Bottom of the league!

October 01, 2020

Bottom of the league!

Following the Arsenal in London means you get interesting access to nostalgia. I just caught a game on Sky from 1974. The program was The Big Match, hosted by the late Brian Moore, whose line "It's up for grabs now!" from 1989 at Anfield will always be a cherished memory for all Gooners.

This was at Highbury and the opponents were QPR. Coincidentally, the first (and only) game I would ever watch at Highbury came in 1991 against the same opponents. We won 2-0 that day. I think I still have the match program somewhere. The significance of watching that team was lost on me at the time. I was just happy to have finally seen them in the flesh - but this was a team that came so close to claiming the "Invincibles" tag first. They won the league and lost only one game in the process.

This 1974 team on the other hand was probably not as good - they were bottom of the league at the time of this match in October! They won 2, drew 2 and lost 6 games! If you think last season was bad, or finishing 12th in 1994 was the worst, think again. This team finished 16th, and went one lower the following season.

Some of the 1971 Double-winning side were still in the team: Storey, Simpson, Kelly, Armstrong and Radford. (The captain of that team McLintock was in the QPR side.) Some have argued that the 71 team was broken up too early, but that's all speculative anyway. There is also plenty of evidence that successful clubs are those that constantly renew the team so that complacency does not set in.

In any case, the line-up still looked good enough, bolstered with the likes of World Cup winner Alan Ball and the young Liam Brady, my favourite player before Bergkamp came along.

Two days later, another nostalgic moment. This was from even further back, from the 71-72 season. Match of the Day in black and white! The pitches were really bad in those days, and there was fairly heavy snow during this game. With the mud and all, it was difficult to pick the teams apart after a while. This was the season following our first Double in 1970-71 and we would finish 5th. Pat Rice and George Graham were in the side that day, and would play prominent roles in the club in future.