Around the time the teams take to the field tonight, or shortly after kick-off, the stat-obsessed commentator will roll out some drivel about how the FA Cup may well be Arsenal’s best chance of a first trophy in five years.
He’ll probably also mention some of those who have played for both - Johnny Lukic and Lee Chapman, and maybe even Chris Whyte. He’ll definitely talk about the 1972 Final and may even mention the series of replays we had in the early 90s, when Ian Wright earned us a 3-2 win at theirs after three games. And he’ll say that George Graham managed us both.
If he has any real sense of the history, he should – although I suspect he won’t – mention another man who managed both: Herbert Chapman, who would have celebrated his birthday today – had he lived to be 132 (not many do).
Chapman has always been held up as Arsenal’s greatest manager, a bronze bust of him adorning the entrance to the stadium. Prior to his reign at Arsenal, though, Chapman was a Leeds man, taking a team at the bottom of the lower league to the brink of promotion before the First World War interrupted their rapid rise.
It was nearly a decade later that he arrived at Arsenal. On paper, Chapman won just two league titles and an FA Cup for us. But, in the days where players rarely moved around and squads were built for the long-term, Chapman’s team - following his unexpected death at the age of 55 - went on to win three more titles in the 1930s alone.
Chapman was an innovator. He was the man behind the introduction of floodlights, was the first to suggest European competitions, and introduced shirt numbers.
He is even credited with forming the first tactics and training programmes. Until Chapman, players ran around like school kids chasing a plastic fly-away football in the playground, causing him to remark: “No attempt was made to organise victory. The most that I remember was the occasional chat between, say two men playing on the same wing.”
In response he created the now famous ‘WM’ formation, which pulled midfielders deeper, allowing the forwards space to play the ball but more importantly allowing the team to attack as one, with pace. “A team can attack for too long,” he said upon inventing counter-attacking football.
Nowadays, of course, we have another innovator at the helm - a man credited with transforming modern-day football through his approach to diet, training, tactics and spending, and a man who has left just as big an imprint on Arsenal Football Club as the great Herbert Chapman did.
However, if you’re really looking for a sign of just how similar these two were in approach and philosophy, take a look at the job advert that tempted Chapman to move from Champions Huddersfield to relegation-embattled Arsenal. Had Wenger been alive in 1925, I suspect he may have applied too:
“Arsenal Football Club is open to receive applications for the position of TEAM MANAGER. He must be experienced and possess the highest qualifications for the post, both as to ability and personal character. Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exhorbitant [sic] transfer fees need not apply.”
Happy birthday, Herb.
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