On This Day – 3rd May
Arsenal secured their first league title in seventeen years on this day back in 1971, thereby completing the first leg of their attempt to win a League and Cup Double.
Liverpool lay in wait for the FA Cup Final five days later, but first Arsenal needed to go to White Hart Lane to play their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the final game of the league season.
Leeds United had been Arsenal’s main challengers throughout the season and were a point ahead at the top of the table. The Yorkshire side had beaten them 1-0 the week before and would win the title if Arsenal lost or on goal average if the match ended in a score draw.
To add an extra twist in the tail, Tottenham had won the League and Cup Double exactly ten years earlier, becoming the first club to do so since Preston North End back in 1889. They were desperate to stop Arsenal from repeating their record and had the perfect opportunity to do so.
Fans had queued outside White Hart Lane throughout the day. It was a capacity crowd of nearly 52,000 that were lucky to get in and watch the game and it was estimated that as many fans were locked outside the ground.
Arsenal’s winner came in the 87th minute, thanks to a header by Ray Kennedy from a George Armstrong cross. Kennedy had come through the ranks at the club and was only 19 years old. He had made his first team appearance only 20 months earlier. He had scored a vital away goal in the Fairs Cup Final first leg the previous season, but this goal that won Arsenal the league championship is the one that he is best known for.
Five days after the victory at Spurs, Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 after extra time to complete the Double. Fast forward to 2004 to the last time Arsenal won the league. They drew 2-2 against Spurs to yet again win the league at White Hart Lane!
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