The First Ever London Derby!

This weekend saw the 111^th anniversary of the first ever First Division London derby when on 9^th November 1907, Arsenal were the visitors to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea.

Stamford Bridge pictured in 1905

Arsenal were the first London club to enter the top flight of the Football League in 1904 and remained alone among those nasty northerners for 3 years until the Blues joined them in 1907.

Previously in the season Chelsea had struggled, so it was something of a surprise when Chelsea took a 2-0 lead with a brace from George Hilsdon. Arsenal narrowed the gap to 2-1, but could get no closer and suffered their fifth defeat of the season. Various reports suggested the crowd was somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000, which was a new league record.

By the end of the season, Chelsea finished in thirteenth, one place ahead of Arsenal, with whom they were level on points, by virtue of a superior goal average.