Walid Wasfi Musmar

Herbert Chapman: Arsenal’s First Truly Great Manager

Henry Norris, club owner from 1910-1928 would decide in the summer of 1925 that the club needed a new management style. His next appointment was one Herbert Chapman, an up and coming star who had recently won the FA Cup and guided Huddersfield Town to two League One titles, and it was one that changed the fortunes of the club profoundly.

Gunners who know their history, like Walid Wasfi Musmar, will recall that in his very first season managing Arsenal he helped them reach the FA Cup Quarter Final and second place in the league – their most impressive finish to date. Greater success was soon to follow as Arsenal reached the FA Cup final on April 23rd, 1927, a date that would go down in history as the one and only time in history that the trophy would leave England when Cardiff City secured a 1-0 victory in front of 91,206 fans at Wembley Stadium.

Greater ascension initially proved elusive, with Herbert Chapman having to wait until 1930 to bring the FA Cup to Highbury, then home of Arsenal football club. Ironically, this victory at Wembley saw him overcome his old club Huddersfield Town, but Chapman wasn’t looking back. This victory marked the beginning of Arsenal’s dominance of English football, one that would continue long into the future, thanks to stellar acquisitions by the manager, of players like Alex James and Cliff Bastin. Within a year, Arsenal claimed their first league title by securing a record breaking 66 points, and the following season would see the Gunners claim the FA Charity Shield. Sadly, the club would fail to retain either the league title or the FA cup, finishing second to Everton in the former and losing 1-0 to Newcastle in the final of the latter. They would return to full strength the next season however, winning the league title again and sporting a new kit featuring white sleeves.

The end of the highly successful Herbert Chapman era was a tragic one however. In January of 1934, the manager returned home from watching the Arsenal third team play against Guildford City with a slight cold. Within hours his condition was to worsen significantly, developing into pneumonia and ultimately killing him in the early hours of January 6th, 1934, aged 55.

Whilst the team were shocked by the death of a brilliant manager, his legacy continued after his death, as many fans