page_title: List of Arsenal F.C. managers
section_title: 1925–66: Arrival of Chapman, dominance and decline
hierarchical_section_title: List of Arsenal F.C. managers / Managerial history / 1925–66: Arrival of Chapman, dominance and decline
caption_attribution_description: English: Billy Wright in 1961.
context_page_description: Arsenal Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Islington, London. The club was formed in Woolwich in 1886 as Dial Square before it was shortly renamed to Royal Arsenal, and then Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. They became the first southern member admitted into the Football League in 1893, having spent their first four seasons solely participating in cup tournaments and friendlies. The club's name was shortened to Arsenal in 1914, a year after moving to Highbury. In spite of finishing fifth in the Second Division in 1915, Arsenal rejoined the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when football resumed after the First World War. Since that time, they have not fallen below the first tier of the English football league system and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight.
  There have been nineteen permanent and eight caretaker managers of Arsenal since 1897; Stewart Houston has managed the club in two separate spells as caretaker. The most successful person to manage Arsenal is Arsène Wenger, who won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Community Shields between 1996 and 2018.
context_section_description: In the close season of 1925, Norris proceeded with wholesale changes at the club and advertised the role of manager in the Athletic News:
  Arsenal Football Club is open to receive applications for the position of TEAM MANAGER. He must be experienced and possess the highest qualifications for the post, both as to ability and personal character. Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exhorbitant [sic] transfer fees need not apply.
  The notice caught the attention of Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman, who according to journalist and former Arsenal player Bernard Joy wanted to manage a London club: "Arsenal appealed to him because it was a struggling club, something he could work on and make a power in the land." He joined Arsenal in June 1925, and laid the foundations for the club's first period of success. Considered the "great innovator" of English football, Chapman introduced numbered shirts, advocated floodlights at Highbury and successfully campaigned for Gillespie Road station to be renamed to Arsenal on the London Underground. He also introduced new training techniques and tactics, adopting a "WM" formation in order to counter a change in the offside law.
  One of Chapman's first decisions was to bring in Sunderland striker Charlie Buchan, recognising Arsenal's lack of goal threat. Arsenal finished second in Chapman's first season, a marked improvement on previous seasons, though finished no higher as the 1920s drew to a close. Chapman continued to reshape his team and buy players to fit his desired system. He led Arsenal to their first major trophy, as they beat his former side Huddersfield Town 2–0 in the 1930 FA Cup Final. The team continued to mature and won the 1930–31 First Division title, scoring 127 goals in the process. Chapman won another championship in 1932–33, after Arsenal ended the previous season as league and 1932 FA Cup runners-up.
  In the early hours of 6 January 1934, Chapman died at his home in Hendon. Arsenal were top of the table by the New Year, but their league form stuttered as a result of Chapman's unexpected death. Joe Shaw stood in as caretaker manager and continued Chapman's good work, as Arsenal won the 1933–34 First Division title. In May 1934, Arsenal appointed George Allison, beginning a successful thirteen-year spell as manager. The club retained the league title in 1934–35 and in the next season defeated Sheffield United in the 1936 FA Cup Final. Arsenal won another championship in 1937–38, their fifth in eight years, to reinforce their position as the dominant team of the 1930s. Britain's involvement in the Second World War meant the ordinary football calendar was abandoned. In the early part of the 1940s, Arsenal participated in various wartime competitions, still managed by Allison.
  Allison resigned in 1947, a year after professional football resumed, and his position was taken over by Tom Whittaker, the club's first-team trainer. Intent on playing an expansive style of football, he purchased Don Roper and converted Ian McPherson's position from defender to winger. The changes had the desired effect as Arsenal won the 1947–48 First Division championship. Whittaker won the club's third FA Cup in 1950 and repeated early league success in 1952–53. The club's success began to wane after this, which in turn commenced a stressful period for Whittaker. In October 1956 he died of a heart attack, aged 58. Jack Crayston presided over first-team affairs as caretaker, before he was named permanent manager at the end of 1956. His time was brief compared to his predecessors and left the club in May 1958, achieving a twelfth-place finish in the league.
  Former Arsenal goalkeeper George Swindin returned to the club in June 1958 as manager. His tenure started well as he guided the club to a top-three position in the league, but subsequent mid-table finishes and poor cup showings led to his departure in May 1962. Swindin's replacement Billy Wright fared no better and journalist Brian Glanville wrote of his spell: "He had neither the guile nor th
caption: Billy Wright, manager of Arsenal from 1962 to 1966
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