The Arsenal Stadium Mystery
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery is a 1939 British film, and is one of the first feature films where football is a central element in the plot.
The film is a murder mystery set, as the title suggests, at the Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London, home of Arsenal football club, who were at the time the dominant team in English football. The backdrop is a friendly match between Arsenal and The Trojans, a fictitious amateur side; one of the Trojans' players drops dead during the match, and when it is revealed he has been poisoned, suspicion falls on his team-mates as well as his former mistress. Detective Inspector Slade (Leslie Banks) is called in to solve the crime.
The film stars several Arsenal players and staff (such as Cliff Bastin and Eddie Hapgood), although only manager George Allison has a speaking part. The Trojans' body doubles on the pitch were players from Brentford.
The film was directed by Thorold Dickinson. It was written by Dickinson and Donald Bull, adapted from a novel by Leonard Gribble.