pub talk

As an amateur club in the 19th century, Palace struggled to draw numbers large enough to drive meaningful revenue from football at the Crystal Palace. However Arsenal, a professional side, were playing in front of thousands.

As historian Peter Manning puts it: “Rumours of Crystal Palace turning into a professional club appeared in the press in late 1904.

“The Crystal Palace Company remained fully behind the project as they cast envious eyes over then-south London rivals, Woolwich Arsenal, the only Football League club south of Birmingham to average crowds of 25,000. The company hoped professional football would bring these sort of numbers to Sydenham.”

Sure enough Palace did eventually turn professional in 1905 and Arsenal upped sticks to Highbury in 1913, leaving the path clear for Croydon to host south London’s largest club.

Didn’t he once…

Play for Palace. Iconic Arsenal man

George Graham, considered one of the Gunners’ most successful managers, joined the south

Londoners in 1976. He played 51 times and scored four goals while coming to the end of his playing career. As such, Graham began coaching under Terry Venables, who he later followed to Queens Park Rangers. His path to managing Arsenal, who he represented 308 times, was short: after Palace he coached at QPR and managed Millwall for four years. Following Don Howe’s departure, Arsenal then reportedly approached Venables for the vacant role, and then Alex Ferguson.

Both didn’t accept, and Graham successfully interviewed in May 1986. He left in 1995 with two league titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup behind him. Gunners can thank El Tel.

Pub talk tidbit:

Gabriel Jesus may have scored seven in pre-season, but Stephen Dobbie scored four in a single half in July 2014; one shy of his entire competitive haul in club colours. It’s all relative until the league begins.

I was there for...

Palace’s first away win over Arsenal in 24 years. The south Londoners won at Highbury for the first time since 1970 when they beat the Gunners 2-1 in 1994.

The win came thanks to John Salako’s first-half brace, which Ian Wright could only bag a consolation against. It was Palace’s first win of the 94/95 season and the first of five in a seven-game run. Two cup semi-finals and a fourth-frombottom finish later, however, and the Eagles would find themselves relegated on 45 points.

The Salako-inspired ‘94 win proved to be a rare positive result in north London. Only in recent seasons have Palace started to see more success: going unbeaten in their last four visits to N7, and bagging two wins and five draws from their last eight overall against the Gunners.

What’s the deal with…

Signing Manchester City players. Arsenal scooped signatures from City’s Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko over summer.

The pair played a combined 69 games for City last season but both moved to north London to join ex-Citizens assistant coach Mikel Arteta for this campaign. Other players to have represented both clubs include ex-Eagle Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Touré and a certain Patrick Vieira.

More importantly, Jesus is now the third ‘Gabriel’ in the Gunners’ squad, meaning 8.3% of their 25man group has the name.

Palace’s equivalent, if you’re asking, is the letter ‘J’: there are nine first-team players whose first name starts with it, and eight Academy lads from pre-season. That means a whopping 30% of those who played over summer had a name beginning with J.

You won’t find facts like that elsewhere. The challenge, now, is to name them all. Jheez-us.

Aren’t they…

Hoping for a top-four finish. Arsenal looked destined to return to the Champions League this season, sitting in fourth as late as May 12th in 21/22.

But Arteta’s men fell away at the final hurdles, losing to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United before hammering Everton 5-1 on the final day. The result proved immaterial when Spurs had a similarly strong win over Norwich City, however, and Gunners fans have to contend with another Europa League campaign.

This season, with strong additions in the transfer market and Arteta’s style starting to shine through in 21/22, many are tipping Arsenal for a return to the top four for the first time since 15/16. Should they manage it, the post-Arsène Wenger cobwebs will surely, finally, be shaken off .

Pre-match pint

Recommended pre-match today is Koop Island, a tropical pale ale available in the Holmesdale's Tap Room. At 4%, Koop Island is a generously hopped and dry hopped session pale, bursting with notes of passionfruit and pineapple. Best enjoyed in the Selhurst sun.