Arsenal: Not Just a Football Team
The history of the Arsenal Football Club dates from 1886 when a group of workers from the Woolwich firm, Royal Arsenal founded the team. The firm was an armaments factory, hence the nickname the team later acquired: "The Gunners". The original name of the club was taken from one of the workshops of the firm "Dial Square" (1886). On Christmas Day of the same year it was decided, in a meeting at the Royal Oak, to change the name to "Royal Arsenal" (1886). It was also known by other names: "Woolwich Reds" and a mixture of all these: "Woolwich Arsenal" (1891) and finally Arsenal Football Club (1914), known as simply "Arsenal". The name "Woolwich Arsenal" was its first name as a professional team. This name was changed to "Arsenal" when the team moved from its location in Woolwich, in South London, to Highbury.
Guns for the Gunners
Most football fans will know that Arsenal Football Club have moved into their new multi million pound Emirates Stadium and to add the finishing touches to his splendid building, the club approached The Royal Artillery Museum to enquire if we had any ‘guns' which could be placed at the entrance. Two suitable guns were identified and despatched to North London and stand proudly in place. The two guns on loan are 32-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cast iron guns on iron garrison carriages. They have a close link to the club in that they were manufactured in the Royal Gun Factory on the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich in 1859. They were mounted on ships and used as coastal batteries and also siege artillery.