Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Charlie George, Bob Wilson, George Graham, John Radford
UK certification E | UK RRP £11.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 74 minutes
The double in English football – league champions and FA Cup winners – has been achieved seven times in the last 25 years and nowadays is almost commonplace. But when Arsenal won the double in 1971 it was something of a big deal. To put it into perspective, only three teams had done in the previous 97 years – Preston North End in 1889, Aston Villa in 1897 and Tottenham Hotspur in 1961. The Arsenal team of 1970 were solid but by no means spectacular and although they’d won the Fairs Cup – the equivalent of what is now the Europa League – it was hard to see any team seriously challenging Don Revie’s hard and skilful Leeds United side.
For most people, Arsenal’s double is about Charlie George scoring a screamer at Wembley against Liverpool in the May sunshine at Wembley and lying prone on the grass afterwards, and Ray Kennedy’s late winner at White Hart Lane to secure the league title in the final game of the season. But as this season-long review shows, there was a whole lot more to the story than that. For a start, George fractured his ankle on the opening day and didn’t play again until February. Other injuries meant that defender Peter Storey was pushed into midfield while little known (now at least) Jon Sammels made appearances as and when his injuries allowed.
Between the key moments of the games throughout the season there are interviews with the players now and then – it’s fascinating to see Jimmy Hill and Brian Moore talking to the matchwinners in the studio as they sit there for the most part uncomfortable at having to talk on cue. No media training in those days. From a modern viewpoint it’s also interesting to see just how bad the pitches became in winter and a Boxing Day game played with snow on the pitch at Highbury. Some things haven’t changed though and disputed decisions in crucial matches were just as prominent then as they are now.
As football review DVDs go, this ITV production is nothing out of the ordinary but ticks all the right boxes and for Arsenal fans it’s a fine record of what was a genuinely historic year for the club and a thrilling finish to the season.
EXTRAS ★ Pen Pics – a static page of facts and figures about each of the players in Arsenal’s double-winning squad