Team History: Arsenal FC Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sixpence

The idea to form the club was the brainchild of Scottish factory worker David Danskin, who alongside his 15 fellow munitions workers at Royal Arsenal, in Woolwich, helped to form Dial Square, which would later be renamed Arsenal FC (Dial Square was the name of the workshop at the firm Royal Arsenal). Each member contributed a sixpence while Danskin added another three shillings to help lay the foundations of the football club.

They became Royal Arsenal in December 1886 and Woolwich Arsenal in May 1893 (when the club became a limited liability company). In April 1914 they dropped "Woolwich" and became The Arsenal. They dropped "The" in November 1919.

Answer: Newcastle United

In the 1904-05 season, Arsenal's first in England's top division, Newcastle United won the league title with 48 points. Everton were pipped to the title by one point, finishing second in the division. Preston North End, who had won the first two English titles in 1888-89 and 1889-90, finished eighth in the 1904-05 campaign. Manchester United were competing in the Second Division that year.

It was a fairly successful debut season for Woolwich Arsenal, who finished the season in a respectable tenth place in the First Division, collecting a total of 33 points in the league that season.

Answer: Eddie Hapgood

Hapgood was still a teenager when he joined Arsenal in 1927, and while he was originally only a backup to left back Horace Cope, he eventually made the position his own during the rest of the interwar period. Jack joined in 1928, becoming the first player to cost more than £10,000 when he joined from cash-strapped Bolton Wanderers.

Bastin and James both joined in 1929. James was renowned for his ball control and great passing ability, while Bastin became the team's main goalscorer. His record of 150 league goals was only broken in 2006 when Thierry Henry surpassed him, and he was Arsenal's record goalscorer between 1939 and 1997.

Answer: Pneumonia

Chapman was on the cusp of dominance with his transformed Arsenal side. They had won the 1930 FA Cup, Arsenal's first trophy at national level, and followed this up by winning the league title in 1931 and again in 1933. During Arsenal's title-winning 1933-34 campaign, Chapman had spent the New Year period in 1934 visiting the north of England, and returned to London with a cold. Pneumonia quickly set in and by 6th January 1934, Chapman had passed away.

Chapman not only transformed Arsenal as a club on the field, but he also created a number of off the field changes too. The famous white sleeves of Arsenal became a part of the club's shirts under his management and shirt numbers were added to the kits. Arsenal also became one of the first clubs in England to have floodlights in their stadium.

Answer: 1937

Arsenal were well on their way to winning the 1933-34 league championship when Chapman died, and under the management of Joe Shaw and later George Allison, they continued to be the dominant force in English football. Arsenal completed their hat-trick of titles in 1935, which became their fourth title in five years.

While they did not win the league title in 1936, they did win a second FA Cup that year. A trophyless season in 1937 was followed by a fifth league championship of the decade in 1938. It is unknown just how much Arsenal would have dominated English football in the 1940s had the Second World War not broken out.

Answer: Doug Lishman

It was the third consecutive season where Lishman was the club's top scorer, scoring 25 in all competitions for the Gunners. He was Arsenal's main marksman for five consecutive seasons between 1951 and 1955. Lishman was part of a roaring attack that scored 97 goals in the 1952-53 season, winning the title on goal difference ahead of Preston North End.

Tapscott was Arsenal's top scorer in 1956 and 1957, while Lewis achieved the same feat in 1949 and 1950. Drake was Arsenal's top scorer every season between 1935 and 1940, winning the title in 1935 and 1938 with the Gunners.

1953 was their 7th league title. By contrast, Liverpool did not win their 7th until some 14 years later, in 1966; Manchester United won their 7th a year after that, in 1967; Everton won their 7th in 1970; and Manchester City won their 7th in 2021.

Answer: Crystal Palace and FC Koln

Arsenal were sensational throughout the season, winning 29 of their 42 league games to finish on 65 points, one ahead of Leeds United. Arsenal also went unbeaten at home in the league that season, winning 18 of their 21 games at Highbury. In the FA Cup, the Gunners defeated Yeovil Town, Portsmouth, Manchester City, Leicester City, Stoke City and Liverpool to win the tournament.

Arsenal's only eliminations from competitive football events in 1970-71 came in the League Cup, in which they lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace in the 4th round and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup where they lost on away goals to German side FC Koln.

Answer: Terry Neill

Mee joined Arsenal originally as a physiotherapist in 1960, taking over from Billy Wright as manager in 1966. In his 539 games as Arsenal boss, Mee won 241 of them. He was succeeded by Neill, who had played under Mee between 1966 and 1970 (at age 34, Neill was Arsenal's youngest-ever manager). Neill would go on to spend seven years as the Arsenal manager, and while he had a better win percentage than Mee, he only won one trophy at Highbury.

Whittaker was manager between 1947 and 1956, leading the Gunners to two league titles, two Charity Shields and an FA Cup win in 1950. Howe succeeded Neill in 1983, managing the Gunners until March 1986 when he resigned. Burtenshaw managed the club in an interim period for the rest of the 1985-86 season.

Answer: 1979 FA Cup

Their first major final of the Terry Neill era saw them reach the 1978 FA Cup final, the 50th final to be played at Wembley. In this game, the Gunners faced an Ipswich Town side led by Bobby Robson, who won the game thanks to a late goal from Roger Osborne.

The Gunners redeemed themselves the following year, defeating Manchester United 3-2 in what is often referred to as the "five-minute final" due to its epic ending. (United were 2-0 down in the 86th minute, clawed two goals back before Arsenal won with a 89th minute goal). 1980 was a year of close calls for the Gunners, losing the 1980 FA Cup 1-0 to West Ham United and that year's European Cup Winners' Cup to Valencia on penalties, with Liam Brady and Graham Rix missing from the spot.

While Arsenal reached four cup finals between 1976 and 1980, their average league finish in these seasons was sixth, with a high of 4th in 1980.

Answer: Goals scored

All other teams in the First Division has completed all of their fixtures. Liverpool v Arsenal was the last game of the campaign (postponed from 22nd April) and, coincidentally, saw the first-placed team play the second-placed team. Liverpool were at home.

Heading into the final game of the season, on Friday night 26th May 1989, Liverpool were on 76 points while Arsenal sat on 73 points. Liverpool had a +39 goal difference (65-26) while Arsenal had a +35 goal difference (71-36). Arsenal had to win by two or more goals against a Liverpool side which had John Aldridge and Ian Rush up front, a strike partnership that had never lost together. Any other result would've seen Liverpool finish at the top of the table, Champions of England.

Liverpool still looked set to win the title after the first half with the score at 0-0, but Alan Smith's goal in the early part of the second half gave the Gunners a lifeline. As the last minute of injury time approached, in the 92nd minute, Lee Dixon launched a long ball to Smith who flicked it on to Michael Thomas, who burst through to score the second goal, giving Arsenal the championship. THe refereee blew his whistle, to end the match, less than a minute later. Arsenal won the title as they'd scored more goals than Liverpool (both teams had an identical goal difference of +39). Nottingham Forest finished 3rd, a long way back, 12 pts in arrears on 64 pts.