UP THE ARSENAL EVENTUALLY

Workers at Britain's main armaments depot founded Arsenal Football Club, hence "The Gunners". Two workers, David Danskin (from Kirkcaldy, Scotland-a worker in the Ravenscraig Ship yard) and Jack Humble (from Durham-he had walked from his home area to London  to secure a job). Danskin was very much the central figure in the origins of the Dial Square Club-soon to become Royal Arsenal.

After playing their first fixture on December 11th 1886 as "Dial Square" against Eastern Wanderers, the team that became Arsenal, met on Christmas Day at a pub known as the Royal Oak in Woolwich, New Road (number 27). The pub has since been demolished, in 2007to make way for the Dockland's Light Railway extension. 

The meeting was to discuss "how to proceed?". One of the items on the agenda was the club's name, for not all the players worked in thr Dial Square section of the Royal Arsenal Factory. R.B.Thompson, who had scored Dial Square's first goal in the club's first game and who was the only player not to work at the arsenal (you all know what the arsenal is, of course?) asked "Who outside Woolwich has ever heard of Dial Square?" "Who has not heard of Arsenal?". This persuaded those present to change the name to Royal Arsenal. There was a works' team called "Royal Arsenal Gymnasium FC already and they were not very happy about Dial Square appearing as a works' team. 

The players decided that they wanted to wear red as some of them had payed for Nottingham Forest before moving south for work at the armaments factory. Buying your own kit wasn't cheap and the arsenal workers might have shelled out a full week's wage to buy the club kit. Fred Beardsley, a club member, asked his old club Nottingham Forest to help out and they duly sent a set of kit and a football to the him.  For many years the club was known as the "Woolwich Reds", just as Forest were known at the time as the "Nottingham Reds". 

Their second game needed a new venue away from the Isle of Dogs and on the Woolwich side of the River Thames. This was at Plumstead Common. (You need to know your London map). Ironically Woolwich Arsenal never played in Woolwich.

When Royal Arsenal turned professional in 1891, a new company team Royal Ordnance Factories FC, was founded and it played in an all-blue kit at the Invicta Ground, Plumstead, the ground that Royal Srsenal had vacated. Royal Ordnance founded and played in the Southern League from 1894, but sadly did not survive long, folding in 1897. By 1893-4, Royal Arsenal became established in the new Football League Second Division as Woolwich Arsenal, topped that season by Liverpool. By 1904, the club came second in the division behind Preston and was promoted to the First. By 1912-13 however, the club came bottom of the Division and was relegated. The following season the club renamed itself as Arsenal and played in the Second Division until war struck. After the war the club was reassigned to the First Division in 1991-20, just as Tottenham was promoted from Division Two......the North London Derby!!