HERBERT CHAPMAN

The last game ever watched by the legendry Herbert Chapman was an Arsenal 3rd XI fixture at Guildford City FC in Surrey. It was a cold and miserable night on the 3rd January 1934. Chapman had picked up a heavy cold the previous Saturday and was advised not to travel by his doctor. Returning from the game he went straight to bed and died on Saturday, the 6th, from pneumonia.

The Blue Plaque on his Hendon home.
His players heard the news as they arrived at Highbury for their league match against Sheffield Wednesday. The players had a minute's silence before the game; still stunned by the news, hung on for a 1-1 draw.
Arsenal, who were League Champions from 1933, lost the next three league matches but eventually caretaker manager, Joe Shaw, steadied the boat and led the Gunners to the top of the division, winning the League again, pipping Chapman's previous club, Huddersfield Town, into second place. In the end the Arsenal won three championships in a row.
News of Chapman's death only made the lower paragraphs of the Observer newspaper and took second place to a report on Stan Milton, goal keeper of Halifax Town, who had set a record for the Third Division North by conceding 13 goals, on his debut, to Stockport County.

Other references to Herbert Chapman are linked below.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1351575/Herbert-Chapman-words-I-slackness--dog-racing.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/let-there-be-light.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/1934-was-very-good-year-not-dunlop.html
http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/vase-cup-and-champions.html

Chapman was innovative; he introduced "shirt numbers", white football was games under floodlights as well as being a great manager. ON this day in 1934, he died of pneumonia after watching his Arsenal's third XI play minor league Guildford City on a dreadful day, cold and pouring rain. 

6th January 1954
Bill Shankly took another step on his managerial path to Liverpool, when he was appointed boss of  Division 3 North of the Football League, Workington Town. At Workington he was expected to do his share of answering the phone and managing the banking, but his biggest shock came on his first day at the club when he discovered there was no electricity at the Workington ground. In those pre-internet, pre-floodlight days all the lighting and heating at Borough Park was gas-powered! Life was very different at Borough Park than he would later find at Anfield.

Remember Terry Butcher? He was "sent to Coventry" to have the same effect on The City as Chapman had on the Gunners. Remember Terry Butcher? He was "sent to Coventry" in Division One, to have the same effect on The City as Chapman had on the Gunners. His record at the club was:

From 14 November 1990

To 6 January 1992

P.60

W.20

D.14

L.26

%33.33

and Sunderland 43 games win 30% Motherwell 175 games 34% Sydney (Australia!) 23 games 39% Brentford (Eng!!) 23 games 21% Inverness 208 games 41% Hibernian 29 games 21%  Newport County 12 games 8%