When George Graham's wedding day fell on derby day

It’s fair to say that September 16, 1967, was a memorable date for George Graham.

In the morning, the Arsenal forward – and future manager – married fiancée Marie Zia at Marylebone Town Hall. Graham’s best man was his close friend and former Chelsea teammate Terry Venables, who’d go on to manage Tottenham Hotspur. Also present was future Blues boss John Hollins, who served both Chelsea and Arsenal with distinction throughout his long playing career.

This being the start of a long and winding football season, Graham and his new bride didn’t head to sunnier climes for a honeymoon. Instead, he was driven a few miles through London traffic to Highbury, where Arsenal took on Tottenham in the north London derby that afternoon.

It wasn’t uncommon for footballers in that era to marry during the season, but Arsenal’s performance - and Graham’s display that afternoon against the 1967 FA Cup winners - in a 4-0 victory, was remarkable.

For much of the decade, Spurs had the edge over Arsenal. Since 1960, the Gunners had only come out on top in one league encounter, and their rivals had won trophies galore (including the double in 1961) under the tutelage of manager Bill Nicholson.

But the balance of power was slowly shifting in north London, and on Graham’s special day, there were no fewer than seven Gunners players on show who would feature heavily in the side which went on to win their own double in 1971.

In The Observer, Tony Pawson’s piece the following day began with the headline: ‘Arsenal’s speed shatters Spurs.’ Full-back Peter Storey’s marauding runs forward, and winger George Armstrong’s pace troubled Tottenham from the start, and it was his curling cross that saw John Radford head home an excellent opener on 41 minutes.

Bertie Mee’s men effectively killed off the contest just after the interval. Colin Addison was bowled over on the edge of the penalty area, and captain Terry Neill hammered home the spot kick via the underside of the crossbar, much to the delight of the majority of the 62,936 crowd.

Graham, following Mee’s instructions to close down and press defenders at every opportunity, had been a thorn in their side and it was the Scot who slid in past Cyril Knowles to poach our third goal. 

Addison slotted home the fourth as the Gunners ran their opponents ragged in the latter stages. Just for good measure, Graham, the bridegroom just a few hours earlier, steamrollered his best man Venables with a blistering tackle in the second half.

In truth, neither side shone in the league that season. Tottenham finished seventh and we trailed in ninth, but the seeds of Arsenal’s future success were there to see. The tall, elegant Graham would loom large in Arsenal supporters' consciousness in the early 1970s as a player and then, as a hugely successful manager who led us to two league titles over the subsequent two decades.

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