40 years ago today: the passing of the man who invented Arsenal’s history
Saying that Bernard Joy, who died 40 years ago today, “invented Arsenal’s history” might seem a little over the top, but the reality is that his history of the club “Forward Arsenal,” contains a lot that is untrue, with no suggestion of the sources that Joy used. It is all simply stated as fact. Worse, the book, being the only history of the club at the time, was taken seriously and is still used by some journalists as a source. As we have tried to show on this site over the years, the truth is out there, and it is nothing like the story that Joy told.
18 July 1870: The infallibility of the Pope proclaimed by the Vatican Council
18 July 1919: The Cenotaph in London was unveiled and the following day was designated Peace Day with victory parades in many towns. Unfortunately, it didn’t always go smoothly as rioting ex-servicemen burned down Luton Town Hall.
18 July 1925: The first part of “Mein Kampf” was published.
18 July 1971: Ray Parkin died aged 60. He played 25 games for Arsenal from 1925 to 1936 and scored 11 goals. He also played 232 games for the reserves winning the Football Combination five times at a time when Combination games regularly got crowds of 7000, sometimes far more.
18 July 1984: Bernard Joy died in Kenton, London aged 72. He moved into journalism after giving up playing, and his book “Forward Arsenal!” became a definitive guide to the club’s progress until 1954. Unfortunately, it repeated many serious errors and omissions found in earlier histories – and invented quite a few new ones which then became part of the standard Arsenal story.
18 July 1987: George Graham signed a new five-year contract as Arsenal manager, having taken the club to 7th in 1986/7, the highest position since 1982.
18 July 1998: 18 July 1998: Enfield 0 Arsenal 0. The second of a six match pre-season run which ended with Arsenal winning the charity shield 3-0 against Man United.
18 July 2003: Philippe Senderos joined Arsenal from Servette. He stayed with Arsenal until 2010 and played 116 games as well as having two loan spells with Milan and Everton. He played with Houston Dynamo until 2018 and joined Chiasso of the Swiss League in 2019, finally retiring from football on 16 December that year.
18 July 2005: Emmanuel Adebayor joined Manchester City for £25 million. He played 34 times for them, which when salary is included works out at over £1m per game – even more than Barce paid per game for Henry. He later moved to Tottenham. In 2017 he joined İstanbul Başakşehir and in 2020 Olimpia of Paraguay.
18 July 2005: Ashley Cole signed a new contract extension for Arsenal but it didn’t stop him illegally negotiating his own move to Chelsea just one year later. In 2019 he was reported as playing for Derby County. He is now academy coach at Chelsea.
18 July 2009: Tomáš Rosický played 45 minutes against Barnet, following an absence of 18 months due to successive injuries following a game against Newcastle on 26 January 2008. The score was 2-2 with goals from Arshavin and Barazite.
18 July 2009: Thomas Vermaelen made his début in the match at Barnet. He played 100 league matches for Arsenal and became captain but was seriously hampered by injury before moving on to Barcelona. Vermaelen married in 2017 and in 2019 joined Japanese team Vissel Kobe
18 July 2015: Arsenal beat Everton 3-1 in the final of the Asia Trophy with Walcott, Cazorla and Ozil scoring. It was the second of five consecutive wins pre-season.
18 July 2016: After a long run over loan spells Wellington Silva was finally transferred to Fluminense. In 2019 he played for Inter in Brazil.
18 July 2020. Arsenal’s incredible improvement in form under new management was confirmed with Arsenal’s defeat of Manchester City 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final. Aubameyang scored in each half. The result meant that Arsenal, having been joint top in the list of finalists with 20 previous appearances would now be out on their own as the club that has appeared in more finals than any other. 21 finals, and as it turned out, 14 wins.
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.