Into the archives: Believe it or not Walsall have beaten Arsenal
The Express & Star will be looking back through the archives at some of the most memorable matches in Walsall's grand history. And we felt there was no better place to start than the Saddlers' famous FA Cup upset against English heavyweights Arsenal over 90 years ago.
Arsenal were the most dominant force in England when they visited Walsall's Fellows Park for an FA Cup third round tie on January 14, 1933. The revolutionary Herbert Chapman spearheaded a triumphant era, which heralded three league titles in four seasons, and success in the FA Cup in 1930.
Their squad contained a host of England internationals, including Joe Hulme, Cliff Bastin, and George Male, while legendary Scotsman Alex James was in the attack. Walsall may have been unbeaten at home in 11 months but a four-match winless run heading into the game was compounded by a dismal 5-0 defeat at Stockport County on Boxing Day.
David vs Goliath may be an overused cliché, but this fixture undoubtedly merited such description. And Chapman's charges, along with the 11,150 in attendance, could not have anticipated the tornado which the third-tier outfit would unleash over the next 90 minutes.
"The story of how Walsall triumphed over Arsenal in the FA Cup of 1932-33 will be told for many a day," the Sporting Star reporter, who went by the name Saddler, wrote after the game.
"The Walsall players never lost their heads, that was more of an Arsenal tendency. Finding their scheming coming to nought, some of the Arsenal players seemed to lose their tempers and that made Walsall's task easier."
Arsenal were ravaged by injuries and flu, although Walsall had their fair share of injury problems too. The Saddlers were without right-back Langford, and Bennett was forced to switch from left-half to fill the void at right-back.
