I think this is what you're after, mate. Prestwich_Blue posted it a while back
Then there were the group claiming we bought success with the Sheikh's money whereas they'd done it on their own. They talk about history but clearly have little grasp of their own as in the mid-90's they were a mid-table team with an ageing squad. Then, an inspirational director, Danny Fiszman (now sadly dead) put in £50m to enable Rioch/Wenger to build a new squad. That shot them into the top four and some very astute transfer dealing from Wenger enabled them to win the title. That £50m in mid-1990 is probably the equivalent of £4-500m today. But it's unlikely any of them were Arsenal fans back then.
You might also be interested in this from another thread
However, have a look back into history to see how Arsenal became a big club in England. Oh that's right, they got mega-rich owners (Henry Norris and William Hall) and went and spent more money than had ever been spent on a football club before. They moved across London to a new ground, they changed their name, by the 1920's they scandalously bought a place in the top league after finishing 5th in Div2 (absolutely horrendous how this is NEVER talked about. It's a true disgrace!) and then went and bought all the top players from around the country for more money than anyone else could afford as well as poaching the top team at the time's (Huddersfield Town) top manager (Herbert Chapman). Arsenal went on to dominate the era, with only really City putting in a big challenge to how big a club Arsenal were at the time.
So as soon as Kroenke opens his mouth with this garbage all i hear is "blah di blah di fucking blah!"
Indeed mate. Incidentally, regarding Norris and how Arsenal bagged that place in the top flight I've come across some additional information that makes for some very interesting reading indeed. Liverpool and their owner (who was the football league chairman at the time) are implicated, and so are United interestingly enough. Now we all know that City were found guilty of certain indiscretions some years earlier but we were punished at the time for it and very severely too - so severely that the club almost went to the wall. That's in stark contrast to these fookers who all got off scot free for this little episode:
Quote:
Norris's most infamous contribution to Arsenal's history was his role in the club's promotion from the Second Division to the First in 1919. Arsenal were elected to the top flight in spite of only finishing fifth the previous season (1914-15, as competition had been suspended for most of World War I). This promotion came at the expense of other clubs, most notably Arsenal's arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. It has been alleged that Norris bribed or in some way unduly influenced the voting members of the Football League, in particular the league chairman and owner of Liverpool, John McKenna;[8][9] at the League's AGM, McKenna made a speech recommending Arsenal's promotion ahead of Spurs thanks to the former's longer spell in the League (Arsenal joined in 1893, Spurs in 1908).[8] Although no firm proof has ever been offered, Norris's other activities, including the scandal that led to his downfall, are often cited as circumstantial evidence. Some claim that Norris 'bribed' McKenna, although this is pure speculation. Probably more likely is that he lobbied McKenna, who fearful of Norris exposing the corruption in the league at the time (Utd and Liverpool were accused of fixing the last game of the season) yielded to Norris's request to promote Arsenal to Division 1 based on their longer spell in the league and their professional status.[9]
Norris made one other lasting contribution to Arsenal's history. In 1925, after acrimoniously firing manager Leslie Knighton, Norris hired Huddersfield Town's Herbert Chapman as his replacement. After Norris's departure, Chapman fulfilled the chairman's ambition and turned Arsenal into the dominant side in English football in the 1930s, although later Norris later cited Knighton's sacking as the only decision he ever regretted.[10]
However, Norris was not in charge by the time Arsenal had come to dominate English football. In 1927, the Daily Mail reported that Norris had made under-the-counter payments to Sunderland's Charlie Buchan as an incentive for him to join Arsenal in 1925;[11] this was in an era of the League's maximum wage, and any additional financial incentives to players were strictly outlawed, although many clubs at the time broke the rules.[11] A subsequent investigation by the Football Association found that Norris had also used Arsenal's expense accounts for personal use to pay for his chauffeur,[2] and had pocketed the proceeds of £125 from the sale of the team bus.[11] Norris sued the Daily Mail and the FA for libel, but in February 1929, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Hewart, found in favour of the FA, and they subsequently banned Norris for life from football.[12]
