KARL WHITEHOUSE LOOKS AT THE HISTORY OF WOLVES V ARSENAL
FIRST MEETINGS
- Division 1 – The first meeting of the two clubs in Division 1 was on the 24th September 1904 the game finished 2-0 to Woolwich Arsenal this was before they changed there name to Arsenal.
- FA Cup – The first meeting of the two clubs in the FA Cup was in the 3rd Round on the 9th January 1926 the game finished 1-1 and this went to a replay which was played on 13th January, the game finished 1-0 to Arsenal.
- Premier League – The first meeting of the two clubs in the Premier league was on the 26th December 2003 the game finished 3-0 to Arsenal.
RECENT MEETINGS
Premier League – The most recent game was on the 2nd December 2023 the game finished 2-1 to Arsenal, Arsenal scorers were Saka & Odegaard and Wolves Scorer was Cunha.
- FA Cup – The most recent game was in the 4th Round on the 29th January 2005 the game finished 2-0 to Arsenal.
- League Cup – The most recent game was in the 4th Round on the 2nd December 2003 the game finished 5-1 to Arsenal.
BIGGEST WIN
- Division 1 – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 31st August 1946 & 7th March 1959 the games finished 6-1 to Wolves.
- Premier League – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 24th April 2019 the game finished 3-1 to Wolves, this was there first win over Arsenal since 29th September 1979 when Wolves won 3-2.
- FA Cup – The biggest win between the two clubs was on the 3rd January 1976 which was a 3rd Round Tie the game finished 3-0 to Wolves.
BIGGEST DEFEAT
- Division 1 – The biggest defeat between the two clubs was on the 5th November 1932 the game finished 7-1 to Arsenal.
Premier League – The biggest defeat between the two clubs was on the 28th May 2023 the game finished 5-0 to Arsenal.
- FA Cup – The biggest defeat between the two clubs was on the 22nd January 1938, 4th January 1964, 28th January 1978 & 24th January 1999 the games finished 2-1 to Arsenal.
MATCH OF THE DAY
There was a game on the date near the upcoming meeting which was played on the 22nd April 1950 the game finished 3-0 to Wolves & 22nd April 1961 the game finished 5-1 to Wolves.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Wolves 2 Arsenal 1 2nd February 2021 at Molineux in the Premier League.
Wolves had a tough start to the game as Arsenal attacked from the beginning. Saka’s shot hit the post within 36 seconds. Then, Saka’s pass found Lacazette who put the ball in the net, but VAR ruled it offside.
Arsenal kept dominating, and Wolves struggled to get a grip. Arsenal took the lead when Pepe scored after collecting a pass from Lacazette, going past Semedo and Coady, and curling the ball into the far corner.
Just before halftime, Wolves equalised against the run of play. David Luiz clipped Willian Jose in a one-on-one situation, leading to a red card. Neves scored the resulting penalty to make it 1-1 at halftime.
In the second half, Arsenal brought on a defender after the red card. Wolves took the lead when Moutinho’s 25-yard shot bounced in off the post, making it 2-1. Unfortunately, no Wolves fans witnessed this goal live.
Arsenal kept trying to create chances, but things got harder when goalkeeper Leno received a red card for handling the ball outside the box, leaving them with nine men.
Wolves held on for a 2-1 victory.
Wolves Team: Patricio, Semedo, Kilman, Boly, Coady, Neves, Moutinho, Traore, Podence, Neto, Jose.
Substitutes: Ruddy, Hoever, Richards, Otasowie, Gibbs-White, Dendoncker, Vitinha, Silva.
Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo
Arsenal Team: Leno, Bellerin, Soares, Holding, Luiz, Xhaka, Partey, Saka, Smith-Rowe, Pepe, Lacazette.
Substitutes: Chambers, Elneny, Ceballos, Odegaard, Willian, Martinelli, Runarsson, Aubameyang, Gabriel
Manager: Mikel Arteta
a little more history
Wolves 5 Arsenal 1 20th November 1971 at Molineux in Division One.
The game kicked off in wintry conditions at Molineux.
Arsenal started the brighter out of the two sides and it was Arsenal who got an early corner in the game which was cleared by the Wolves defence.
With Arsenal mounting serious pressure in the Wolves penalty box, it caused the defence to clear the ball out in the corner with no one to pass too.
Then Wolves cleared their lines in a rare moment to attack the Arsenal goal with Wagstaffe causing problems with his crosses and one he did cause problems in the box with the Arsenal defence problems only to find Hibbitt who took a shot went into the crowd instead of the back of the net.
Then there was a flair up between Munro & Storey by pushing each other at the edge of the box and the referee called them over to have a talk to both to issue words to them after what had happened, and no booking issued to both players.
Then suddenly the linesman flag was up while was playing was going on and when there was a break in play the referee went over to see what the problem and nothing was much happened, and game was allowed to carry on.
The game was really starting to get really stretched with the ball going backwards and forwards between the two boxes.
Wolves created a chance with a great cross towards the Arsenal only for Graham to pass back to the goalkeeper Wilson to stop Wolves getting a certain goal.
Then suddenly Arsenal took the lead in the game when Ray Kennedy hit his shot from outside the box with his right foot past Parkes in the Wolves goal to make it 1-0 to Arsenal.
Wolves carried on pressing towards the Arsenal goal with Bailey having a shot which went narrowly wide of the post and after the goal kick was taken by Wilson the referee blew the whistle for half time.
Wolves kick off the second half hunting out the equaliser goal to get back into the game and then in the 53rd minute of the game Wolves managed to get the goal they wanted when Wagstaffe got his shot from the edge of the box on the right-hand side into the back of the net with Wilson the Arsenal goalkeeper clearly beaten to make it 1-1.
Now it was Wolves starting to turn the screw in this game by dominating the ball, possession and beautiful Crossfield ball by Wagstaffe found Hibbitt in space unmarked going towards the Arsenal goal with two defenders in front of him hit his shot to the right hand side into the back of net did he enjoy scoring the goal of course he did and put Wolves into the lead for the first time in the game making it 2-1 to Wolves.
As soon that goal went in Wolves went and got another goal when Dougan got his name on the scoresheet with defenders nearby to him with the Arsenal goalkeeper away from his goal into the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-1 to Wolves 65 minutes played.
Wolves were given a penalty in the 69th minute of the game when Roberts chopped down Hibbitt in the box with the referee no hesitation of giving it, It was McCalliog stepping forward to take the spot kick after been given the ball by Hibbitt who won it and McCalliog took the penalty scored with Wilson left on the line not bothering to move this made it 4-1 to Wolves.
Arsenal had a shot by Rice which was tipped over the bar by Parkes in the Wolves goal stopping them having another goal in the game.
Wolves with a corner in the 73rd Minute of the game taken by Wagstaffe went to Dougan with a missed header by the Arsenal defence to prod home his second goal of the game with the Arsenal defenders trying to keep it out of the net and to make it 5-1 to Wolves what a brilliant performance in the second half of the game by Wolves.
With the game petering out some of the Arsenal players were suffering from injuries where they were clearly struggling, and Wolves were showing no mercy kept on attacking the goal searching for more goals.
Parkes made a save late on in the game with Arsenal pressing for another goal and the final whistle went Wolves win 5-1 and this was the first time Arsenal had conceded 5 goals in a league game this season.
Wolves Team: Parkes, Shaw, Parkin, Bailey, Munro, McAlle, McCalliog, Hibbitt, Richards, Dougan, Wagstaffe
Substitute: Eastoe.
Manager: Bill McGarry
Arsenal Team: Wilson, Rice, Nelson, Storey, Roberts, McLintock, Armstrong, George, Radford, Kennedy, Graham
Substitute: McNab.
Manager: Bertie Mee
HEAD TO HEAD
Premier League
There has been 19 Meetings between the two sides.
Wolves have won 3 games with 2 Home wins and 1 Away Wins.
Arsenal have won 13 games with 6 Home wins and 7 Away Wins.
There has been 3 draws between the sides.
Wolves has scored 14 Goals.
Arsenal has 38 scored Goals.
Overall Head-to-Head
There have been 122 games in total.
Wolves have won 32 Games.
Arsenal have won 62 Games.
There has been 28 Draws.
Last 6 Matches
2nd February 2021 Wolves 2 Arsenal 1 at Molineux
10th February 2022 Wolves 0 Arsenal 1 at Molineux
24th February 2022 Arsenal 2 Wolves 1 at Emirates Stadium
12th November 2022 Wolves 0 Arsenal 2 at Molineux
28th May 2023 Arsenal 5 Wolves 0 at Emirates Stadium
2nd December 2023 Arsenal 2 Wolves 1 at Emirates Stadium
PLAYING FOR BOTH TEAMS
Vince Bartram Played for Wolves 1986-1991 made 5 appearances and played for Arsenal 1994-1998 made 11 appearances.
Jackie Henderson Played for Wolves 1958 made 9 appearances and scored 3 goals and played for Arsenal 1958-1962 made 103 appearances and scored 29 goals.
Bob Wilson Played for Wolves 1961-1963 unfortunately he didn’t make a first team appearance as he was playing for the reserves and was the first amateur to have a transfer fee and played for Arsenal 1963-1974 made 310 appearances.
Bob McNab Played for Arsenal 1966-1975 made 278 appearances and scored 4 goals and played for Wolves 1975-1976 made 13 appearances.
Alan Sunderland Played for Wolves 1971-1977 made 158 appearances and scored 30 goals and played for Arsenal 1977-1984 made 206 appearances and scored 55 goals.
Oleh Luzhnyi Played for Arsenal 1999-2003 made 75 appearances and played for Wolves 2003-2004 made 6 appearances.
Emmanuel Frimpong Played for Arsenal 2011-2014 made 6 appearances and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2012 made 5 appearances.
Rohan Ricketts Played for Arsenal 2000-2002 made no appearances mostly played in reserves side and played for Wolves 2005 in a loan spell and then signed a permanent deal at the end of loan and stayed at Wolves until 2007 made 61 appearances and scored 1 goal.
Benik Afobe Played for Arsenal 2010-2015 made no first team appearances mostly played in the reserves side and played for Wolves in two spells 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 made 62 appearances and scored 28 goals.
Jon Purdie Started his youth career at Arsenal 1983-1985 and played for Wolves 1985-1988 made 89 appearances and scored 12 goals.
Jermaine Pennant Played for Arsenal 1999-2005 made 12 appearances and scored 3 goals and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2012-2013 made 15 appearances.
Eddie Clamp Played for Wolves 1953-1961 made 214 appearances and scored 23 goals and played for Arsenal 1961-1962 made 22 appearances and scored 1 goal.
Ray Hankin Played for Arsenal 1981-1982 unfortunately he didn’t make a first team game and played for Wolves 1985 made 10 appearances and scored 1 goal.
Graham Stack Played for Arsenal 2000-2006 made 10 appearances and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2007-2008 made 2 appearances.
Bobby Gould Played for Arsenal 1968-1970 made 65 appearances and scored 16 goals and played for Wolves in two spells 1970-1971 and 1975-1977 made 74 appearances and scored 31 goals.
Jay Bothroyd Was a product of the Arsenal academy and left in 2000 and played for Wolves 2006-2008 made 55 appearances and scored 12 goals.
Jeremie Aliadiere Played for Arsenal 2001-2007 made 29 appearances scored 1 goal and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2006 made 14 appearances scored 2 goals.
Daniel Bentley Played for the Arsenal youth team in 2008 and currently plays for Wolves made 2 appearances.
Emiliano Martinez Played for Arsenal 2012-2020 made 15 appearances and played for Wolves in a loan spell 2016 making13 appearances.
Other Players who played for both clubs.
Joe Cooper, Arthur Worrall, Donald Cock, Tommy Rudkin, Charles Booth, Adam Haywood, Bryn Jones, David Black, Charles Booth, Billy Heath, Lawrie Madden, Jamie O’Hara, Arthur Worrall.
Played, Coached and Managed Both Teams
John Barnwell Played for Arsenal 1957-1964 made 151 appearances and scored 24 goals and managed Wolves 1978-1982.
Billy Wright Played for Wolves 1939-1959 made 490 appearances and scored 13 goals and managed Arsenal 1962-1966.
George Jobey Played for Woolwich Arsenal 1913-1914 and managed Wolves 1922-1924.
Tommy Docherty Played for Arsenal 1958-1961 made 83 appearances and scored 1 goal and managed Wolves 1984-1985.
Gary Goodchild Played for Arsenal 1974-1976 never made a first team appearance for the club and is currently a scout for Wolves since 2017.
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I am a Wolves fan been for over 30 years where
I have supported them both home and away games in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s and now like looking into wolves games the stats behind the games they play in the premier league and also look other stats if asked by someone else in the podcast. I have also done the 92 football league grounds and shortly be doing a ebook about peoples favourite match they went to along with a match report and if possible stats from game.
1 Comment
by Balkaneer
I was at the 1953 Highbury match which ended 1 – 1 and featured Bully Wright and all the wolves stars of the time. My RI teacher gave me the ticket and as I was about to go in the West stand turnstile someone offered me a pound for my ticket which I turned down after a real worrying moment.