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19-07-2015, 19:43

Tommy Lawton

Celebrated by Stanley Matthews as “a brilliant header of the ball”, centre-forwardTommy Lawton also had two good feet and blistering pace. When he joined Third Division Notts County in 1947, attendances at Meadow Lane soared. The affection was mutual, with Bolton-born Lav4;on naming Nottingham his adopted city. He collected 103 goals in 166 run-outs for the club, and was also capped for England - one of the few lower division players ever to wear the national colours. In all his career; he was never booked or sent off.

A teenage sensation at Burnley, he was quickly signed up to a bigger club, Everton, for the then remarkable fee of ?6500. As part of Everton’s 1938-39 championship-winning side, he scored 35 goals and seemed set to be the next Dixie Dean. But the outbreak of war prevented Lawton from playing other than unofficial internationals, and he moved to Chelsea when he was demobbed. It was a golden time: in 1946-7 he broke the club’s scoring record, with 26 goals in 34 matches.

Joining Brentford as player-manager in 1952, aged 33, he admitted to finding it a struggle, but he bowed out of the Football League in fine style with a spell in dangerously good form at Arsenal. He died of pneumonia in 1996.

Facelift for Wembley

Opposite above: An aerial view of Wembley during the 1936 Cup Final where Arsenal beat Sheffield United by a Ted Drake goal. Opposite below: In 1938 plans to enlarge the stadium move ahead. The capacity was 93,000 but the scheme aims at providing accommodation for an additional 38,000. The budgeted cost for the project is ?70,000. Although Wembley*s present arrangement with the F A Council still had five years to run, agreement had already been reached for a further 21 years, thus securing the Cup Final at Wembley until at least 1964.

Right: a large crowd gathered to watch Arsenal - Brentford on Good Friday morning, 1938. Arsenal won the league again that year while Brentford repeated the sixth position from the previous year*s campaign.