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Posted on August 1, 2009 by Simon Lewis | Posted under Soccer
1930 was the year that which club first tasted victory in the FA Cup?
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The Gunners first won the FA Cup in 1930 when they played Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. The match was especially poignant as Arsenal's manager, Herbert Champan had been the architect of Town's great team of the 1920's which won three league championships in a row 1923-24, 24-25 and 25-26 (Chapman left at the end of the 24-25 season). Under his guidance Huddersfield had also won the FA Cup Final in 1922 (the last one not to be played at Wembley until 2001) when they had beaten Preston North End at Stamford Bridge with a penalty by Billy Smith. The FA Cup is nothing without its traditions, and one was born at the 1930 final. Because of Chapman's unique relationship with both Arsenal and Huddersfield, the teams took to the pitch side by side for the first time. After joining the competition in the 3rd round. Town saw off Bury after a replay and Arsenal defeated Chelsea with a 2-0 win at home. Moving into the 4th round, Town were too good for Sheffield United winning 2-1, whilst this time Arsenal required a replay in defeating Birmingham City. In the 5th round, both teams progressed smoothly, Arsenal beating Middlesbro and Town beating Bradford City. So to the sixth round, where Arsenal defeated West Ham three-nil and Huddersfield enjoyed a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. Thus the competition had reached the semi-final stage. Chapman's new charges were drawn with Hull City and in reaching the Final. Huddersfield was assured of its place in the final by winning 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford, Manchester. In the final, played at the end of April, Arsenal were much too good for Huddersfield. The comfortable 2-0 win came courtesy of goals from Alex James and Jack Lambert. Surprisingly, Arsenal's third all time top scorer Cliff Bastin (only Ian Wright and Thierry Henry have scored more) didn't manage to score! Bastin had been recruited from Exeter City at the end of the 1928-29 season by Herbert Chapman after he had seen him standing head and shoulders above the rest of the players in a game between Exeter and Watford - he only played 17 times for Exeter, scoring 6 times. In total, he struck 178 goals in only 395 starts for the Gunners - this from the left wing, and despite the presence of Ted Drake in the team. Bastin had won a league title, an FA Cup winners' medal and been capped by England by the time he was 19 years old. In total, he scored 12 times in 21 England appearances. As the second world war started when he was only 27 years old, it is perhaps worth considering what he could have achieved had he been able. It's interesting to note that he was excused service in the army at the outbreak of war due to his being deaf and instead served as an ARP warden, actually stationed at top of the stadium at Highbury! Jack Lambert served Arsenal between 1926 and 1933. Signed from Doncaster Rovers, his record of 98 league goals from 143 appearances stands well in comparison with many of the all time goalscoring greats. His total haul of 109 goals in 161 games for Arsenal indicates that on average he scored 2 goals in every 3 games that he played. He broke through into the Arsenal first team in the 1929-30 season, scoring 18 times in 20 starts including the second goal in the 1930 Cup final. In the next season, 1930-31, Lambert notched 38 times in 34 games as the Gunners won their first championship, by seven points from Aston Villa. About The Author: There is even more great stuff about Arsenal FC and many other football teams and competitions at I Want Football. |
Tags: ARSENAL, ARSENAL FC, FA CUP, FA CUP 1930, HERBERT CHAPMAN, CLIFF BASTIN
