Wally Barnes: football as a series of accidental events

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Publication on July 20th: Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football.
The book that re-writes the Arsenal story.

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By Tony Attwood
There is this image that I have that when a player seeks a new move there are negotiations, chats with agents, thoughts, discussions with possible new clubs, debates.  And then some.
Of course it wasn’t like this in the past – and even less so during the war years when players turned out as “guests” as they moved around the kingdom serving their country.
But even so, to read that Tom Parker (Southampton’s manager) simply told Wally Barnes that “You’re going to Arsenal” when he (Parker) was himself moving on, comes as a bit of a surprise.   As does the revelation th...