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On This Day in Football: Cannons, Blood and Scorpions

On this day in 1913, Arsenal, then going by the name of Woolwich Arsenal, played their first ever game at the Highbury stadium.

It was the beginning of the 1913-14 season and Arsenal had just moved from Manor Ground in South East London to the north of the river Thames. The new stadium had not been fully completed yet as Arsenal hosted Leicester City, then known as Leicester Fosse, in a Second Division match.

The club had been relegated at the end of the previous season in the top flight. Leicester’s Tommy Benfield became the first player to score at Highbury as he put the Foxes ahead in the first half.