16 July: the day Arsenal signed Bloomfield, Joe Baker and Bob Wilson
Today on Untold Arsenal: 6 new players tipped for Arsenal (makiing 65 in total), 2 more leaving (total 28)
Here are today’s anniversaries…
16 July 1917: The London Combination announced how it would run its wartime league for clubs in the capital in the season to come. The league was reduced to 10 clubs from the 14 of the previous season, removing the four non-London clubs: Watford, Luton, Southampton and Portsmouth, to fend for themselves.
16 July 1945: The first atomic bomb explosion took place in New Mexico
16 July 1936: The nation’s collective heartbeat stopped as George McMahon tried to shoot King Edward VIII at the Trooping of the Colour.
16 July 1946: John Hollins born in Guildford into a family in which both father and grandfather played football, as well as his three brothers.
16 July 1954: Jimmy Bloomfield signed. He played initially for Hayes and moved on to play for Brentford in 1952, but when the club were relegated from Division II into Division III South in 1954 he moved to Arsenal for £8000.
16 July 1962 Joe Baker was Billy Wright’s first marquee signing and Arsenal’s record signing at the time. He had been Hibernian’s top scorer for four years getting 102 goals in just 117 league games before moving to Torino.
16 July 1963: Bob Wilson signed as an amateur, having been playing reserve games for Wolverhampton while studying at Loughborough College (now Loughborough University) to train as a teacher.
16 July 1977: Singapore 1 Arsenal 5 (Macdonald 3, Stapleton, Brady). This was the second match of a four game tour also taking in Yugoslavia and Australia.
16 July 1996: Valur Gíslason transferred from Fram Reykjavík. He never played a league match for Arsenal, and in 1999 moved to Strømsgodset in Norway, before then returning to Fram.
16 July 2005: Barnet 1 Arsenal 4 (Hleb, Henry, Bergkamp, Hoyte). This was the start of the first pre-season series of the modern era in which Arsenal won each of six games scoring 20 goals along the way.
16 July 2008: Alexander Hleb signed for FC Barcelona from Arsenal for around €15 million plus €2 million if Barcelona won the La Liga. The club duly came first in 2008–09 which took his transfer deal to €17 million – just about what Arsenal paid for him. Hleb described the move as the biggest mistake of his life.
16 July 2011: Hangzhou Greentown (China) 1 Arsenal 1 (Vela). Match two of a six game pre-season series, after beating Malaysia 4-0 three days earlier.
16 July 2013: Seb Squillaci moved to Bastia on a free transfer. Although only given a one year contract this was extended and he played over 50 games for the club.
16 July 2013: The tale of Arsenal’s running man begins in the Far East. He ran alongside the team bus for so far that he was invited on board, and later came to a match at the Emirates Stadium.
16 July 2020 Konstatinos Mavropanos loaned to Stuggart until the end of the (extended) season.
16 July 2022: Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 away in the “Charm City Match”.
The 1919 Affair: How Arsenal were promoted to the first division – the only complete and detailed history of Arsenal’s election.
Day by Day the videos – An Arsenal video for (almost) every day of the year in order.
Day by Day the stories– a key moment in Arsenal and footballing history for each day of the year
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.