Arsenal Anniversaries 7 July: the release of George and Merson, the signing of Koscielny

Day by Day the stories – a key moment in Arsenal and footballing history for each day of the year

Day by Day the videos– An Arsenal video for (almost) every day of the year in order.

A special celebration this week: Arsenal have revealed that there will be an Arsene Wenger statue at the club – exactly as the Arsenal History Society proposed.   You can read the full story of how the statues came to pass at: Arsenal to unveil Wenger statue completing the fans proposal of 13 years ago.

And now on with the anniversaries of 7 July

7 July 1917: Islington’s Baby Week concluded.  These “Weeks” were held across the country to encourage mothers to work harder to protect the health of their children despite the hardships of wartime, amidst a growing concern about the rise in infant mortality in the capital from malnutrition and the continuing measles epidemic.  Arsenal’s owner Henry Norris, was at the forefront of promoting them in London.

7 July 1921: Joe Wade born in Shoreditch.  He joined Arsenal as an amateur in 1944 – while Britain was still at war and he was serving in the RAF.  He played at left back and playing mostly reserve football for Arsenal

7 July 1975. Charlie George joined Derby County in a £99,000 deal (although the date is quoted in some sources as 2 July).  He played 106 league games for Derby – his only long term assignment after leaving Arsenal.

7 July 1997: Paul Merson moved to Middlesbrough for £5m.  He stayed for just one season and played 48 games, before moving on to Aston Villa where he played 101 games.  After that he played for Portsmouth and Walsall before dropping out of the league to become notorious as an anti-Wenger pundit – something which he continued as part of his act for over 10 years before re-inventing himself as a calmer more considered lead pundit on Sky.

7 July 1998: Following the arrival of Arsene Wenger, David Platt was released from his Arsenal contract one year early.  He moved to Nottingham Forest but only played five games before retiring.  In 2018, he was appointed as a club consultant for U.S. Città di Palermo of Italy’s Serie B following the club takeover by an English group

7 July 1999: Laurie Scott died.   In 1951 he moved to Crystal Palace as player-manager but after Palace had to apply for re-election in 1954 he moved on to Hendon and later Hitchin  Town.

7 July 1999: Jason Crowe moved to Portsmouth on a free transfer. In a career lasting to 2013 he played over 400 league games, with clubs including Palace, Brentford, Grimsby, Northampton, Leeds, Leyton Orient, and finally Corby Town.

7 July 2010: Laurent Koscielny completed his move to Arsenal from Lorient for whom he had played 35 games, for £8.45 million.  Arsene Wenger stated in 2015 that he felt this was his best value transfer of the past ten years.  On 6 August 2019, Koscielny signed for French Ligue 1 club Bordeaux, in a deal rumoured to be worth £4,600,000 and played 25 games in the 2019/20 season.

7 July 2020.  Arsenal drew 1-1 with Leicester to make it four straight wins and a draw in the last five games and just three defeats in the last 20.  The season continued until 1 August as a result of the cancellation of matches earlier in the season due to the pandemic.

Henry Norris at the Arsenal:  There is a full index to the series here.

Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever

Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.