Just looking at the post below about Arsenal Hard Men

[Arsenes' Wanger- Bring back Modd]

I remember as a young lad in the 70's reading about Wilf Copping.
Seems he played for England, along with about 6 other Arsenal Players, against Italy. This was around 1935 when Italy were the current World Champions.
Anyway England beat Italy and Wilf created havoc on the Italians with fierce tackling. They were physically afraid of him.
The story went on that when the Second World War was on, Wilf was serving in the Navy and the ship he was on was transporting Italian POWs. The Italians were not happy about something and refused to come out of the hold and onto the deck.
The Captain of the ship told them that Wilf Copping was on board and if they didn't get above, he would loose the Arsenal player upon them.
A mad scramble to comply with the Captains wishes occurred,
their fear of Copping was so great.

I am relating this from memory from about 40 years ago so I apologise for any errors.
Anyway, he was one hard *******. Well done Wilf.

[One Wilf Copping]

If the Champions League had existed in the 1930s, we'd already have won about four or five titles and built the same image that Real Madrid gained from their great team in the 1950s. Students of the game around the world recognise that fact anyway.

Arsenal, Herbert Chapman and his team invented modern football in that era. We were the first team in the world with: numbers on their shirts, with floodlights, to play live on TV (Arsenal versus Arsenal reserves, no less, on the BBC in 1937), team to feature in a movie, tactical innovations like the WM formation, training routines, physiotherapy.

Arsenal did almost everything that we associate with modern football first – and best.

:bow: