IT was, of course, all about Herbert Chapman and his skill in identifying the potential in players, along with the support of his backroom team. In addition, Arsenal were never frightened to spend money to take top names to Highbury. The Gunners’ team that won the FA Cup in 1930 went on to secure the club’s first league title in 1931, which was the first time the championship trophy was lifted by a London club. It heralded the start of a glorious era for Arsenal – five times league champions (1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938) and FA Cup winners in 1936. But it all began at the start of that decade.
By 1930, Chapman’s team was virtually intact. Over the previous four years, Arsenal had gained a nickname of “the Bank of England club” due to their penchant for paying big fees for star forwards. In February 1926, Joe Hulme was signed from Blackburn Rovers for £ 3,500, while Jack Lambert was hired from Doncaster Rovers for a fee of £ 2,000. Lambert was hardly a prolific striker, but Chapman saw something in the 24 year-old that he could leverage. He had to wait for Lambert to come good and it was in 1929-30, the year of Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph, that he scored 23 goals in 28 league games. In 1930-31, the title-winning season, he scored 38 in 34, a truly remarkable contribution.
Arsenal team group: (back row, l-r) Assistant Manager J Shaw, H Cope, Ralph Robinson, W Allison, Jimmy Brain, Charles Preedy, A Haynes, Herbie Roberts, W Harper, W Seddon, Dan Lewis, George Male, R Parkin, Assistant Trainer W Milne (middle row, l-r) J Williams, L Thompson, W Maycock, Alf Baker, B Diaper, Cliff Bastin, Eddie Hapgood, H Lewis, Bob John, Jack Lambert (front row, l-r) Joe Hulme, Tom Parker, Manager Herbert Chapman, Trainer Tom Whittaker, David Jack, Charlie Jones. The trophies are (l-r) The Northampton Hospital Shield, The ‘Evening News’ Cricket Cup, The League Championship trophy, The Sheriff of London’s Shield, The Charity Shield and The Combination Cup " data-medium-file="https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=863" width="863" height="452" src="https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=863" alt class="wp-image-11990" srcset="https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=863 863w, https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=1726 1726w, https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=150 150w, https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=300 300w, https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=768 768w, https://gameofthepeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pa-512338-e1579542315925.jpg?w=1024 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 863px) 100vw, 863px">
In 1928, Arsenal completed two big-ticket signings in the form of David Jack and Charlie Jones. Jack was a sought-after forward who cost the club £ 10,647 when he joined from Bolton Wanderers. He was a player the club had coveted for some time and Chapman was determined to bag him. Bolton wanted £ 13,000 which was almost double the world record at the time and after some carefully orchestrated negotiations, Arsenal got their man at a knock-down price. Winger Charlie Jones cost less than half of Jack’s fee (£ 4,800) when he was signed from Nottingham Forest, but he was extremely good value. He was a versatile player who Chapman eventually turned into an effective right half.
Chapman didn’t stop there, for in the summer of 1929, he bought Preston North End’s baggy-shorted Alex James for £ 8,750 , “the most talked of player in the country”. James was one of Scotland’s “Wembley Wizards” of 1928 and one of the most skilful of modern inside forwards. Arsenal had long been interested in him and the deal seemed to drag on. It wasn’t just the fee that was costly, James’s wages were also on the high side. He did very well out of Arsenal, but the club also arranged for the Scot to “work” for Selfridges in London’s Oxford Street for £ 250 per year. Within two years, James felt he was not totally valued at the club and refused to sign on for 1931-32.
Also in 1930, Arsenal signed 19 year-old Cliff Bastin from Exeter City for £ 2,000. It was almost an accidental hiring, for Chapman had gone to watch Watford play Exeter to see striker Tommy Barnett, but came away impressed by Bastin’s ability. He went on to play 350 league games for the Gunners and win 21 caps for England.
The roots of Arsenal’s 1931 champions went back to 1922 when Bob John came from Caerphilly for the princely sum of £ 750. John was an important part of the team, particularly after switching to left half from full back, until the early 1930s and played 470 games for the club, winning 15 caps for Wales. A year later, another player from Welsh football, Jimmy Brain, was signed from Ton Pentre. He was a key figure in the Arsenal side that reached the FA Cup final in 1927, ironically lost to Cardiff, but found himself surplus to requirements as the team took shape with Jack and Lambert in the team. He scored 139 goals in 232 games for the club. Half-back Bill Seddon, who played in less than half of the league games in 1930-31, arrived at Arsenal in 1924 from Gillingham, while goalkeeper Bill Harper cost £ 4,000 when he was signed by Chapman in 1925 before moving to the US, returning for a second spell in 1930.
The year 1926 was a crucial one in the creation of the Arsenal that would go on to dominate English football. Chapman joined from Huddersfield Town after winning two league titles with the Yorkshire club. In addition to Joe Hulme, Arsenal also signed influential defender Tom Parker from Southampton for £ 3,250 and in December 1926, a gunsmith from Oswestry, Herbie Roberts, cost £ 200. Roberts became the original “stopper” or “policeman” centre half, an honest and committed player who was as essential to the Arsenal story as some of the club’s celebrated forwards. Another quintessential Arsenal player was Eddie Hapgood, a former milkman, who moved from Kettering Town in 1927 for £ 950. Hapgood was a vegetarian when he joined the Gunners and Tom Whittaker, the club’s trainer, forced him to change his diet and take-up weight training. He became a strong player, known for his power. Hapgood became Arsenal and England captain, winning 30 caps and played 440 times for the club.
Between arriving in 1925 and 1931, Chapman built the first great Arsenal team that won the league championship in 1930-31 with 66 points from 42 games. They scored 127 goals and lost just four times. Four players – Lambert (38), Jack (31), Bastin (28) and Hulme (14) – accounted for 111 of the overall total. As history has demonstrated, however, the 1930-31 side was just the start. Harper and Brain left in 1931, Seddon a year later, and then Lambert and Parker fell away in 1933. Jones and Jack left in 1934. Before the second world war, all but Hapgood and Bastin had moved on, all replaced by the club’s continual search for the quality that would keep them at the top. Chapman himself died in January 1934, but the momentum was established. By the end of the 1930s, Arsenal Football Club were a respected institution that was imitated all over the world.