1967–68 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal
1967–68 season
Chairman	Denis Hill-Wood
Manager	Bertie Mee
First Division	9th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Finalists
Top goalscorer	League: ; George Graham (16); All: ; George Graham (21)
Highest home attendance	62,836 vs Tottenham Hotspur (16 September 1967)
Lowest home attendance	11,252 vs Sheffield Wednesday (30 April 1968)
	← 1966–67 1968–69 →

During the 1967–68 English football season, Arsenal Football Club competed in the Football League First Division. The team finished ninth in the league. Arsenal reached the final of the League Cup, losing 1-0 to Leeds United. It was the first of five major cup finals under manager Bertie Mee. Arsenal went out in the fifth round of the FA Cup to Birmingham City.

The only major transfer was the purchase of Bobby Gould in February. George Graham was again the top scorer in both the league and all competitions.^[1] Frank McLintock served as captain.^[2]

Season summary

The 1967-68 season was the second of Bertie Mee's tenure as manager. From the beginning, Mee was looking to purchase a striker, as Arsenal had relied heavily on goals from midfielders. However, he did not make a purchase until midway through the season. In February 1968, Arsenal bought the hardworking goalscorer Bobby Gould for £90,000 from Coventry.^[3] Dave Sexton also departed from Arsenal's staff to manage Chelsea and Don Howe was promoted from reserve coach to chief coach.^[4]

Arsenal found their best form of the season in the League Cup. They easily reached the quarterfinals against Burnley. Interestingly, they faced the same team in the league just three days later, and as the League Cup tie required a replay, it meant Arsenal played Burnley three times in six days. After going 2-0 down in the first match, Arsenal responded admirably with goals from two George Graham and one from Frank McLintock, going ahead 3-2 by half. Arsenal went down to ten men when Bob McNab was sent off twelve minutes into the second half and Burnley equalized, leading to a replay.^[4] Tensions continued to boil in their league matchup and Arsenal finished the 0-1 loss with nine men. In the League Cup replay, McNab was replaced with Pat Rice. After squeaking past Huddersfield Town 3-2 in the home semifinal match, Arsenal beat them 3-1 away.^[4] They were headed to Wembley for the first time in sixteen years.^[5]

Arsenal faced Leeds United in the League Cup final. Leeds had won both their semifinal matchups and were twice recent-runners up of the First Division. They had also lost to Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup Final. Arsenal, however, were to come in second on this occasion thanks to a Terry Cooper volley following a corner.^[6] Arsenal players protested as two of Leeds tallest players restricted Arsenal goalkeeper Jim Furnell by engaging in what Mee called "basketball." Arsenal were unable to respond to the Leeds goal due to their strong defense and lost 1-0 in the first major Cup final of the Mee era.^[4]

Following the League Cup final, Arsenal faced Birmingham City in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Arsenal lost the replay due to poor performance from goalkeeper Bob Wilson, letting in a last-minute goal.^[4]

Arsenal's form in the league was intermittent. However, they did end the season with five consecutive victories, securing a ninth place finish.^[4]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	9	14	70	59	1.186	47
8	West Bromwich Albion	42	17	12	13	75	62	1.210	46	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]
9	Arsenal	42	17	10	15	60	56	1.071	44
10	Newcastle United	42	13	15	14	54	67	0.806	41	Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round^[b]
11	Nottingham Forest	42	14	11	17	52	64	0.813	39

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ West Bromwich Albion qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1967-68 FA Cup winners.
^ Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Chelsea had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Newcastle United took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

Results

Arsenal's score comes first^[7]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
19 August 1967	Stoke City	H	2–0	27,144
22 August 1967	Liverpool	A	0–2	52,033
26 August 1967	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2	33,977
28 August 1967	Liverpool	H	2–0	33,380
2 September 1967	Coventry City	H	1–1	30,404
6 September 1967	West Bromwich Albion	A	3–1	26,153
9 September 1967	Sheffield United	A	4–2	14,939
16 September 1967	Tottenham Hotspur	H	4–0	62,936
23 September 1967	Manchester City	H	1–0	41,567
30 September 1967	Newcastle United	A	1–2	33,377
7 October 1967	Manchester United	A	0–1	60,201
14 October 1967	Sunderland	H	2–1	30,864
23 October 1967	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–3	36,664
28 October 1967	Fulham	H	5–3	29,867
4 November 1967	Leeds United	A	1–3	31,492
11 November 1967	Everton	H	2–2	36,371
18 November 1967	Leicester City	A	2–2	28,150
25 November 1967	West Ham United	H	0–0	42,029
2 December 1967	Burnley	A	0–1	15,381
16 December 1967	Stoke City	A	1–0	16,119
23 December 1967	Nottingham Forest	H	3–0	32,512
26 December 1967	Chelsea	A	2–1	51,672
30 December 1967	Chelsea	H	1–1	47,157
6 January 1968	Coventry City	A	1–1	32,839
13 January 1968	Sheffield United	H	1–1	27,447
20 January 1968	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1	57,886
3 February 1968	Manchester City	A	1–1	42,392
10 February 1968	Newcastle United	H	0–0	36,996
24 February 1968	Manchester United	H	0–2	46,417
16 March 1968	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	25,983
23 March 1968	Fulham	A	3–1	20,612
29 March 1968	West Ham United	A	1–1	34,077
6 April 1968	Everton	A	0–2	40,029
10 April 1968	Southampton	A	0–2	23,207
13 April 1968	Leicester City	H	2–1	19,108
15 April 1968	Southampton	H	0–3	23,165
20 April 1968	Sunderland	A	0–2	31,255
27 April 1968	Burnley	H	2-0	15,278
30 April 1968	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3–2	11,262
4 May 1968	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1	24,500
7 May 1968	Leeds United	H	4–3	24,053
11 May 1968	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	25,896

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
R3	27 January 1968	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–1	18,280
R3 R	30 January 1968	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–0	41,958
R4	17 February 1968	Swansea City	A	1–0	31,919
R5	9 March 1968	Birmingham City	H	1–1	45,515
R5 R	12 March 1968	Birmingham City	A	1–2	51,586

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
R2	12 September 1967	Coventry City	A	2–1	22,605
R3	11 October 1967	Reading	H	1–0	27,866
R4	1 November 1967	Blackburn Rovers	H	2–1	20,044
R5	29 November 1967	Burnley	A	3–3	16,033
R5 R	5 December 1967	Burnley	H	2–1	36,570
SF L1	17 January 1968	Huddersfield Town	H	3–2	39,986
SF L2	6 February 1968	Huddersfield Town	A	3–1	27,312
F	2 March 1968	Leeds United	N	0–1	97,877

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	GK	SCO	Bob Wilson }
-	DF	SCO	Frank McLintock
-	DF	ENG	Peter Simpson
-	DF	ENG	Bob McNab
-	DF	NIR	Sammy Nelson
-	DF	WAL	John Roberts
-	MF	ENG	George Armstrong
-	MF	SCO	George Graham

References

^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1968-69. London: Arsenal. 1968. p. 38.
^ Kelly, Andy (17 November 2014). "Arsenal's captains from day one". The Arsenal History. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
^ Attwood, Tony (3 June 2013). "Bobby Gould at Arsenal (and elsewhere)". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. pp. 130–131. ISBN 0600588262.
^ Atwood, Tony (2 March 2014). "1967/68 League Cup Campaign: when the rebirth of Arsenal began". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
^ Tomlinson, Dave. "2 March 1968 - Arsenal 0 Leeds United 1". The Definitive History of Leeds United. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
^ "Arsenal 1970-1971 Results – statto.com". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2017.

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.84028498355313-7] West Bromwich Albion qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1967-68 FA Cup winners.

[table_note_res_NEW0.84028498355313-8] Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Chelsea had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Newcastle United took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

[1] Arsenal Official Handbook 1968-69. London: Arsenal. 1968. p. 38.

[2] Kelly, Andy (17 November 2014). "Arsenal's captains from day one". The Arsenal History. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.

[3] Attwood, Tony (3 June 2013). "Bobby Gould at Arsenal (and elsewhere)". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.

[:0-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. pp. 130–131. ISBN 0600588262.

[5] Atwood, Tony (2 March 2014). "1967/68 League Cup Campaign: when the rebirth of Arsenal began". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.

[6] Tomlinson, Dave. "2 March 1968 - Arsenal 0 Leeds United 1". The Definitive History of Leeds United. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.

[9] "Arsenal 1970-1971 Results – statto.com". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2017.

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v t e Arsenal F.C. seasons
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