1886, Woolwich: workers at the Royal Arsenal started a team called Dial Square. In south London, not north.
THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY
THE WORKERS
1886, Woolwich: workers at the Royal Arsenal, the government's guns-and-shells works, started a team and named it Dial Square, after a workshop.
THE SHIRTS
The red came through Fred Beardsley, ex-Nottingham Forest. The story that Forest donated the shirts is, by Arsenal's own history, a myth: they were bought in Woolwich. In 1965 Arsenal really did donate a kit, to Forest.
THE FIRST GAME
11 December 1886: Dial Square 6, Eastern Wanderers 0, on the Isle of Dogs. Soon they were Royal Arsenal.
THE MOVE
Professional in 1891; Woolwich Arsenal and the first southern club in the Football League in 1893. In 1913 Henry Norris moved them to Highbury, next to Tottenham, who opposed it.
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THE TERRACES — DISCUSSION
The argument also lives in the YouTube comments ↗.