1968–69 Arsenal F.C. season

During the 1968–69 English football season, Arsenal Football Club competed in the Football League First Division. The team finished fourth in the league, an improvement on their ninth place finish the previous season.

Arsenal
1968–69 season
ChairmanDenis Hill-Wood
ManagerBertie Mee
First Division4th
FA CupFifth Round
League CupFinalists
Top goalscorerLeague:
John Radford (15)

All:
John Radford (19)
Highest home attendance62,218 vs Manchester United (26 December 1968)
Lowest home attendance23,891 vs Ipswich Town (19 February 1969)

Arsenal reached the final of the League Cup, losing 3-1 to Swindon Town in extra time. It was their second League Cup loss in two years. Arsenal went out in the fifth round of the FA Cup to West Brom.

John Radford was the top scorer in both the league and all competitions.[1] The previous season's top scorer, George Graham, began to feature in midfield. Frank McLintock served as captain.[2]

Season summary

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Despite making several large bids, Arsenal did not bring in any major new players for the 1968-69 season. The team began the season with a victory at White Hart Lane, their first in eleven seasons. It kickstarted their best start to a season in twenty years, going eleven games unbeaten until a defeat at Elland Road.[3]

Much of the 1968-69 season was represented in player growth. Bob Wilson, a former schoolteacher, improved markedly between the sticks. Peter Simpson became a more complete central defender, and manager Bertie Mee began to experiment with playing George Graham in midfield as his lack of pace was affecting his ability to play as a forward.[3]

In the League Cup, Arsenal once again reached the final. Arsenal had showed their mettle in the semifinals against Tottenham with Radford scoring a crucial goal in the last minutes of the encounter at Highbury. Arsenal were to face Third Division side Swindon Town in the final. Wembley was in poor condition due to the International Horse of the Year Show, compounded by heavy rainfall.[4] Upon match day, eight Arsenal players had just recovered from the flu while several Swindon players were recovering from injury. Arsenal, after a league record of letting in 18 goals in 30 games, conceded to Swindon in the 34th minute.[3] The team recovered, playing against Swindon's second-half 9-1-0 formation, four minutes before time.[4] Bobby Gould scored the equalizer.[5] The game went into extra time, the pitch laden with mud. Don Rogers scored twice for Swindon in extra time and Arsenal lost their second League Cup final in two years.[3][4]

Arsenal finished the season in fourth place, buoyed by their strong defensive record. They showed the ability to put streaks of success together, putting together a string of 6 consecutive wins with only one goal conceded in the middle of the season. Arsenal was becoming a team that could focus and find success, proved in their two League Cup finals and to be followed up with tangible successes in the coming seasons.[6]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
2 Liverpool 42 25 11 6 63 24 2.625 61 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
3 Everton 42 21 15 6 77 36 2.139 57
4 Arsenal 42 22 12 8 56 27 2.074 56 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round[a]
5 Chelsea 42 20 10 12 73 53 1.377 50
6 Tottenham Hotspur 42 14 17 11 61 51 1.196 45
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Everton were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Liverpool had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Arsenal took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

Results

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Arsenal's score comes first[7]

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
10 August 1968 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 56,280
13 August 1968 Leicester City H 3–0 32,164
17 August 1968 Liverpool H 1–1 43,535
21 August 1968 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–0 36,006
24 August 1968 Ipswich Town A 2–1 25,825
27 August 1968 Manchester City H 4–1 40,776
31 August 1968 Queen's Park Rangers H 2–1 44,407
7 September 1968 Southampton A 2–1 25,126
14 September 1968 Stoke City H 1–0 28,275
21 September 1968 Leeds United A 0–2 39,946
28 September 1968 Sunderland H 0–0 35,277
5 October 1968 Manchester United A 0–0 61,843
9 October 1968 Manchester City A 1–1 33,830
12 October 1968 Coventry City H 2–1 35,240
19 October 1968 West Bromwich Albion A 0–1 35,624
26 October 1968 West Ham United H 0–0 59,533
9 November 1968 Newcastle United H 0–0 34,168
16 November 1968 Nottingham Forest A 2–0 24,550
23 November 1968 Chelsea H 0–1 45,588
30 November 1968 Burnley A 1–0 16,264
7 December 1968 Everton H 3–1 40,108
14 December 1968 Coventry City A 1–0 27,332
21 December 1968 West Bromwich Albion H 2–0 30,785
26 December 1968 Manchester United H 3–0 62,300
11 January 1969 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–0 39,008
18 January 1969 Newcastle United A 1–2 34,227
1 February 1969 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 35,585
15 February 1969 Burnley H 2–0 27,614
18 February 1969 Ipswich Town H 0–2 23,891
1 March 1969 Sheffield Wednesday A 5–0 21,436
22 March 1969 Queen's Park Rangers A 1–0 23,076
24 March 1969 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 43,972
29 March 1969 Southampton H 0–0 28,740
31 March 1969 Liverpool A 1–1 44,843
5 April 1969 Sunderland A 0–0 23,214
7 April 1969 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–1 31,011
8 April 1969 Leicester City A 0–0 35,573
12 April 1969 Leeds United H 1–2 44,715
14 April 1969 Chelsea A 1–2 38,905
19 April 1969 Stoke City A 3–1 14,996
21 April 1969 West Ham United A 2–1 34,941
29 April 1969 Everton A 0–1 39,689

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 4 January 1969 Cardiff City A 0–0 55,316
R3 R 7 January 1969 Cardiff City H 2–0 52,681
R4 25 January 1969 Charlton Athletic H 2–0 55,760
R5 12 February 1969 West Bromwich Albion A 0–1 50,354

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 4 September 1968 Sunderland H 1–0 28,460 Neill 46'
R3 25 September 1968 Scunthorpe United A 6–1 17,450
R4 15 October 1968 Liverpool H 2–1 39,299
R5 29 October 1968 Blackpool H 5–1 32,321
SF L1 20 November 1968 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 55,237 Radford
SF L2 4 December 1968 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 56,923
F 15 March 1969 Swindon Town N 1–3 98,189 Gould

Squad

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[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
- GK   SCO Bob Wilson
- GK   ENG Geoff Barnett
- DF   NIR Pat Rice
- DF   SCO Frank McLintock
- DF   ENG Peter Simpson
- DF   ENG Bob McNab
- DF   NIR Sammy Nelson
- DF   WAL John Roberts
- MF   ENG George Armstrong
- MF   SCO George Graham
- MF   ENG Jon Sammels
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF   ENG Peter Storey
- MF   SCO Eddie Kelly
- FW   ENG Ray Kennedy
- FW   ENG John Radford
- FW   ENG Charlie George
- FW   SCO Peter Marinello

References

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  1. ^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1970-71. London: Arsenal. 1969. p. 38.
  2. ^ Kelly, Andy (17 November 2014). "Arsenal's captains from day one". The Arsenal History. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. pp. 131–133. ISBN 0600588262.
  4. ^ a b c Buckley, Will (23 September 2009). "The Forgotten Story Of ... Swindon's 1969 League Cup triumph". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  5. ^ Murray, Scott; Smyth, Rob (27 February 2009). "The Joy of Six: League Cup final memories". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  6. ^ Atwood, Tony (11 January 2014). "The curious story of 1968/9; the first run of six wins in 13 years". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Arsenal 1970-1971 Results – statto.com". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2017.