29th August 1925 was the Saturday of the first weekend of the new season, with a classy opening fixture between Arsenal at Highbury, hosting Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal welcomed two new men to their "fold", the revolutionary manager, Herbert Chapman and Sunderland's top goal scorer, Charles Buchan. At 33 years old, Buchan was still hot property and Sunderland manager, Bob Kyle, wanted £4,000 for Buchan's transfer, claiming he was a 20 goals a season player. (note that the number of games per season would have been fewer at that time). The result 0-1 to Spurs. They met later on January 2nd 1926, in a 1-1 draw.
AND how about these Christmas fixtures?
| 25 Dec 1925 | Arsenal v Notts County | W | 3-0 | League Division One |
| 26 Dec 1925 | Notts County v Arsenal | L | 4-1 | League Division One |
Chapman (below) had led Huddersfield Town to two consecutive, First Division Championships (top division!) in the 1920s. Arsenal's chairman, Henry Norris, brokered a deal which involved a payment of £2,000 and promised to pay £100 per goal scored by the new forward during his debut season. Buchan scored 21 goals, Arsenal finished runners-up, 5 points behind Huddersfield!
Chapman had a few tricks up his sleeve, so on signing David Jack in 1928, Chapman made sure that the Bolton "big wigs" were given double measures of alcohol, while he drank his own "whisky and ginger" which would remain free from the hard stuff. Sober, Chapman managed to knock off more than £2,000 of Jack's fee. He was probably football's first "forward looking" commercial manager.
Buchan and Chapman didn't have a very good start to their Arsenal careers, losing to Spurs and then 0-7 away at Newcastle a month later. In the end these results had an influence as Buchan insisted on playing with an extra central defender to counter what was the new "Offside Law". The fowards benefitted too as they worked out the newly applied offside law. The new tactic set by Chapman known as the WM system, led to Arsenal's dominance in the 1930s.
Buchan (left as a player) eventually retired, scoring 56 goals in 112 games-some symmetry! After his last match at Everton in 1928, The Guardian stated that Buchan was presented with "a token of esteem and good wishes. a portfolio and gold mounted fountain pen and pencil" by the club.
The pen helped Buchan as he became a journalist for the Daily News and some will remember that he also edited the "Charles Buchan's Football Monthly" and annually, a Christmas album of collected best articles, with photographs and cartoons chosen from his year's editions. I was given several as a child and subscribed to the magazine.
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