1921/22 seeason continued
Arsenal ended 1921 at the bottom of the league, but slightly more upbeat than previously as they beat equally struggling Chelsea away 2-0.
And there was a slight distraction ahead because, then as now, the first division clubs joined in the FA Cup at the start of the new year (although the round was called Round 1 at the time). Arsenal were drawn away to Queens Park Rangers of the Southern League – a league QPR had won for the second time in 1911–12. Arsenal were expected to beat them but played out a disappointing goalless draw at Highbury.
There was obviously a feeling in the club that survival in the First Division was the most important affair, and so some players were given a break, while those getting few games were given a run-out. against what were considered lower opposition. Graham came in at centre half, Hopkins made his one and only appearance of the season at outside right, Turnball played his one and only game at right back (he was normally a left back), Pattison made one of three appearances at centre half, and Milne got a run out in the half back line. It was, in fact, an exercise in giving a few players a break, and letting others know they were not forgotten.
After the goalless cup draw on January 7 the replay took place at Highbury on January 11 and this time Arsenal, fielding much the same team, won 2-1.
Returning to the league on the following Saturday, Arsenal played their return match against equally challenged (in terms of form) Chelsea on January 14. It was only the second time in the season Arsenal had won two league games in a row. But the crowd of 40,000 at Highbury showed that going to the Arsenal for a Saturday match was now very much part of the weekend for locals, no matter how poor the team’s performance.
And matters looked even better with a 3-2 away win over Bradford in the FA Cup round two the following Saturday. This however, was expected as Bradford was a team in decline and indeed were soon dropping into the newly formed Division 3 (North).
Arsenal won the replay at the end of the month 3-2, which meant that the club had been unbeaten in January in five games – a huge improvement. Of course, these were games against teams that were hardly considered prestigious at the time, but nevertheless, Arsenal entered February on a mental high..
On 4 February Arsenal played Newcastle who were 10th in the league at the time and won again – this time 2-1.which left the club 19th in the league, two points and two places above the relegation zone.
However, after a run of seven league and cup games undefeated, the run inevitably came to an end was followed by five consecutive league defeats in the course of which Arsenal scored just one goal. And although Arsenal did make it to the fourth round of the FA Cup they went out after a replay with Preston NE. However, that Cup run was the club’s best since 1907 when they went one better and reached the semi-final.
But in league terms what all this meant was that by 18 March, Arsenal had hit rock bottom in the league.
1
Liverpool
32
17
12
3
45
22
46
2
Burnley
33
19
4
10
57
37
42
3
Aston Villa
33
19
3
11
66
41
41
4
Tottenham Hotspur
32
16
7
9
51
30
39
19
Oldham Athletic
33
9
9
15
25
41
27
20
Bradford City
33
8
9
16
37
61
25
21
Manchester United
33
7
10
16
34
55
24
**22**
**Arsenal**
**31**
**8**
**5**
**18**
**28**
**45**
**21**
What was particularly annoying was that Tottenham were in fourth place and Arsenal were five points away from safety (two being relegated at the end of the season).
There were 11 games left to go, and given that Arsenal had just lost five in a row, scoring but one goal, the chances of survival seemed slight. And yet against all the odds in the final 11 games, Arsenal won seven, drew two and lost two.
A key difference was that White, who had been playing at centre forward, moved back to inside right and started scoring goals once again. But more than that, in these final 11 games, Arsenal scored 19 goals. The bottom of the table read
**17**
**Arsenal**
**42**
**15**
**7**
**20**
**47**
**56**
**37**
18
Birmingham City
42
15
7
20
48
60
37
19
Oldham Athletic
42
13
11
18
38
50
37
20
Everton
42
12
12
18
57
55
36
21
Bradford City
42
11
10
21
48
72
32
22
Manchester United
42
8
12
22
41
73
28
What’s more, in that final run Arsenal had beaten Tottenham who finished the season as runners up in Division 1, having just lost 0-2 away at the Lane. Although that defeat was not enough on its own to stop Tottenham winning the league, it did help ensure that ultimately they only came in second.
So Arsenal did indeed survive in the top league to which they had been elected in 1919, and the value of having Arsenal in the league was shown by the average attendance. The average league attendance for the top division in 1921/2 is reported as 27,083. Arsenal rarely slipped below this, and when they did it was only by a matter of a thousand or so. while clubs like Bolton and Oldham were registering crowds of closer to 10,000.
Five Arsenal home matches registered crowds of 40,000, those against Sheffield United, Sunderland, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham. The Tottenham home game on 22 April, which Arsenal won 1-0 recorded a corwd of 42,000 – the highest of the season.
It had been a struggle, but hope remained high, and this was warranted by a rise in league position to 17th and of the crowds, with 45,000 coming to the game in March 2023 against Aston Villa.
With Arsenal unbeaten in the final five games of the 1921/22 season the feeling now was that Arsenal had to press onward and build on this run of just two defeats in the last 11 games. Knighton’s image (having recorded finishes of 10th and 9th in his first two seasons was tarnished, but the club had survived, and with Arsenal still paying off the debts accrued through the development of the Highbury ground, they could feel satisfied.
Thus there was optimism for the 1922/23 season and indeed, as we’ll see next time, this was justified, but then the promise was not fulfilled, which was why Arsenal finally decided to get rid of Knighton in 1925 and bring in Herbert Chapman. We’ll cover the remaining years of Knighton at Arsenal in the next episode.