How Arsenal Took Tottenham's Place, and Never Gave It Back

Arsenal have spent 107 years in English football's top flight without being relegated, the longest unbroken run in the country. That run didn't start with a promotion on the pitch. It started in a meeting room in Manchester in March 1919, with a vote, and the club that lost its place that day was Tottenham. This is the story of a club born in a weapons factory in Woolwich, a chairman who moved it across London, the election nobody can fully explain, and the rivalry it left behind. Episode 1 of our series on the origin stories of English clubs. CHAPTERS 0:00 107 years without going down 0:51 A club in a weapons factory 2:23 Professional, and broke 3:58 The move north 5:25 The room in Manchester 7:26 How did that happen? 8:45 The man who built Arsenal 10:57 Guests of the enemy 11:49 A hundred and seven years 13:17 The vote, a century later SOURCES Arsenal end 22-year wait for the Premier League title (Premier League): https://www.premierleague.com/en/news... Tottenham avoid relegation (ESPN): https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/i... History of Arsenal F.C., 1886 to 1966: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...) Henry Norris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_N...) 1919-20 Football League and the election: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919%E2... Manor Ground, Plumstead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manor_G...) Arsenal Stadium, Highbury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal... The 1919 vote (Woolwich Arsenal history blog): https://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/ar... The Arsenal Collection: https://thearsenalcollection.org.uk/?... What happened inside the 1919 meeting was never written down. The claims about Henry Norris's lobbying, and the bribery allegation against him, are attributed in the video to the people who made them. PHOTOS (Wikimedia Commons / Openverse; cropped) Royal Arsenal Gatehouse, Woolwich: Dr Neil Clifton, CC BY-SA 2.0 Royal Arsenal Brass Foundry, Woolwich: Braveheart, CC BY-SA 4.0 Arsenal Stadium Highbury east facade, Arsenal tube station interior: No machine-readable author provided. Qwghlm~common, CC BY-SA 3.0 Goalmouth action at Highbury: Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0 Arsenal Stadium east stand 2024-04-26: Matt Brown, CC BY 2.0 Arsene Wenger JHayes: Gaius Cornelius, CC BY-SA 4.0 Mikel Arteta 2021: Prime Video AU & NZ, CC BY 3.0 London Emirates Stadium arsenal, London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 de Thierry Henry Statue 2: Ronnie Macdonald, CC BY 2.0 Dennis Bergkamp: Paul & Aline Burland, CC BY-SA 2.0 Trophée Premier League 13-14: Espandero, CC BY-SA 4.0 Cannon, Woolwich Arsenal Laboratory Square: Oxyman, CC BY-SA 2.0 Puskás Aréna: Elekes Andor, CC BY-SA 4.0 Plus 8 public-domain / CC0 photos (Wikimedia Commons). FOOTAGE: Pexels and Pixabay (free licences). Graphics, music and sound: original. #Arsenal #Tottenham #football #PremierLeague #footballhistory