Founding as Dial Square
Arsenal began in 1886 as Dial Square, a team of workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich.
Arsenal were founded in 1886 as Dial Square Football Club by workers from the Dial Square workshop of the Royal Arsenal, an armaments factory in Woolwich, then part of Kent. The group was led by a Scotsman, David Danskin, who bought the club's first football, together with Jack Humble and later the former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Fred Beardsley.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1886
- Founders
- Royal Arsenal workers led by David Danskin
- First match
- 11 December 1886, 6–0 v Eastern Wanderers
- Renamed
- Royal Arsenal (1886), Woolwich Arsenal (1891)
Lore & Background
Dial Square played their first match on 11 December 1886, beating Eastern Wanderers 6–0 on an open field on the Isle of Dogs. Soon afterwards, reportedly on Christmas Day, the club was renamed Royal Arsenal. It played first on Plumstead Common, then at the Sportsman Ground and from 1888 the Manor Ground, turned professional in 1891 and joined the Football League in 1893. In 1913 the club moved to Highbury in north London.
More in Club History & Eras
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