final to win his club the double.

Elsewhere…

Henry Norris at the Arsenal:  There is a full index to the series here correcting 100 years of rumour and false allegations.

Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever

Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.