# 1968–69 Arsenal F.C. season

During the 1968–69 English football season, Arsenal Football Club competed in the Football League First Division. The team finished fourth in the league, an improvement on their ninth place finish the previous season.
Arsenal reached the final of the League Cup, losing 3-1 to Swindon Town in extra time. It was their second League Cup loss in two years. Arsenal went out in the fifth round of the FA Cup to West Brom.
John Radford was the top scorer in both the league and all competitions. The previous season's top scorer, George Graham, began to feature in midfield. Frank McLintock served as captain.

## Season summary

Despite making several large bids, Arsenal did not bring in any major new players for the 1968-69 season. The team began the season with a victory at White Hart Lane, their first in eleven seasons. It kickstarted their best start to a season in twenty years, going eleven games unbeaten until a defeat at Elland Road.
Much of the 1968-69 season was represented in player growth. Bob Wilson, a former schoolteacher, improved markedly between the sticks. Peter Simpson became a more complete central defender, and manager Bertie Mee began to experiment with playing George Graham in midfield as his lack of pace was affecting his ability to play as a forward.
In the League Cup, Arsenal once again reached the final. Arsenal had showed their mettle in the semifinals against Tottenham with Radford scoring a crucial goal in the last minutes of the encounter at Highbury. Arsenal were to face Third Division side Swindon Town in the final. Wembley was in poor condition due to the International Horse of the Year Show, compounded by heavy rainfall. Upon match day, eight Arsenal players had just recovered from the flu while several Swindon players were recovering from injury. Arsenal, after a league record of letting in 18 goals in 30 games, conceded to Swindon in the 34th minute. The team recovered, playing against Swindon's second-half 9-1-0 formation, four minutes before time. Bobby Gould scored the equalizer. The game went into extra time, the pitch laden with mud. Don Rogers scored twice for Swindon in extra time and Arsenal lost their second League Cup final in two years.
Arsenal finished the season in fourth place, buoyed by their strong defensive record. They showed the ability to put streaks of success together, putting together a string of 6 consecutive wins with only one goal conceded in the middle of the season. Arsenal was becoming a team that could focus and find success, proved in their two League Cup finals and to be followed up with tangible successes in the coming seasons.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Liverpool | 42 | 25 | 11 | 6 | 63 | 24 | 2.625 | 61 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 3 | Everton | 42 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 77 | 36 | 2.139 | 57 | |
| 4 | Arsenal | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 56 | 27 | 2.074 | 56 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | Chelsea | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 73 | 53 | 1.377 | 50 | |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 61 | 51 | 1.196 | 45 | |
* ↑ Everton were ineligible to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as Liverpool had already qualified. Under the rules of the cup, only one team per city could participate. Arsenal took their place as the highest-ranked team that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

## Results

Arsenal's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance |
| 10 August 1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | 56,280 |
| 13 August 1968 | Leicester City | H | 3–0 | 32,164 |
| 17 August 1968 | Liverpool | H | 1–1 | 43,535 |
| 21 August 1968 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–0 | 36,006 |
| 24 August 1968 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–1 | 25,825 |
| 27 August 1968 | Manchester City | H | 4–1 | 40,776 |
| 31 August 1968 | Queen's Park Rangers | H | 2–1 | 44,407 |
| 7 September 1968 | Southampton | A | 2–1 | 25,126 |
| 14 September 1968 | Stoke City | H | 1–0 | 28,275 |
| 21 September 1968 | Leeds United | A | 0–2 | 39,946 |
| 28 September 1968 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 35,277 |
| 5 October 1968 | Manchester United | A | 0–0 | 61,843 |
| 9 October 1968 | Manchester City | A | 1–1 | 33,830 |
| 12 October 1968 | Coventry City | H | 2–1 | 35,240 |
| 19 October 1968 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–1 | 35,624 |
| 26 October 1968 | West Ham United | H | 0–0 | 59,533 |
| 9 November 1968 | Newcastle United | H | 0–0 | 34,168 |
| 16 November 1968 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–0 | 24,550 |
| 23 November 1968 | Chelsea | H | 0–1 | 45,588 |
| 30 November 1968 | Burnley | A | 1–0 | 16,264 |
| 7 December 1968 | Everton | H | 3–1 | 40,108 |
| 14 December 1968 | Coventry City | A | 1–0 | 27,332 |
| 21 December 1968 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–0 | 30,785 |
| 26 December 1968 | Manchester United | H | 3–0 | 62,300 |
| 11 January 1969 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–0 | 39,008 |
| 18 January 1969 | Newcastle United | A | 1–2 | 34,227 |
| 1 February 1969 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 35,585 |
| 15 February 1969 | Burnley | H | 2–0 | 27,614 |
| 18 February 1969 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–2 | 23,891 |
| 1 March 1969 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 5–0 | 21,436 |
| 22 March 1969 | Queen's Park Rangers | A | 1–0 | 23,076 |
| 24 March 1969 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | 43,972 |
| 29 March 1969 | Southampton | H | 0–0 | 28,740 |
| 31 March 1969 | Liverpool | A | 1–1 | 44,843 |
| 5 April 1969 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | 23,214 |
| 7 April 1969 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 3–1 | 31,011 |
| 8 April 1969 | Leicester City | A | 0–0 | 35,573 |
| 12 April 1969 | Leeds United | H | 1–2 | 44,715 |
| 14 April 1969 | Chelsea | A | 1–2 | 38,905 |
| 19 April 1969 | Stoke City | A | 3–1 | 14,996 |
| 21 April 1969 | West Ham United | A | 2–1 | 34,941 |
| 29 April 1969 | Everton | A | 0–1 | 39,689 |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance |
| R3 | 4 January 1969 | Cardiff City | A | 0–0 | 55,316 |
| R3 R | 7 January 1969 | Cardiff City | H | 2–0 | 52,681 |
| R4 | 25 January 1969 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–0 | 55,760 |
| R5 | 12 February 1969 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–1 | 50,354 |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 4 September 1968 | Sunderland | H | 1–0 | 28,460 | Neill 46' |
| R3 | 25 September 1968 | Scunthorpe United | A | 6–1 | 17,450 | |
| R4 | 15 October 1968 | Liverpool | H | 2–1 | 39,299 | |
| R5 | 29 October 1968 | Blackpool | H | 5–1 | 32,321 | |
| SF L1 | 20 November 1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | 55,237 | Radford |
| SF L2 | 4 December 1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–1 | 56,923 | |
| F | 15 March 1969 | Swindon Town | N | 1–3 | 98,189 | Gould |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | GK | SCO | Bob Wilson |
| - | GK | ENG | Geoff Barnett |
| - | DF | NIR | Pat Rice |
| - | 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 |
| - | MF | ENG | Jon Sammels |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | MF | ENG | Peter Storey |
| - | MF | SCO | Eddie Kelly |
| - | FW | ENG | Ray Kennedy |
| - | FW | ENG | John Radford |
| - | FW | ENG | Charlie George |
| - | FW | SCO | Peter Marinello |