Jon Spurling
Jon Spurling is a history and politics teacher in his day job, but has written articles and interviewed footballers for numerous publications at home and abroad over the last 25 years. He is a long-time contributor to FourFourTwo and has authored seven books, including the best-selling Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, and Get It On: How The '70s Rocked Football was published in March 2022.
Latest articles by Jon Spurling
FourFourTwo's 100 Greatest Footballers EVER: No.19, Bobby Charlton
By Jon Spurling last updated
FFT 100 Greatest Tireless running and thundering shooting prowess from the man who brought glory to Man United and England
Ranked! The 10 best Arsenal kits of all time
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Agree with our list of standout Gunners shirts? Jon Spurling adjudicates
What Herbert Chapman did for Highbury
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Jon Spurling, author of Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, on the impact of Arsenal's innovative, influential moderniser...
The birth of ‘Le Sulk’: Nicolas Anelka’s Arsenal legacy, 20 years on from his move to Real Madrid
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal It may have been a tidy bit of business for Arsene Wenger, but the saga surrounding the prodigious young striker’s transfer left a shadow over his career
10 of football's weirdest postponements (ft. Pop Idol, sewers and a solar eclipse)
By Jon Spurling last updated
Sheffield United Sure, Leyton Orient finished their 3pm kick-off at 6:50pm on Saturday – but they got there in the end. Jon Spurling recalls the strange tales of games that didn't get that far for all manner of reasons
What's the point of Arsenal?
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal What do the club, and their manager, want to be? Jon Spurling says they must make up their minds quickly to avoid being left by the wayside for good in years to come...
Where Are They Now? Alex Ferguson’s first trophy winners of 1989/90
By Jon Spurling last updated
Manchester United The latest in our ever-popular series looks back at Sir Alex’s FA Cup victors, who opened the floodgates for over two decades of glory
What did George Graham ever do for Arsene Wenger? Here's what...
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Twenty years on from Graham's Highbury heave-ho, Jon Spurling argues it’s not just Arsenal fans who should remain eternally grateful to him for shaping the Gunners in his own vision...
How Valencia have thwarted Arsenal’s search for European glory before – but what’s different this time
By Jon Spurling published
UEFA Europa League Valencia have become a bogey team for the Gunners over the years, but Unai Emery has shown he is capable of guiding underperforming teams to Europa League success
11 stars whose reputations were ruined after moving to England
By Jon Spurling last updated
Lists It's often said that the Premier League's the place to be, but the following footballers would probably disagree
How Man United and Liverpool fixed a match, helping Arsenal and Chelsea – but not Spurs
By Jon Spurling last updated
Manchester United Everybody knows that Manchester United and Liverpool are the best of enemies, but what you may not know is that, 100 years ago, players from the two clubs joined forces to concoct one of the most despicable match-fixing schemes English football has ever seen...
The 11 most miraculous relegation escapes in English football
By Jon Spurling published
Top 10 Huddersfield could break records by being relegated this weekend. But could they do something even more incredible? Jon Spurling recalls the teams who memorably defied the drop...
11 of the feistiest and funniest manager-journalist meltdowns
By Jon Spurling published
Funny Managers and the press have never got on brilliantly. Some managers have taken things a step too far, mind – like the one who punched a mic man on the nose...
5 fine reasons why Arsenal should enjoy the Europa League
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal Jon Spurling explains why Arsene Wenger’s men should embrace Thursday nights and go all out for victory in Europe's secondary competition this term
What next for Mesut Ozil? 7 players ostracised by Arsenal
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal Both Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka have found themselves out of favour this season. Arsenal have a history of freezing out first-team players, but a spell out in the cold doesn't always spell the end
How US soccer rescued Arsenal in the mid-80s – and changed English football
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal With Arsenal in the middle of their US pre season tour, Jon Spurling explains how ex-vice chairman David Dein's obsession with stateside soccer helped transform an ailing club
The craziest season in English football: when the champions got relegated and ‘Lucky Arsenal’ annoyed the nation
By Jon Spurling published
Action Replay Hapless title holders, unlikely contenders at the top and a glut of mid-ranking sides upsetting the established order – the 1937/38 season was mental from start to finish
9 times football fell victim to fake news: arrests, deaths and sex changes
By Jon Spurling published
Arsene Wenger has dismissed suggestions of first-team assistant Boro Primorac leaving as "fake news" – already a buzzword of 2017 thanks to a certain White House incumbent. But as Jon Spurling discovers, mistruths in the game were being reported long before Donald Trump got up in grills. Sad!
Highbury's curtain raiser: the beginning of an era
By Jon Spurling last updated
Arsenal Jon Spurling, in his book Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5, re-lives Woolwich Arsenal's Highbury opener against Leicester Fosse...
8 times England team-mates had major bust-ups
By Jon Spurling published
Lists Alan Shearer and Michael Owen are just the latest to prove that international duty isn't always the place for making friends
David Platt at Arsenal: why didn't it work out at Highbury for the England dynamo?
By Jon Spurling published
Arsenal Twenty years ago Arsenal took a step towards a new era by signing the England international from Sampdoria. It didn't all go to plan, however, as Jon Spurling explains...
Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and football's altruists: 12 footballers with big, big hearts
By Jon Spurling last updated
Mesut Özil Mesut Ozil's generosity has resulted in 11 Brazilian children having life-saving surgery thanks to his foundation, but the Arsenal playmaker isn't the only star to demonstrate that not all footballers are self-obsessed prima donnas...
Laurent Koscielny and 6 other club captains who cocked up a pre-season
By Jon Spurling published
Laurent Koscielny The French defender tarnished his reputation with Arsenal fans by refusing to travel to the US – but he's not the only skipper who's caused problems in a summer