PART 2 In part 1, I examined the case as to what Rioch offered Arsenal, and the effects his short tenure had on the club. Bruce Rioch, whilst born in England, was a Scottish international player and captain, having captained his country in the 1978 World Cup (the “Gemmill” World Cup). He played […]
Bruce Rioch. Arsenal manager 1995-1996. A short and undistinguished tenure? Or the sign of things to come? Bruce Rioch was our manager for the 1995/96 season, which in many ways was a watershed for modern Arsenal. It did, in some measure, lay the foundations for Wenger’s illustrious tenure. Rioch was hired from Bolton Wanderers, […]
Last week, Parma FC sealed their return to Italian top-flight football only three years after their bankruptcy and relegation to non-football league. They’re the first Italian football Club to accomplish such achievement and fans were understandably going wild in town, especially as no-one was expecting to get automatic promotion after Frosinone, who were two points […]
From Seaman to Mavropanos (and most of those in between) Between 12th October 1996 and 13th May 2018, 222 players played under Wenger’s tutorage and I thought I would write (with inspiration from Billy Joel’s ‘We didn’t start the fire’, a ditty to commemorate some of those who have passed his way. Seaman, […]
It is almost Christmas and our minds are cast back to its origins. The first people who beheld the portent of the good news at Christmas were the three wise men who followed a star to the scene of the nativity. Are we now seeing our own star in the shape of one Mezut Ozil. […]
Support The Arsenal or The Arsenal I’m not one to slag off fellow Gooners on how they support The Arsenal. It’s your choice, your opinions, your way. But recently it’s been getting beyond ridiculous. Some of the feeds I follow on Facebook and Twitter are beginning to test my faith in my fellow Arsenal […]
I’m setting the dial on the time machine to take us back to 1998, when a young 21 year old punk haired Swede announced his arrival in North London by coming off the bench at Highbury and within five minutes he cheekily lobbed the ball over Peter Schmeichel to score his first goal for The […]
It has been a while but its time for another trip back to Arsenal’s past. So without further ado let’s take the dust cover off the time machine and go back to the summer of 1997. When a devastating Dutch winger arrived in North London. This week’s Highbury Hero is our Flying Dutchman Marc Overmars. […]
Hello there dear readers of Gunners Town, quite a long break from me and I do apologise for that although this might be a bit of a rare blog anyway since the topic itself is so temporary. Arsene Wenger’s press conference this morning sparked a flurry of activity I have not seen before and with […]
1995 and today…..some key parallels. 1995 was the last truly “bad” year for Arsenal. Things weren’t good. Maybe it’s being spoilt by Wenger, I don’t know. But good or bad are relative terms. Compared to pre-Graham even, it was in some ways our worst season since the mid-1970s. Namely: We finished 12th place Bar Seaman, […]
