30 August: Arsenal start the longest run of any club ever in the top division

On this day in 1919 Arsenal played the first match of the 1919/20 season, having been elected by other clubs in the league to join the expanded first division on its re-commencement after the first world war.  A significant campaign across the years to try and suggest that there was something amiss in the election of Arsenal back to the top league has failed to come up with any evidence, while there is a multiplicity of evidence to the contrary.    For details see 1919 below, in particular The 1919 Affair:  How Arsenal were promoted to the first division – the only complete and detailed history of Arsenal’s election.

30 August 1797: Mary Shelly, author of Frankenstein, was born.

30 August 1913: The first ever match played at the Gillespie Road ground, later renamed Highbury.  It was the third training match of the pre-season, with the previous two being played at Fulham and Millwall as the pitch was not ready.  This game was played behind closed doors, and was probably between the first team and the reserves although no exact details are available.

30 August 1918: There was a  strike of 20,000 London policemen with demands of increased pay and union recognition.  With the country still at war, and the government feverishly aware that the return of the conscripted soldiers to a civilian life could prove the catalyst for uprising, there was a considerable amount of angst among political leaders.

30 August 1919: Arsenal started the longest run in the top division in the history of English football, by coincidence playing the same team that they played in their first league game.  The match was lost 0-1 to Newcastle.  It was also the first match as manager for Leslie Knighton plus the first appearance of Alfred Baker, Henry White and Ernie Williamson.  Although Arsenal’s rise to the 1st Division is often told as being corrupt, it actually came about in part through revelation by Arsenal’s chairman of the match fixing of other teams and his demand for the corruption to be resolved. Stories told in books such as “Day of the Match” and “What you think you know about football is wrong” are completely wrong. For the facts see 100 Years in the First Division on this site

30 August 1920: Arsenal played their first home game of the season and beat Manchester United 2-0, using the same XI as played in the first match.  25,000 were at Highbury – not too bad for a Monday early evening.  Pagnam and Smith got the goals.

100 Years Ago Today

30 August 1924: At the start of his last season, ironically Leslie Knighton started with a winning sequence of three games – his best start ever with Arsenal – with the result  Nottingham Forest 0 Arsenal 2.  Ramsay and Woods scored in front of a 20,000 crowd.  The process of clubs playing each other twice in consecutive games was abandoned.

30 August 1930: Gerrit Keyser (sometimes spelled Keizer) debut in a 4-1 away win at Blackpool.  Despite only playing in one defeat in the first 12 games of the season, he was dropped and never played for the club again.  This game was the first of five consecutive wins and a nine game unbeaten sequence.  See also here.

30 August 1930: The new Arsenal handbook for the season helpfully set out the kick off times of matches confirming that until October 11 games would kick off at 3.30pm.  After that they started earlier to accommodate the reduced hours of daylight.

30 August 1939 – Arsenal were officially sanctioned to wear numbered shirts for the first time in a league match:  Arsenal 1 Blackburn 0 in front of a 17137 crowd.  After one more match the season was abandoned.  The club had worn numbered shirts on 25 August 1928 but had been ordered to stop by the League.  See also here.

30 August  1975. Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Arsenal 0 in front of another poor crowd, of 18,144.

30 August 1977: Arsenal 3 Manchester United 2 in the League Cup 2nd round, with 36,171 in Highbury.

30 August 1997: Arsenal 0 Tottenham 0.  Arsenal were fifth in the table in the 5th league match of the 2nd Double season, and still undefeated.   The second double: part 1, part 2, part 3.

30 August 2002:  Rami Shaaban transferred to Arsenal from Djurgårdens.  He played just five league games for Arsenal before moving on to Brighton and Hove Albion.

30 August 2011: Armand Traoré joined Queens Park Rangers for £1.5m.  He had played 13 games for Arsenal, and had loan spells with Portsmouth and Juventus. After a spell at Nottingham Forest and on loan to Cardiff he joined Çaykur Rizespor in Turkey.

30 August 2011: Park Chu-Young joined Arsenal from Monaco for £1.8m.  He only played one league game and was soon moved onto Celta Vigo on loan.

30 August 2011:  On 23 January 2007, Nic Anelka said that he would leave Bolton for Arsenal.  But on 30 August 2011 he signed another contract with Bolton.

30 August 2016: Lucas Pérez signed from Deportivo La Coruña for around £17m..

30 August 2016:  Shkodran Mustafi signed from Valencia for £35m – making him the club’s joint second most expensive player, with him commanding the same fee as Sánchez three seasons before. However 3 years later the new manager is said to have told Mustafi he could leave.

30 August 2016: Calum Chambers given a season long loan with Middlesbrough, who were eventually relegated.  After a loan to Fulham in 2018/9 he rejoined the first team squad at Arsenal.

30 August 2023:  Folarin Balogun transferred to Monaco for €30 million (£25.8 million) plus €10 million in add-ons,

30 August 2021: Willian, who had two years remaining in his contract, left by mutual consent and returned to his boyhood club Corinthians in Brazil.

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Henry Norris at the Arsenal:  There is a full index to the series here correcting 100 years of rumour and false allegations.

Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever

Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.