31st August

John 'Jack' McClelland was a goalkeeper who played for Arsenal between 1960 and 1964, appearing for the club in 46 league matches. On the 31st August 1963, McClelland was injured after 22 minuted in the match against Leicester City. The Gunners were losing 2-0 when the goalkeeper was injured. Joe Baker, a centre-forward, volunteered to cover for the absence of McClelland and guard the goal himself, but his efforts did not prevent Leicester from winning with the score of 7-2.

On the 31st August 2006, William Gallas signed for Arsenal from Chelsea, with unhappy left-back Ashley Cole moving the other way. Apart from the player swap, Chelsea paid Arsenal £5 million. Chelsea were found guilty of tapping up Ashley Cole in January 2005. Even though he sounded his desire to leave the club, Ashley Cole had signed a new contract at the time. Eventually, his destination was still Chelsea. Gallas was named Arsenal captain in 2007 but was removed later for criticising his teammates in a media interview. Gallas would sign for rivals Tottenham Hotspur in 2010 after his contract with Arsenal expired.

One year later on the 31st August, French midfield player Lassana Diarra joined Arsenal from Chelsea in another deal between the two clubs. Diarra spent just five months at Arsenal as he became unhappy that he was not getting the first team action he had hoped for. For Arsenal, the French player appeared in just 7 league matches. He moved to Portsmouth in 2008 for a fee in the region of £5 million. He would play for Real Madrid between 2009 and 2011, getting a fair share of first team action, as he appeared in 68 league matches for the Spanish club. Diarra joined Arsenal's biggest rivals Tottenham in 2011.