Official Site of Arsenal · Aug 21, 2025
How Leeds City changed Arsenal history forever
The Leeds City team in 1915/16, with Herbert Chapman as secretary manager (back row, second from right)Leeds United is one of the grand old names of English football, but had it not been for the financial misdemeanours of their forebearers Leeds City, not only would the Whites not exist, but Arsenal Football Club’s fortunes would have been very different.
As sliding doors moments go, the ramifications of those wrongdoings back in 1919 led to top-flight fixtures between ourselves and Leeds United for over a century, but threatened to destroy the burgeoning career of Herbert Chapman.