{"id":35426,"date":"2023-04-28T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T09:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/old.thearsenalhistory.com\/?p=7732"},"modified":"2023-04-28T10:51:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T09:51:47","slug":"how-arsenals-name-changed-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35426","title":{"rendered":"How Arsenal’s Name Changed – Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews<\/p>\n

In the fifth part of our series we look at a subtle change to The Arsenal’s name that took place much earlier than many people believe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Arsenal didn’t manage to play any games under their new monicker before the Football Association suspended competitive football due to the continuation of the First World War. Football resumed in 1919 and The Arsenal started the season in the First Division, having been elected at a Football League meeting in March.<\/p>\n

In November \/ December a small change was made to the masthead of the matchday programme. \u00a0On 22 November The Arsenal played Notts County. Here is the front page of the programme:<\/p>\n

\"\"
Arsenal v Notts County programme 22 November 1919<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two weeks later they played Chelsea and “The” had been dropped from club’s name:<\/p>\n

\"\"
Arsenal v Chelsea programme 6 December 1919<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’ve not found any mention of the directors deciding to change the name registered with the Football League, and if they had the Islington Gazette would have picked up on this. But the Gazette was still referring to them as “The Arsenal” on Boxing Day:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Islington
Islington Gazette 29 December 1919<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From this point on the word “The” became almost optional depending on who was writing about the club, even well into the 1930s. What we can say for certain is that name registered with the Joint Stock Companies (and, subsequently, Companies House) remained The Arsenal Football Club Limited as can be seen on the summary of share capital and shares from August 1924:<\/p>\n

\"20
20 August 1924 The Arsenal Football Club erLimited
Summary of Share Capital and Shares<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the popular stories about Herbert Chapman is that he changed the club’s name from The Arsenal to Arsenal so that they would always be the first team mentioned when the football fixtures and results were read out or printed. As we can see, “The” had been dropped a long time before Chapman joined Arsenal. In fact, we can see from the advert that he responded to in the Athletic News, Henry Norris clearly called the club: Arsenal Football Club.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Athletic
Athletic News 11 May 1925<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It may be that, as the media had continued to call the club The Arsenal, Chapman was merely correcting them and not making an attempt to change the club’s name.<\/p>\n

So, there we are. Arsenal Football Club. But that isn’t the end of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n

In March 1929 the board of directors considered a proposal from a fan, Mr. J. Stack of Battersea, to change the name of the club once again. This was perhaps a step too far, almost arrogant when you consider that the club still had not won a major trophy. The proposal was to change the name to London City.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Islington Gazette 27 March 1929<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was not proposed at the AGM and eventually the board decided that Arsenal Football Club \/ The Arsenal Football Club Limited should remain the registered names. However, the discussion around “London City” was debated in the media for some time as this cutting from the Daily Express in November 1929 shows:<\/p>\n

\"Daily
Daily Express 28 November 1929<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the final part we will tie up a few loose ends and explain the name and set up of the club in its current state.<\/p>\n

We would like to also acknowledge the help that Mike McGovern of Guardian Research<\/a> has given us in digging out some of the corporate documents.<\/p>\n

Part 1: Dial Square<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2: Royal Arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 3: Woolwich Arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 4: The Arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

Copies of our books\u00a0Royal Arsenal \u2013 Champions of the South<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886-2018<\/a>\u00a0are still available from the publishers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews In the fifth part of our series we look at a subtle change to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[424],"class_list":["post-35426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1919-20"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p87inb-9do","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35560,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35560","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":0},"title":"Arsenal Chairman Given Lifetime Football Ban","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"27 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"But not when most people think Sir Henry Norris. Depending on which team you support, Sir Henry was either Arsenal\u2019s saviour or the scourge of Tottenham. Even to some Arsenal fans he is thought of as a villain. Many of the negative stories about Sir Henry have been shown to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Directors"","block_context":{"text":"Directors","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=651"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sir Henry Norris","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/HNorris.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35425,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35425","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":1},"title":"How Arsenal’s Name Changed – The Arsenal","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"23 April 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Kelly and Mark Andrews We continue our series of Arsenal's name changes by explaining what happened following the move to Highbury. In this part, the word \"Woolwich\" is replaced with the word \"The\". In 1913 Woolwich Arsenal left South London and moved to Islington. The Islington Daily Gazette\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/1914-04-18-Clapton-Orient-H-FL-1914-04-20-Chelsea-H-SEL-02-Copy.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14964,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=14964","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":2},"title":"Did Football League President Favour Arsenal?","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"28 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Honest\" John McKenna's Impassioned Speech We\u2019ve written a number of blogs on this site about Arsenal\u2019s election to the First Division in 1919 that show that what is perceived to be the truth about the events surrounding this meeting are not what they seem. We thought that the one about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Directors"","block_context":{"text":"Directors","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=651"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bernard-Joy-Forward-Arsenal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bernard-Joy-Forward-Arsenal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Bernard-Joy-Forward-Arsenal.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35449,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35449","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":3},"title":"Arsenal reserves beat Tottenham first team (but not 1980)","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"26 September 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Arsenal reserves beat Tottenham first team No doubt many of you will know that in April 1980 Arsenal had a massive fixture pile up caused by progression to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the Cup-Winners\u2019 Cup which coincided with the traditional Easter football fest. The situation was exacerbated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bertie Mee"","block_context":{"text":"Bertie Mee","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=662"},"img":{"alt_text":"1970-02-14 Daily Mirror Arsenal reserves v Tottenham","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/1970-02-14-Daily-Mirror-Arsenal-reserves-v-Tottenham.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35495,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35495","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":4},"title":"Arsenal’s last game outside the top flight","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"24 April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Arsenal - top flight kings On 24 April 1915 Arsenal played their last game outside of English football\u2019s top flight. No other team has gone as long as Arsenal since their last game in a lower division in England. However, the time and circumstances surrounding this last game are not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Games"","block_context":{"text":"Games","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?cat=649"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sportsman 16 April 1915","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1915-04-16-The-Sportsman-Morrell-resigns.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1915-04-16-The-Sportsman-Morrell-resigns.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1915-04-16-The-Sportsman-Morrell-resigns.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35616,"url":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35616","url_meta":{"origin":35426,"position":5},"title":"10 March 1919 – The Arsenal 18 Tottenham Hotspur 8","author":"arsenalcollection","date":"10 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Why did Tottenham poll so few votes in 1919? If you\u2019re not already aware, following the end of World War One the members of the Football League decided to increase the size of both the First Division and Second Division by two teams. At a meeting held on 10 March\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/?p=35616#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sporting_Life_09_May_1900_0008_Clip.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sporting_Life_09_May_1900_0008_Clip.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sporting_Life_09_May_1900_0008_Clip.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sporting_Life_09_May_1900_0008_Clip.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35426"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40691,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35426\/revisions\/40691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thearsenalcollection.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}