The story of George Graham is of an ambitious, determined and fixated man, who sadly lost his dream job when it was revealed that he took unlawful payments for his involvement in a number transfer deals which included John Jensen and Pal Lydersen.
In 1995, he was promptly sacked by the club who had been deeply embarrassed by his actions and he spent some time on the sidelines licking his wounds, wounds which ran deep. He would never be as successful again and his dismissal from Arsenal was the end of a promising managerial career that could have scaled the heights.
The fact that the payments were said to total around £400,000, when his wages were £300,000 a year made it all seem ridiculous but this was a time when the bung culture was generally overlooked by the FA who wanted to avoid a scandal. It wouldn’t last but a great deal of it went by the wayside. George Graham was just unlucky, wrong place, wrong time.
Game fixing, players betting against their own team and bribes (sweeteners) were all part of the landscape, especially in the 70’s with Leeds’ Don Revie apparently at the head of the line. Nothing was proved.
George Graham’s appointment as Arsenal coach in 1986 was greeted with a mixture of incredulity and bewilderment. The former Arsenal player known as the stroller had practically found his way into management by accident via a coaching role at the request of his good friend Terry Venables at Crystal Palace.
At the time of Arsenal’s announcement, George Graham was in charge of Millwall which hardly made him a contender in the eyes of football snobs who expected a big name appointment but Arsenal appeared convinced that they had their man.
George Graham introduced a discipline that had been missing for sometime, football was still in the dark ages to some degree regarding fitness levels and tactics. The beer and pie culture was still at large and it wasn’t uncommon even during Graham’s reign for players to take to the pitch grossly hungover and out of shape. This was literally a hangover from the when players looked forward to a cigarette and a bottle of pale ale at half time.
Paul Merson recalled lagging behind on a run, Graham told him to hurry up, Merson laughed and received a frosty look. He didn’t play again for weeks: “He never said a word”
George Graham had a big job ahead of him to get Arsenal back on track on his arrival. He was given money to spend on his underachieving, under performing side but he was going to have to spend it wisely and combine existing academy talent.
Sound familiar ?
He decided to shop in the lower divisions to assemble the legendary Arsenal back comprising Dixon, Winterburn, Bould and Adams. This plus a few adjustments bought Arsenal a string of success in the years to come including
FA Cup (1993-05-20), League Cup (1993-05-18), League Cup (1987-05-05), European Cup Winner’s Cup 1994, League Division One Champions 1989 & 1991, but success came at a price over time with the departures of high profile fan favourites such as Graham Rix, Kenny Sansom, Charlie Nicholas and David Rocastle.
Those departures were understood but not really forgiven by a section of fans and Rocastle’s departure seemed to coincide with Graham’s dwindling fortunes. At the time, a number of players voiced their opinion that the soul of the club had gone and that the place lacked a smile, such was Rocastle’s impact and influence at his adopted home.
Arsenal and George Graham soldiered on but form deserted the side and like Wenger, his Midas touch in the transfer market also deserted him. Then came the bung allegations and it’s fair to say that Graham is justified in his opinion that the FA made him their official scapegoat, even when equally big names were guilty of the same thing.
The stern Scot has avoided the many questions about the infamous bungs over the years. He denied the claim and the term by deeming the payments as “unsolicited gifts”. He also accused Arsenal of conducting a “kangaroo court” judgement and described the allegations as “nonsense” stating that he deserved far more loyalty.
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When the mention of the payments emerged in subsequent interviews, Graham became defensive and it’s said that a look deterred the journalist from expanding in the subject. No doubt, he was guilty of embarrassment and defending an indefensible position from which he would never recover.
Worse was to come in 1998 when Graham tried to get back at the Arsenal board for his dismissal by joining Spurs but by 2001, he was gone. He had managed to undermine his legacy in the eyes of the Gunners’ devoted fans by joining their rivals. It was his final throw of the dice as a manager and he never sought another job in football.
Hello I absolutely loved your article. I starting watching and supporting Arsenal after Graham and Rioch were gone.. round about when Wenger joined. (FA cup final vs Newcastle is first full game i remember watching, I was supposed to support my friends team Newcastle.. but I guess every newbie is likely to be a glory hunter.. I also had seen a player catch my eye while my dad used to watch match of the day.. a guy by the name of Bergkamp was the first who stood out and showed me what it was to have skill and flair that makes u stand out.. then i spotted him on the pitch vs Newcastle and was oh thats THAT guy.. ok, i think I like THIS team!).
Anyways, I’m trying to do a bit of research and relate some of that info to Arsenals current situation. In particular how a lot of fans continue to have a very negative outlook on the club, and a feeling of entitlement to how often and quickly the team should be winning the league, and also what level of managerial appointment we should “expect”. It had already occurred to me that Wenger was an unknown to English football when appointed and I was curious about the history before my years. Of course id heard of Graham, the famous back 4 and 1-0 to the Arsenal but I guess because Graham was obviously a club legend by the time I watched i had no idea of his stock before joining.
I found it fascinating to read of his “accidental” route to management via a coaching role, about how his appointment was greeted with incredulity (as I think Wenger’s was also!) and I saw the parallel there with our current manager on both counts. I read on to learn of his disciplinarian ways that improved the squads fortunes on the pitch by improving mentality.. … aaand i saw the parallel there with our current manager. I went on google to learn a bit of Rioch’s brief reign and how he left over an argument with the board about transfer funds…aaaaand i saw the parallel between not just the current manager (who hasnt argued per se but just the fact that arsenal still have a tighter budget than what people think want or expect) but also our previous legendary manager.. who i remember haggling and looking for a DM in 2002 and the big name going was Van Bommel but we could not afford 10m according to reports and instead plumped for a disappointingly unknown (who turned out to be a gem) in Gilberto Silva…(who??). meanwhile Man utd having won no trophy went and broke the RECORD for a defender purchase with Rio Ferdinand.
You know, the point of my spate of research and reminiscing is because it seems so many fans have an unrealistic expectation. Far too often I hear something like ” but this is the ARSENAL we’re talking about “.. we “deserve better” and i just cant find the actual facts or logic that supports it, other than the ticket prices.. which u could argue are due to the quality of facilities as much as anything.. if i watch on tv the cost is the same as watching man city! It seems tht people think Arsenal are such a “HUGE” club that we should expect success EASILY.. we should expect top spending on transfers to compete with Man City etc EASILY.. and we should expect the signing of TOP world class managerial ability. However, it seems there is nothing in history to support that- George Graham was an appointment of someone with little managerial experience who went on to be relatively successful (relative to the size of the club) but still only won ONE league title in 9 years… Rioch didn’t have a world class CV having managed Torquay, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Bolton Wanderers prior to Arsenal.. and Wenger was a relatively unknown (to English fans) when he joined as well from Japan. on top of that we have ALWAYS been a team struggling for a transfer budget from Grahams days, to Rioch falling out with the board.. to Wengers successful years when he plucked youngsters or rough diamonds on a budget like Gilberto Henry Vieira Lauren while Man utd broke the transfer record for defender in Rio, then broke world transfer record for a teenager in Rooney.. Wenger for al his brilliance also only managed 3 league titles in 22 years and no European cup 9 tho ofc he did gret in the FA cup, but it seems noone gives a shit about that these days.. (Arteta CERTAINLY doesn’t get much credit for one FA cup in 2 full seasons with mediocre inherited squad!)
Look, i absolutely adore Arsenal and love following them. Im really happy with what Wenger achieved as well. Im sad he didn’t win the CL, but sad for him as much as myself.. but we played the best attractive football and we were the invincibles.. graham was the club legend manager prior to Wenger and managed ONE league title in 9 years! Again, I LOVE THE CLUB.. but it just seems to me that Arsenal have never been this all conquering cub or behemoth rich business that can expect to win trophies by right. It seems we need smart planning on a budget, team spirit, discipline and work ethic to overcome teams like Man utd in the 90s and even more needed now to overcome the mega rich Man city. I feel with a realisitc approach to the realities of the modern football landscape and where Arsenal fit in a a club and a business, allows me to actually enjoy the ride. Im of COURSE not saying I dont want them to win the title, but I feel like I know what its gonna take to do so, and its a combination of factors including time and patience.. so I dont get riled up every single time the current young team slips or buckels under pressure late in the season.. i know it will take time but im happy to enjoy the ride otherwise what’s the point.
Id love to get some of this across to the very VERY unhappy fans of this wonderful club.. maybe it can help some others enjoy the journey a bit better after some reflection.. and you could really help. Id love it and really appreciate if u could give me some of the sources for your info.. i get that maybe some of it is just memories and your first hand experience seeing how people react, but I was wondering if there were any articles I could reference when discussing how Grahams appointment was “met with incredulity and bewilderment” in particular, how he “was in charge of Millwall which hardly made him a contender in the eyes of football snobs who expected a big name appointment” or how he “practically found his way into management by accident via a coaching role”.
I’d super appreciate it and I would of course reference your great article/website!