Arsenal won tlie league in 1947-48, and did so again five years later. The FA Cup also went to Highbury in 1950, but this was not a period of dominance to match the 1930s. The team included Joe Mercer and the Compton brothers, Denis and Leslie. Mercer had played in Everton’s championship-winning side of 1939, and Arsenal regarded him as a short-term acquisition after the war. The irrepressible Mercer played on for eight seasons and was named Footballer of the Year in 1950, when he lifted die Cup as the Gunners’ captain.
The Compton brothers could not have been more different. The flamboyant Denis played on the wing with a devil-may-care style. In that 1950 Wembley Final, against Liverpool, Compton was looking weary when someone handed him a tot of brandy. He perked up immediately and provided the cross which led to the second goal in Arsenal’s 2-0 win.
Elder brother Leslie, a rugged centre-half, carved his name in the record books by winning his first cap for England at the age of 38 years 2 months, the oldest player to make his England debut.
Cup winners v League winners
Opposite: Arsenal pictured with the Cup before their match with Portsmouth in 1950. The south-coast team were league champions in two consecutive seasons finishing five points ahead of their nearest rivals Manchester United in the 1948-9 season. The margin was much tighter the following year when Portsmouth finished above Wolves on goal difference.
Right: An injured Nat Lofthouse is helped by nurses.
World History
