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 20th April 2024 the game finished 2-0 to Arsenal with the scorers in the game were Leandro Trossard & Martin Odegaard at Molineux in front of 31,621 Fans.
- 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 close to the upcoming meeting date, played on 18th August 1973. In the FA Cup 3rd Place Play-Off, Wolves won 3-1 at Highbury Stadium with 21,038 fans watching. Arsenal’s scorer was Brian Hornsby, while Wolves’ scorers were Derek Dougan, with two goals, and Jim McCalliog with the other.
DO YOU REMEMBER?
Arsenal 2 Wolves 3 29th September 1979 at Highbury Stadium in Division One Attendance: 41,844.
Arsenal Team:
Jennings, Rice, Nelson, Talbot, Walford, Young, Brady, Sunderland, Stapleton, Hollins, Rix. Substitute: Price
Goals: Stapleton (48), Hollins (79)
Wolves Team:
Bradshaw, Palmer, Parkin, Daniel, Hughes, Berry, Hibbitt, Carr, Gray, Richards, Eves. Subsitute: Brazier
Goals: Hibbitt (18), Gray (27,71)
Interesting facts from the game.
Emlyn Hughes had to change his shirt in the game before halftime when the referee had noticed that George Berry was wearing the same number 6 in the game.
John Hollins got their 100th league goal in home matches and 300th league goal in all matches between the two clubs.
a little more history
Arsenal 0 Wolves 2 16th March 1968 at Highbury Stadium in Division One Attendance: 25,983.
Arsenal Team:
Wilson, Storey, McNab, McLintock, Simpson, Neill, Radford, Gould, Graham, Sammels, Armstrong. Subsitute: Davidson
Wolves Team:
Parkes, Parkin, Thomson, Bailey, Woodfield, Holsgrove, Kenning, Wignall, Dougan, Knowles, Wagstaffe. Substitute: Munro
Goals: Holsgrove (30), Wignall (89)
Interesting facts from the game.
There was a penalty awarded to Arsenal in the game when Dave Woodfield handled the ball to give Arsenal a chance to equalise in the game in the 73rd minute which was going to be taken by Terry Neill who went and hit the underside of the bar and Woodfield managed to scramble it away.
HEAD TO HEAD
Premier League Stats
There has been 20 Meetings between the two sides.
Wolves have won 3 games with 2 Home wins and 1 Away Wins.
Arsenal have won 14 games with 6 Home wins and 8 Away Wins.
There has been 3 draws between the sides.
Wolves has scored 14 Goals.
Arsenal has 40 scored Goals.
Overall Head-to-Head
There have been 124 games in total.
Wolves have won 32 Games.
Arsenal have won 64 Games.
There has been 28 Draws.
Last 6 Matches
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
20th April 2024 Wolves 0 Arsenal 2 at Molineux
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.