1887–88 Royal Arsenal F.C. season

Royal Arsenal
1887–88 season
Chairman	None
Manager	None
None	None
None	None
Top goalscorer	League: N/A; All: JA. Morris (6)
Highest home attendance	600 vs Grove House; (8 October 1887); 600 vs Millwall Rovers; (30 March 1888)
Lowest home attendance	300 vs Alexandra United; (1 October 1887)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1886–87 1888–89 →

Last updated March 20, 2025

This was the second season of the club that was to become Arsenal F.C. ^[1] In this season they moved from the common of Plumstead Ground to the privately owned Sportsman Ground, in order to charge an entrance fee to view games. The nearby Sportsman Pub was used as a dressing room.^[2] This season was notable for their inaugural participation in the London Senior Cup, and home and away games against enduring rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

Players

Below is a list of all Arsenal Players reported to play for them that season, and all confirmed appearances and goals. Out of the 24 games played that season, confirmed line-ups were recovered for 12 of these games, and goalscorers for 11.^[3] Players who predominantly played as goalkeepers are marked in Italics.


	Friendlies		LSC		Total
Player	App	Goals	App	Goals
B. Banks	1	0	1	0	2	0
CW. Bates	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW. Beardsley	8	0	1	0	9	0
J. Bee	6	1	1	0	7	1
A. Brown	8	3	1	0	9	3
P. Connolly	4	4	0	0	4	4
JB. Crichton	9	3	1	0	10	3
R. Crichton	2	0	0	0	2	0
D. Danskin (C)	11	0	1	0	12	0
E. Hartland	6^[4]	1	0	0	6	1
JG. Hill	4	0	0	0	4	0
FB. Hills	5	1	0	0	5	1
JW. Humble	8	0	0	0	8	0
WW. Levy	1	0	0	0	1	0
J. Lucas	1	0	0	0	1	0
W. Lucas	3	0	0	0	3	0
JA. Morris	9	6	1	0	10	6
J. Moy	2	0	0	0	2	0
J. Ogilvie	1	0	0	0	1	0
J. Potter	2	1	0	0	2	1
R. Price	6	0	1	0	7	0
S. Ridgwell	3	0	1	0	4	0
J. Ronald	2	1	0	0	2	1
J. Rowland	1	0	0	0	1	0
G. Smith	2	0	0	0	2	0
T. Wells	11^[4]	1	1	0	12	0
HB. Weeks	4^[4]	1	0	0	4	1

Management

There was no manager for the 1887-88 season, though Fred Beardsley, Arthur Brown (both players) and Duncan Porteous^[3] were positioned as joint-secretaries amongst others, after Elijah Watkins left the position of secretary at the beginning of the season.^[2]

Pre-season

Friendlies

1 October 1887	Royal Arsenal	5–1	Alexandra United
				Attendance: 300

8 October 1887	Royal Arsenal	3–1	Grove House
	Potter ?' Crichton ?' Morris ?'			Attendance: 600
Note: This game was scheduled as a London Senior Cup match. However, the game was scratched and was played as a friendly.

15 October 1887	Royal Arsenal	2–2	Clapham Pilgrims
	Morris ?' Crichton ?'

22 October 1887	Royal Arsenal	Unknown	St Luke's
	Bee ?' Ronald ?' Morris ?', ?'

5 November 1887	Royal Arsenal	4–0	Grange Institute
	Bee ?' Ronald ?' Morris ?', ?'

12 November 1887	Royal Arsenal	1–1	Iona Deptford
	Crichton ?'

19 November 1887

Tottenham Hotspur

1–2

Royal Arsenal

26 November 1887

Millwall Rovers

0–3

Royal Arsenal

3 December 1887

Royal Arsenal

Unknown

Grange Park

10 December 1887

Royal Arsenal

1–2

Brixton Rangers

17 December 1887

Shrewsbury Park

4–0

Royal Arsenal

31 December 1887

Forest Gate Alliance

1–2

Royal Arsenal

14 January 1888

Iona Deptford

3–2

Royal Arsenal

28 January 1888

Royal Arsenal

6–0

Champion Hill

4 February 1888

Royal Arsenal

6–2

Tottenham Hotspur

11 February 1888

Royal Arsenal

3–3

Millwall Rovers

18 February 1888	Royal Arsenal	2–1	Erith
	Crichton ?' Hill ?'

25 February 1888

Royal Arsenal

1–1

Forest Gate Alliance

3 March 1888	Royal Arsenal	2–1	Grange Institute
	Brown ?', ?'

10 March 1888

Brixton Rangers

9–3

Royal Arsenal

17 March 1888

Royal Arsenal

5–0

Ascham

30 March 1888	Royal Arsenal	3–0	Millwall Rovers
	Morris ?', ?' Brown ?'

7 April 1888	Alexandra United	0–3	Royal Arsenal
			Wells ?' Hartland ?' Weeks ?'

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record
Competition	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
London Senior Cup	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00
Total	1	0	0	1	0	4	−4	000.00

Updated to match played 29 October 1887
Source: Competitions

London Senior Cup

29 December 18872	Royal Arsenal	0–4	Barnes
				Attendance: 500

References

↑ Attwood, Tony (21 December 2013). "Arsenal's second season: what really happened in 1887/8?". woolwicharsenal.co.uk.
1 2 James, Josh; Andrews, Mark; Kelly, Andy (2018). Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886-2018 (First ed.). Liverpool: deCourbertin Books. ISBN 978-1-909245-75-4.
1 2 "Arsenal First Team Line-ups". www.thearsenalhistory.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
1 2 3 The line-ups for the final game of the season (3-0) against Alexandra United were not recorded, however, the golascorers were so it can be confirmed that on this date, Hartland, Wells and Weeks all played, however the other players who played on this date remain uncertain.

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[1] Attwood, Tony (21 December 2013). "Arsenal's second season: what really happened in 1887/8?". woolwicharsenal.co.uk.

[:0-2] 1 2 James, Josh; Andrews, Mark; Kelly, Andy (2018). Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886-2018 (First ed.). Liverpool: deCourbertin Books. ISBN 978-1-909245-75-4.

[Arsenal_First_Team_Line-ups-3] 1 2 "Arsenal First Team Line-ups". www.thearsenalhistory.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.

[:1-4] 1 2 3 The line-ups for the final game of the season (3-0) against Alexandra United were not recorded, however, the golascorers were so it can be confirmed that on this date, Hartland, Wells and Weeks all played, however the other players who played on this date remain uncertain.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Arsenal F.C. seasons
Royal Arsenal F.C.	1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93
Woolwich Arsenal F.C.	1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14
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v t e 1887–88 in English football
« 1886–87 1888–89 »
FA competitions	FA Cup Final
Related to national team	Home Championship
Club seasons	Aston Villa Eastville Rovers (Bristol Rovers) Newton Heath LYR (Manchester United) Royal Arsenal (Arsenal) St. Mary's Y.M.A. (Southampton) Stoke West Bromwich Albion

1887–88 Royal Arsenal F.C. season

Contents

Players

Management

Pre-season

Friendlies

Competitions

Overview

London Senior Cup

References