Sir Henry Norris: Arsenal allegations debunked

The real story that led to the start of The Arsenal’s soon to be 100 consecutive seasons of top-flight football

By Janne Niemikorpi

The 2025-26 season will be The Arsenal’s 100th consecutive season in the top-flight of English football. Shall we look how it all started back in 1919, and how the Gunners were elected into the First Division despite finishing sixth in the Second Division.

The Arsenal were, of course, the first Southern club to be elected into the Football League, back in 1893, and in 1919, following the end of the First World War, the Football League really wanted two clubs from London in the top-flight.

Now, the last season before the Great War was the 1914-15 campaign. That year, the two London clubs in the top division at the time, Chelsea (19th) and Tottenham (20th), were relegated. When football returned after the war, it was decided the league was to be expanded by four teams – both the First and Second Divisions from 20 to 22.

The system at the time was that all League members had a vote to decide which clubs were to be elected into the Football League. Of the relegated London clubs, Chelsea were re-elected in separate voting, due to a match fixing scandal between Liverpool and Manchester United during 1914-15.

There were seven clubs that applied for the place in the top-flight: The Arsenal, Spurs, Barnsley, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City and Hull City. As the League wanted those two clubs from London, it was basically a vote between the Gunners and Spurs.

So it went to a vote, with The Arsenal picking up 18 votes, compared to second placed Spurs, who received eight votes. Mind you, this was exactly the same process used in 1898 and in 1905, when the League had previously expanded, and a method accepted by all the members of the League.

However, even today, for those of you on social media, you can see constant accusations of bribery undertaken by The Arsenal, and their chairman Sir Henry Norris, whereas at the time there were no allegations raised. 

Having researched the history of this story, the alleged bribery claims only surfaced in late 1960s after a Spurs supporting journalist Ralph Finn published his book: Arsenal – Chapman to Mee.

There Finn writes: “Sir Henry, by skilful negotiating, by determined lobbying, by winning Chelsea over to his side, eventually managed to secure a vote at League headquarters that sent Spurs down and had Arsenal taking their place. It was diabolically shrewd manoeuvring, as near the limits of illegality as it was possible, then, to operate.”

And from thereon Arsenal supporters have been left to face all kinds of allegations of wrondoings in the vote - all this without any actual evidence. 

For Gunners fans, it doesn’t help that Sir Henry Norris was to receive a lifetime ban in 1927, with many labelling him as some kind of crook, without understanding or wanting to find out just why Norris was banned.

Another misunderstanding with Norris is that he never owned more than 22.5% of the club - yet he’s often described as a ’sugar daddy’ who spent his money to benefit The Arsenal. 

My understanding is Norris actually wasn’t very wealthy at all, and also, he was said to very tight with the money.

The truth is that The Arsenal were a very profitable club between the World Wars, as they made profits every season, and they used only the money that the club generated, an organic growth if you will. And despite some record-breaking transfers in the late 1920s and early 1930s, those deals came after paying back the loans of the Highbury.

‘The Bank of England club’ stigma came from that era, and is still applied as a jibe by many against us. Which is simply ridiculous: As if The Arsenal were bankrolled by both Norris and the Bank of England. 

The truth is very much different than you see online, so try and fight back.

Yet, at least one genuine truth remains: The Arsenal will be in the top-flight of English football during 2025-26 for the 100th consecutive season, more than any other club.

What a time and a season it could be, if we could celebrate it with silverware…

This article appears in the current issue of the Gooner Fanzine. Buy it here

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