On the 29th March 1935 history was made whilst Arsenal were on their way to league glory at Goodison Park against an Everton side deemed “at their greatest” by four amous Gunner Ted Drake who featured as striker in the game.
Goalkeeper Frank Moss became the only Arsenal goalkeeper to score in an English top-flight game of football. He’d found himself on the left wing early on in the match after being forced out of his goal due to a shoulder dislocation which would haunt him for the rest of his career.
Due to there being no substitutes in the game allowed then left back and former England captain Eddie Hapgood went in goal.
Six minutes after Drake scored the opener, the number nine assisted Moss moments later as he ran down the wing and slotted in the second goal of the match which finished 2-0 in favour of Arsenal.
After the match Moss was awarded the autographed match ball signed by both sides for his personal achievement. He would later be transported to hospital having his injury seen to.
The match report concluded that even the Everton fans celebrated his landmark goal.
Fast track two seasons and Moss was handed the doctor’s orders to step down from the game entirely after his shoulder dislocation persisted from that historical moment onwards.
Originally Moss was signed by the famous Herbert Chapman who led Arsenal to three league titles and one FA Cup in 1931 for a cheap fee in today’s game of £3,000 from Oldham Athletic, after having only featured in 29 games.
After taking over from previous Arsenal goalkeeper Charlie Preedy who played in goal during The Gunners 1930/31 title winning season, Moss would venture on to claiming three league titles in 1933, 1934 and 1935 to secure the the Gunners only ever League Title Treble and the 1936 FA Cup.
In 1934 Moss would be selected by England five times playing in goal during the notoriously brutal “Battle Of Highbury”, seeing The Three Lions beat the then World Cup Winners 3-2.
Once retired as a footballer in 1937 from Arsenal, Moss moved up to Scotland where he became the youngest manager aged nearly 30 with Hearts in the Scottish First Division. In his first season he led The Jambos to second in the table but was unable to repeat his success for the following two years when in charge before retiring from football altogether in 1940.
Moss will always be remembered at Arsenal for his scoring heroics at Goodison Park which no goalkeeper has replicated at the club in the league since!
Liam Harding
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Surely this match is a classic, with the Milkman in goal and the legendary Drake leading the line supported by the injured Moss, there was bound to be a drama or two unfolding.
But even with the milkman between the sticks Arsenal still managed a clean sheet, seems both sets of fans knows it was a classic in the making and showed their appreciation in the end.
Am really loving our history, the legendary Henry was given a standing ovation at the Britannia by Stokes fans after single handedly destroying the opposition.
We won the cup in 1931, not in 1930 Liam. And again in 1936. We won league titles in 1931, 1933/4/ 5, all as you said and again in1938 .
Runners up in both league and cup in 1932 in the notorious “over the line” defeat to Newcastle 2-1, having first led.
A most enjoyable article too. George Allison who took over after Chapmans premature and sad death, actually won more silverware than the great Herbert Chapman though.
Hi John,
Sorry to correct you but History definitely states we won the FA cup in 1930 2-0 against Huddersfield Town but won the title for the first time in 1931, and then in 1936 we won a second FA Cup 1-0 as you say against Sheffield United.
Liam YES YOU ARE CORRECT AND I SIMPLY MADE A TYPING EROR. I have know since age five , some 67 years ago, that not only did we win our first FACUP in 1930 , but it took Chapman five years to win it.
It took Alex Ferguson from1986 til 1992 to win Uniteds first title too.
How foolish the IMPATIENT FANS we sadly have in abundance today now look, given the lessons of history, which almost certainly MOST OF THEM do not even know about!
george wood scored a goal for us in the 70s, as far as i can remember. pat jennings also scored a goal, but i think it was for his previous club spurs. i think both of those keepers were on our books,if i am not mistaken. i could be way out,but thats my memory.
Ger burke, I dont recall George Wood ever scoring for us.
I AM ALMOST certain, 99.9 %, it did not ever happen.
JenningsDEFINITELY scored for Spuds in the Charity Shield against United at Wembley with a long kick which sailed over Stepneys head. But not when Jennings played with us.
Was never at Wembley. Was at Old Trafford
i meant to say that both keepers were on our books at the same time, apologies.
@ger burke. You are quite correct. George Wood was the under study to Pat Jennings at Arsenal. Jennings did score for Tottenham Hotspur. It was the 1967 FA Charity Shield match against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Match ended in a 3-3 draw with both clubs sharing the Shield. Tottenham were awarded a free kick that was played back to Jennings. Those were the days when goalkeepers were allowed to pick the ball up from a back pass. Jennings launched a long punt kick hoping that his centre forward would run on to it. The ball he put through was a little too long. Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney came out to gather the ball on the first bounce, and the rest is history. Jennings scored the goal. The attendance of 55,000 supporters went silent, even the commentator. All eyes were on the referee wondering what he was going to give. He pointed to the halfway line awarding a goal. His interpretation was that the goalkeeper is part of the team. Nobody in England had ever witnessed a goalkeeper scoring a goal from their own 18 yard box before. What made it so big, was that the match was televised on television. The glorious thing about Pat Jennings was that he could get great distance from kicking the ball with both feet. He also had the ability to throw the ball longer than what other goalkeepers could kick a ball out of their hands, turning defence into attack in the blink of an eye. A Goalkeeper with great vision