Lucky Arsenal

The nick-name "Lucky" Arsenal appeared in the 1930s as a wry comment on the assistance Arsenal received from match officials - assistance that was in no way related to the lavish hospitality showered on referees at Arsenal. Indeed it is believed in some quarters that the man who did most to secure the double for Arsenal in 1971 was the man who left the bottles of scotch in the referees' room at Highbury before each match. Not true - after all it was a referee in a Leeds match that secured the title for them that year, and a referee in a semi-final at Hillsborough that got them to the cup final.
Here's an example from the following year:
"ohn Radford breaks clear of the Stoke defence despite appearing miles offside and slots past Banks to settle the tie. The linesman later admitted confusing a programme/ice cream seller for a Stoke defender!"
Obviously nothing like that could happen now.

Posted By: Bernard Shakey, Feb 12, 09:58:04