Arsenal: 8 Incredible Urban Legends You Didn't Know About

8. The Rivalry Vote

Arsenal and Tottenham have one of the fiercest rivalries in football, only Newcastle/Sunderland and Celtic/Rangers can really compete in Britain, and you would probably have to head over the Eastern Europe to find a similar level of venom amongst two sets of supporters in a high-profile derby.

Most people assume that the rivalry is based on the sides' close proximity but that is just a small part of the history. Arsenal were initially from South London but moved next door to Tottenham in 1913 which is were their relationship really began to fracture.

The real reason the sides hate each other is in fact based on a commonly misunderstood fact about Arsenal - that they have actually been relegated from the top flight before. That relegation came in the year 1913, the same year as the move across London and so Tottenham were not all that bothered about their newest neighbour at that point.

World War I broke out and the league ceased to be played until 1918. Arsenal were not supposed to be in the top flight of football that year but, thanks to a vote from the league's chairmen, they were reinstated to the top flight and Tottenham found themselves moved down into the second division. Harsh.

So Is It True?

Entirely: as far as the official records are concerned, Arsenal replaced Tottenham in the top flight due to a vote, leading to a vitriolic rivalry.