Arsenal moved down the road to Highbury in 1913, yet it would be over seven years until we'd meet in the first N17 vs N5 clash - now we're up to 169 'north London' derbies in the Football League/Premier League with Sunday's clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium taking the tally to 170 - we also played Woolwich Arsenal eight times in the Football League.
First 'proper' NLD - 1921
The Gunners were formed as Dial Square in 1886, then Royal Arsenal and on turning professional in 1893, became Woolwich Arsenal, playing at the Invicta Ground and the Manor Ground, Plumstead. They moved to north London in 1913 and played their first match at Highbury on 6 September, 1913 – a 2-1 victory over Leicester Fosse in the old Second Division (Championship). We won the Second Division title in 1919/20 and the stage was set for the first 'north London' derby in the First Division on 15 January, 1921. We won that clash 2-1 thanks to goals from Jimmy Cantrell and Bert Bliss in front of 39,221 fans at the Lane. “Spurs played the close-passing, skilful game. Arsenal played the full-steam-ahead game, booting the ball hard and dashing after it at top speed. At the end, no-ne could say which was the more effective,” reported the Daily Mail. A week later, N17 vs N5 was truly underway as we travelled to Highbury for the first time, this time suffering a 3-2 loss.
Roy White - the Dunkirk survivor who came to watch the NLD, but ended up playing and signing for us!
Raymond 'Roy' White was born in Bootle, Merseyside in 1918, signed amateur forms for Everton and played for the Toffees' A team prior to World War II, but opted instead for a career outside of professional football and went into accountancy. Part of the famous evacuation from Dunkirk in the summer of 1940, Roy's boat, The Lancastrian, was sunk in the English Channel, and he was temporarily blinded during several hours in the water. During a lengthy spell in hospital, he met Jock McKay, a former Blackburn and Middlesbrough forward, and was recommended to our manager at the time, Peter McWilliam. On his release from hospital, Roy worked for the War Office in London and was invited to attend the north London derby in the wartime Football League South on 16 November, 1940. Incredibly, we were short on numbers, Roy was asked to play and he did so well against Arsenal and England legend Cliff Bastin - third in Arsenal's all-time goalscoring list - that we immediately asked him to sign amateur forms! He did so, and went on to make 165 appearances for us in that wartime period. A half-back, Roy eventually made his competitive debut for us in the FA Cup against Brentford in January, 1946, one of four appearances. Offered full professional status by both ourselves and Manchester United, he preferred to return to accountancy and played as a part-time professional for Bradford Park Avenue, where he featured in an FA Cup win at Highbury in 1948. Roy retired in 1951 and passed away in December, 1988.
That wasn't all on Roy's debut...
Roy's debut ended 1-1 at the Lane, but with regular air raid warnings occurring at that time during World War II, the attendance figure was the lowest recorded for a north London derby - just 1,916. The reality of those warnings and life in London at that time came true - the match was halted after 15 minutes due to an air raid warning, eventually restarting 80 minutes later.
Meanwhile, match abandoned for 'bad language' - 1900!
Before the local rivalry kicked in in 1921, we had some 'interesting' encounters against Royal and Woolwich Arsenal. The first meeting was on 19 November, 1887, a friendly at our early base on Tottenham Marshes, a match abandoned because of poor light with 15 minutes to go with us 2-1 up. The first competitive clash between the teams was in the United League in November, 1896, a 2-1 win for the Gunners. Over 14,000 fans attended a United League game at our old Northumberland Park ground in 1898, and many were lucky to escape injury when the refreshment stand collapsed under the weight of fans who had climbed up to get a better view. There was an extraordinary match in the South District Combination League on 24 April, 1900 - abandoned after 75 minutes because of 'bad language' with Woolwich Arsenal leading 2-1! Nine years later, 4 December, 1909, the first league meeting between the teams at the Manor Ground in the First Division ended with a 1-0 win for the hosts.