From Stan Mortlock:
Hi Myles,
I was born in Woolwich in 1947 .
I remember the Arsenal years from 1954 to 1988 very well.
So when I saw your headline “Arsenal was a football club from 1930 to 2006 ” I thought that my memory of supporting Arsenal in the 34 years between 1954 to 1988 must be at fault .
So I have just checked my old Arsenal handbooks and this is what I found.
Our league position in those 34 years was:
Position Number Of Times:
First 1
Second 1
Third 2
Fourth 4
Fifth 4
Sixth 1
Seventh 5
Eight 2
Ninth 2
Tenth 3
Eleventh 1
Twelfh 3
Thirteenth 2
Fourteenth 1
Sixteenth 1
Seventeenth 1
Arsenal finished in the top 4 in only 8 seasons out of 34 .
Fans mock Wenger for saying that a top 4 finish is a trophy.
However our beloved Board used to think that finishing mid-table was a trophy .
The one time Arsenal won the league in those 34 years , the Board shipped Don Howe off to the Midlands to make sure that it did not happen again.
What changed in 1987 ? David Dein
I am not a Wenger apologist .
However, I would like to see change at Arsenal.
That can only be achieved by removing Kroenke .
That is probably easier than you might think.
What is the point of owning the biggest piggy bank in the world if you are not allowed to get at the loot?
He could declare a dividend but that would mean giving 30 % of the dividend to Usmanov.
How Kroenke must envy the Glazers ability to raid MU at will
Even the paltry return of 3 million pounds from an investment of 664 million has stopped .There would probably be only one buyer of the shares and that is Usmanov.
So why not support a Kroenke out of Arsenal group because if Kroenke stays , then I can see Wenger getting the four years that he has recently said that he would like.
The date that should be remembered by Arsenal supporters is 18 April 2007 because that was the date that Arsenal as a football club died when the Board sacked David Dein .
Cheers Myles and keep up the good work.
Myles says:
Thanks very much.
If he gets 4 more years, I’ll write about every team in Europe apart from Arsenal.
Not writing about Wenger will be a stronger statement.
Among the many things David Dein did was manage his friend,who was superb for the first 10 years.
But the board hated DD because he was impulsive and a risk-taker.
And then they hated him even more when his son made millions out of the transfer of Fabregas and other players. I’m told that’s why the club didn’t bring Fabregas back: because they wanted nothing more to do with Darren Dein.
PS. There is another buyer.