Bertie Mee & The (first) Double:

Wright’s successor was the highly respected physiotherapist Bertie Mee, whose first two seasons, 1966-67 and 1967-68, showed little sign of improvement, with Arsenal finishing 7th and 9th.

The double season started slowly with a draw at the home of the champions Everton. Indications of the team’s form are clear when one considers that in the period between the 6th February and 20th April Arsenal played 12 league games and won 11 of them (losing only away at Derby 2-0). By the 3rd May Arsenal were at White Hart Lane needing to obtain at least a draw to win the championship, Ray Kennedy sealed the league championship with the only goal in the 1-0 win over Tottenham.

The FA Cup Final some 5 days later reached full time 0-0, Liverpool failed to achieve the expected score line until 2 minutes into extra time. With four minutes to go before the end of the first half of extra time Arsenal equalised with a goal which George Graham (voted man of the match) claimed, but which was (with television replay) credited to Eddie Kelly.

It was with just nine minutes of extra time remaining that Charlie George sealed the game with a 25 yard shot (assisted with a minor upward deflection from Liverpool’s Lloyd).

Probably his most famous celebration of all time followed as George fell to the ground arms outstretched, there he laid head lifted until McClintock and Radford dragged him up.

As was repeated in the second double season of 1997-98, Arsenal were welcomed through Islington on an open top bus by an estimated 250,000 fans.

The following season was an anti climax for the double winners with the club’s first priority, the European Cup, lost at home by George Graham’s own goal against Ajax. The league was to prove no kinder with the club finishing 5th. Arsenal reached the FA Cup Final for the second time in two seasons, this time losing 1-0 to Leeds (who were themselves chasing the double – they lost the championship by one point for the second season running).

History Overview

In the beginning, 1886, the team played at and were referred to as Dial Square. Later switching to Woolwich they became known as Woolwich Arsenal. In 1903 Woolwich Arsenal gained promotion to the first division. After a disastrous season in 1919, the team moved to Highbury and dropped the "Woolwich" from their name. Sir Henry Norris did some amazing dealings to get Arsenal promoted back to the first division (at the expense of Spurs), where Arsenal have remained ever since. Between 1925 and 1934, Chapman took the helm and Arsenal adopted the famous 3-4-3 formation and the ubiquitous red and white shirts. On Chapman's death Allison took over and held the club in the first division, during this period Cliff Bastin established a goal scoring record of 178 goals (a record not broken until 50 years later when Ian Wright scored his 179th against Bolton Wanderers). Tom Whittaker took the reins from Allison and despite some lean years lifted the fa cup and won the division. Like Chapman, Whittaker died young whilst in command of Arsenal. Following Whittaker came some unmemorable years, before Bertie Mee took the helm in 1966, Mee's most famous achievement would be the double in 1970. After Neil and Howe's years in control, George Graham (himself a player of the double season) took over, until the infamous bung scandal that cost him his job in 1995. Eventually, Arsenal would see the arrival of Arsene Wenger who achieved the unbelievable in his first full year, Arsenal's second double.

Arsenal's full honours