Although in his first full season he helped the team finish sixth in the League, with low attendances the club had fallen into debt and had to sell many of their best players, with stars such as Tim Coleman, Bert Freeman, Jimmy Sharp, Jimmy Ashcroft and William Garbutt all leaving during 1908.

[2] In 1910 Arsenal were taken over by Sir Henry Norris but despite speculation he would be sacked, Morrell continued in his post.

[2] Morrell applied for the job of Leeds City manager in the 1912 close season but dropped out of the running after being dissuaded by the Arsenal board; the job went instead to Herbert Chapman, who would one day manage Arsenal.

[5] This placing was high enough to get them eventually elected back into the expanded First Division in 1919, when competitive football resumed after the conclusion of World War I; however, Wolves and Barnsley had finished higher that season and were not granted promotion.

Arsenal's return to the First Division appears to have been mainly thanks to political machinations by their chairman, Henry Norris, rather than their performance.