George Allison

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George Allison
Personal information
Full name	George Allison
Date of birth	December 1883
Place of birth	Darlington, County Durham, England
Date of death	March 13, 1957
Place of death	London, England
Teams managed
1934-47	Arsenal
* Appearances (Goals)

George Allison ( December 1883 – March 13, 1957) was an English football journalist, broadcaster and manager.

Born in Darlington, Allison started out as a journalist in his native North East, before moving to London in 1905. He became associated with Woolwich Arsenal, becoming the club's programme editor. He continued his association with the team after they moved to Highbury and renamed themselves "Arsenal", and was commentator on the very first FA Cup final to be broadcast on the radio, between Arsenal and Cardiff City in 1927. He also displayed his sporting versatility by assisting the BBC's racing correspondent Meyrick Good to describe the first radio broadcast Grand National the previous month.

By now, Allison had become a member of the club's board of directors; he was first club secretary and then managing director. After the sudden death of legendary Arsenal boss Herbert Chapman earlier in January 1934, Allison was appointed Chapman's full-time successor in the summer of that year. Under Chapman and caretaker manager Joe Shaw, Arsenal had already won the League Championship twice in a row (1932-33 and 1933-34), and Allison made it a hat-trick, winning a third successive title in 1934-35. He also won the FA Cup in 1935-36 and the League again in 1937-38.

Allison famously appeared in a 1939 movie set at Highbury, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, where he had a speaking part as himself. Amongst his lines included one uttered at half time: "It's one-nil to the Arsenal. That's the way we like it.", a line which had resonance with the team's penchant for 1-0 scorelines many decades later.

Allison took a hands-off approach to managing, unlike his predecessor Chapman; Joe Shaw and Tom Whittaker took charge of training and squad discipline, while Allison concentrated on transfer policy and the club's relationship with the media. Arsenal player Bernard Joy later recounted: "[He was] tactful, friendly and good-hearted. But he fell short in his handling of footballers and lacked the professional's deep knowledge of the game".^[1] Allison's proponents have cited the trophies won under his reign, though by the end of the 1930s Arsenal were no longer the all-conquering team that they had once been. Allison was unable to replace many of the stars from the first half of the decade, especially Alex James.

With the advent of the Second World War, official competition in England was suspended; after hostilities had ended, many of the players that had made Arsenal a success (such as Cliff Bastin and Ted Drake) had retired from playing. Arsenal finished a disappointing 13th in 1946-47, and Allison, by now in his mid-sixties and tiring of managerial life, decided to step down and retire from the game. He died in 1957 after several years of illness.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2005). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn, 69. ISBN 0-600-61344-5. 

Preceded by Joe Shaw (caretaker)

Arsenal manager 1934–1947

Succeeded by Tom Whittaker