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| Full name | Arsenal Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Gunners |
| Founded | 1886 as Dial Square |
| Ground | Emirates Stadium, Holloway, London (capacity: 60,361[1]) |
| Owner | Arsenal Holdings plc |
| Chairman | Peter Hill-Wood |
| Manager | Arsène Wenger |
| League | Premier League |
| 2011–12 | Premier League, 3rd |
| Website | Club home page |
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| Arsenal Jersey For This Season |
uninterrupted period in the English top flight and would be placed first in an aggregated league of the entire 20th century.[2] It is the second side to complete an English top flight season unbeaten (in the 2003–04 season), and the only one to do so across 38 matches.
Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich and in 1893 became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League. In 1913, it moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In the 1930s the club won five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years it won the League and FA Cup Double, in the 1970–71 season, and in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century won two more Doubles and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Arsenal has a long-standing rivalry with North London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom it contests the North London derby. Arsenal is the fourth most valuable association football club in the world as of 2012, valued at $1.3 billion.[3]
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History
For more details on this topic, see History of Arsenal F.C. (1886–1966) and History of Arsenal F.C. (1966–present).
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| Woolwich Arsenal (in dark shirts) playing Newcastle United (in striped shirts) in an FA Cup semi-final — the club's first ever – at the Victoria Ground, Stoke. |
Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. Having already won the league twice with Huddersfield Town in 1923–24 and 1924–25 (see Seasons in English football), Chapman brought Arsenal their first period of major success. His revolutionary tactics and training, along with the signings of star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football in the 1930s.[9] Under his guidance Arsenal won their first major trophies – victory in the 1930 FA Cup Final preceded two League Championships, in 1930–31 and 1932–33. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club.[10]
Chapman died suddenly of pneumonia in early 1934, leaving Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on his successful work. Under their guidance, Arsenal won three more titles, in 1933–34, 1934–35 and 1937–38, and the 1936 FA Cup. As key players retired, Arsenal had started to fade by the decade's end, and then the intervention of the Second World War meant competitive professional football in England was suspended.[11][12][13]
After the war, Arsenal enjoyed a second period of success under Allison's successor Tom Whittaker, winning the league in 1947–48 and 1952–53, and the FA Cup in 1950. Their fortunes waned thereafter; unable to attract players of the same calibre as they had in the 1930s, the club spent most of the 1950s and 1960s in trophyless mediocrity. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966.[13][14][15]
Arsenal began winning silverware again with the surprise appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. After losing two League Cup finals, they won their first European trophy, the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This was followed by an even greater triumph: their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71.[16] This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1972–73, lost three FA Cup finals, in 1972, 1978 and 1980, and lost the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final, widely regarded as a classic.[13][17]
The return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 1986–87, Graham's first season in charge. This was followed by a League title win in 1988–89, won with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Graham's Arsenal won another title in 1990–91, losing only one match, won the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993, and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994.[13][18] Graham's reputation was tarnished when he was found to have taken kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players,[19] and he was dismissed in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute with the board of directors.[20]
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| Arsenal's players and fans celebrate their 2004 League title win with an open-top bus parade. |
Arsenal finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's first eleven seasons at the club, although on no occasion were they able to retain the title.[13] As of June 2012, they were one of only five teams, the others being Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, and Manchester City, to have won the Premier League since its formation in 1992.[23] Arsenal had never progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League until 2005–06; in that season they became the first club from London in the competition's fifty-year history to reach the final, in which they were beaten 2–1 by Barcelona.[24] In July 2006, they moved into the Emirates Stadium, after 93 years at Highbury.[25]
Arsenal reached the final of the 2007 and 2011 League Cup final, losing 2–1 to Chelsea and Birmingham City respectively. The club has not gained a major trophy since the 2005 FA Cup.[26]
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| Arsenal's finishing positions since 1947 (in red). The number of teams in the top flight is shown in blue. |
Crest
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| Arsenal's first crest from 1888 |
Until the 1960s, a badge was worn on the playing shirt only for high-profile matches such as FA Cup finals, usually in the form of a monogram of the club's initials in red on a white background.[31]
The monogram theme was developed into an Art Deco-style badge on which the letters A and C framed a football rather than the letter F, the whole set within a hexagonal border. This early example of a corporate logo, introduced as part of Herbert Chapman's rebranding of the club in the 1930s, was used not only on Cup Final shirts but as a design feature throughout Highbury Stadium, including above the main entrance and inlaid in the floors.[32] From 1967, a white cannon was regularly worn on the shirts, until replaced by the club crest, sometimes with the addition of the nickname "The Gunners", in the 1990s.[31]
In the 2011–2012 season, Arsenal celebrated their 125th year anniversary. The celebrations included a modified version of the current crest worn on their jerseys for the season. The crest was all white, surrounded by 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to the left. The oak leaves represent the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub. The 15 laurel leaves represent the design detail on the six pence pieces paid by the founding fathers to establish the club. The laurel leaves also represent strength. To complete the crest, 1886 and 2011 are shown on either sides of the motto "Forward" at the bottom of the crest.[33]
Colours
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. strip.
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| Arsenal's original home colours. The team wore a similar kit (but with redcurrant socks) during the 2005–06 season. |
In 1933, Herbert Chapman, wanting his players to be more distinctly dressed, updated the kit, adding white sleeves and changing the shade to a brighter pillar box red. Two possibilities have been suggested for the origin of the white sleeves. One story reports that Chapman noticed a supporter in the stands wearing a red sleeveless sweater over a white shirt; another was that he was inspired by a similar outfit worn by the cartoonist Tom Webster, with whom Chapman played golf.[36] Regardless of which story is true, the red and white shirts have come to define Arsenal and the team have worn the combination ever since, aside from two seasons. The first was 1966–67, when Arsenal wore all-red shirts;[35] this proved unpopular and the white sleeves returned the following season. The second was 2005–06, the last season that Arsenal played at Highbury, when the team wore commemorative redcurrant shirts similar to those worn in 1913, their first season in the stadium; the club reverted to their normal colours at the start of the next season.[36] In the 2008–09 season, Arsenal replaced the traditional all-white sleeves with red sleeves with a broad white stripe.[35]
Arsenal's home colours have been the inspiration for at least three other clubs. In 1909, Sparta Prague adopted a dark red kit like the one Arsenal wore at the time;[36] in 1938, Hibernian adopted the design of the Arsenal shirt sleeves in their own green and white strip.[37] In 1920, Sporting Clube de Braga's manager returned from a game at Highbury and changed his team's green kit to a duplicate of Arsenal's red with white sleeves and shorts, giving rise to the team's nickname of Os Arsenalistas.[38] These teams still wear these designs to this day.
For many years Arsenal's away colours were white shirts and either black or white shorts. Since the 1969–70 season, they have worn yellow and blue, but there have been exceptions. They wore a green and navy away kit in 1982–83, and since the early 1990s and the advent of the lucrative replica kit market, the away colours have been changed regularly. During this period the designs have been either two-tone blue designs, or variations on the traditional yellow and blue, such as the metallic gold and navy strip used in the 2001–02 season, and the yellow and dark grey used from 2005 to 2007.[39] As of 2009, the away kit is changed every season, and the outgoing away kit becomes the third-choice kit if a new home kit is being introduced in the same year.[40]
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s–1970 | Bukta | none |
| 1971–1980 | Umbro | |
| 1981–1986 | JVC | |
| 1986–1994 | Adidas | |
| 1994–1999 | Nike | |
| 1999–2002 | Dreamcast / Sega [41] | |
| 2002–2006 | O2 | |
| 2006– | Emirates |
Stadiums
Main article: Emirates Stadium
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| The North Bank Stand, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury |
Highbury could hold over 60,000 spectators at its peak, and had a capacity of 57,000 until the early 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations obliged Arsenal to convert Highbury to an all-seater stadium in time for the 1993–94 season, thus reducing the capacity to 38,419 seated spectators.[45] This capacity had to be reduced further during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising boards, so much so that for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000, Arsenal played Champions League home matches at Wembley, which could house more than 70,000 spectators.[46]
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| The Emirates Stadium filling up on the day of Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial |
Arsenal's players train at the Shenley Training Centre in Hertfordshire, a purpose-built facility which opened in 1999.[54] Before that the club used facilities on a nearby site owned by the University College of London Students' Union. Until 1961 they had trained at Highbury.[55] Arsenal's Academy under-18 teams play their home matches at Shenley, while the reserves play their games at Underhill, home of Barnet.[56]
Supporters
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. supporters.
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| Arsenal against rivals Tottenham, known as the North London derby, in November 2010. |
Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Arsenal Football Supporters Club, which works closely with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association, which maintains a more independent line. The Arsenal Supporters' Trust promotes greater participation in ownership of the club by fans. The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as The Gooner, Highbury High, Gunflash and the less cerebral Up The Arse!. In addition to the usual English football chants, supporters sing "One-Nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of "Go West") and "Boring, Boring Arsenal", which used to be a common taunt from opposition fans but is now sung ironically by Arsenal supporters when the team is playing well.[63]
There have always been Arsenal supporters outside of London, and since the advent of satellite television, a supporter's attachment to a football club has become less dependent on geography. Consequently, Arsenal have a significant number of fans from beyond London and all over the world; in 2007, 24 UK, 37 Irish and 49 other overseas supporters clubs were affiliated with the club.[64] A 2005 report by Granada Ventures, which at the time owned a 9.9% stake in the club, estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million.[65]
Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur; matches between the two are referred to as North London derbies.[66] Other rivalries within London include those with Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham United. In addition, Arsenal and Manchester United developed a strong on-pitch rivalry in the late 1980s, which intensified in recent years when both clubs were competing for the Premier League title[67] – so much so that a 2003 online poll by the Football Fans Census listed Manchester United as Arsenal's biggest rivals, followed by Tottenham and Chelsea.[68] A 2008 poll listed the Tottenham rivalry as more important.[69]
Ownership and finances
For more details on this topic, see Ownership of Arsenal F.C..
Arsenal's parent company, Arsenal Holdings plc, operates as a non-quoted public limited company, whose ownership is considerably different from that of other football clubs. Only 62,217 shares in Arsenal have been issued,[70][71] and they are not traded on a public exchange such as the FTSE or AIM; instead, they are traded relatively infrequently on PLUS (AFC), a specialist market. At 31 August 2010, a single share in Arsenal had a mid price of £10,250, which set the club's market capitalisation value at approximately £637.74m.[72] The club made a pre-tax operating profit (excluding player transfers) of £62.7m in the year ending 31 May 2009, from a turnover of £313.3m.[73]The largest shareholder on the Arsenal board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who launched a bid for the club in 2007,[74] and in November 2009 increased his holding to 18,594 shares (29.9%).[75]
A rival bid to Kroenke's came from Red & White Securities, which is co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and London-based financier Farhad Moshiri.[76] Red & White launched its bid in August 2007, buying the stake held by former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, and as at February 2009 owned 15,555 shares (25.0%) in the club.[77] This led to press speculation of a bidding war between Kroenke and Usmanov.[76] However, Kroenke agreed not to purchase more than 29.9% of the club until at least September 2009,[78] while the rest of the board have first option on each other's shares until October 2012.[79]
In April 2011, Stan Kroenke was rumoured to be in "advanced talks" with Arsenal over a possible takeover.[80]
As of October 2011, Kroenke owns 41,574 shares (66.82%) and Red & White Securities own 18,261 shares (29.35%).[81] Under company law Kroenke, as majority shareholder, is obliged to make an offer for the remaining shares in the club.
In popular culture
Arsenal have appeared in a number of media "firsts". On 22 January 1927, their match at Highbury against Sheffield United was the first English League match to be broadcast live on radio.;[82][83] A decade later, on 16 September 1937, an exhibition match between Arsenal's first team and the reserves was the first football match in the world to be televised live.[82][84] Arsenal also featured in the first edition of the BBC's Match of the Day, which screened highlights of their match against Liverpool at Anfield on 22 August 1964.[82][85] BSkyB's coverage of Arsenal's January 2010 match against Manchester United was the first live public broadcast of a sports event on 3D television.[82][86]As one of the most successful teams in the country, Arsenal have often featured when football is depicted in the arts in Britain. They formed the backdrop to one of the earliest football-related films, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939).[87] The film centres on a friendly match between Arsenal and an amateur side, one of whose players is poisoned while playing. Many Arsenal players appeared as themselves and manager George Allison was given a speaking part.[88] More recently, the book Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby was an autobiographical account of Hornby's life and relationship with football and Arsenal in particular. Published in 1992, it formed part of the revival and rehabilitation of football in British society during the 1990s.[89] The book was twice adapted for the cinema – the 1997 British film focuses on Arsenal's 1988–89 title win,[90] and a 2005 American version features a fan of baseball's Boston Red Sox.[91]
Arsenal have often been stereotyped as a defensive and "boring" side, especially during the 1970s and 1980s;[63][92] many comedians, such as Eric Morecambe, made jokes about this at the team's expense. The theme was repeated in the 1997 film The Full Monty, in a scene where the lead actors move in a line and raise their hands, deliberately mimicking the Arsenal defence's offside trap, in an attempt to co-ordinate their striptease routine.[88] Another film reference to the club's defence comes in the film Plunkett & Macleane, in which two characters are named Dixon and Winterburn after Arsenal's long-serving full backs – the right-sided Lee Dixon and the left-sided Nigel Winterburn.[88]
The 1991 television comedy sketch show Harry Enfield & Chums featured a sketch from the characters Mr Cholmondly-Warner and Grayson where the Arsenal team of 1933, featuring exaggerated parodies of fictitious amateur players take on the Liverpool team of 1991.[93]
Arsenal is mentioned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – when a bartender asks the alien Ford Prefect if he plans to watch the match, Ford replies that there's no point, and the bartender asks "Foregone conclusion, then? Arsenal without a chance?" Ford replies that it's just that the world's about to end.[94]
Arsenal Ladies
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal L.F.C..
Arsenal Ladies is the women's football club affiliated to Arsenal. Founded in 1987, they turned semi-professional in 2002 and are managed by Laura Harvey.[95] Arsenal Ladies are the most successful team in English women's football. In the 2008–09 season, they won all three major English trophies – the FA Women's Premier League, FA Women's Cup and FA Women's Premier League Cup,[96] and, as of 2009, were the only English side to have won the UEFA Women's Cup, having done so in the 2006–07 season as part of a unique quadruple.[97]
The men's and women's clubs are formally separate entities but have
quite close ties; Arsenal Ladies are entitled to play once a season at
the Emirates Stadium, though they usually play their home matches at Boreham Wood.[98]In the community
In 1985, Arsenal founded a community scheme, "Arsenal in the Community", which offered sporting, social inclusion, educational and charitable projects. The club support a number of charitable causes directly and in 1992 established The Arsenal Charitable Trust, which by 2006 had raised more than £2 million for local causes.[99] An ex-professional and celebrity football team associated with the club also raised money by playing charity matches.[100]In the 2009/10 season Arsenal announced that they had raised a record breaking £818,897 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The original target was £500,000 but thanks to the overwhelming support from fans, players, directors and staff. They were able to smash the target.[101]
On September 2011, Arsenal won their case against Alicia Simon, a Seville resident who has now been forced by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office to change the name of her shop "Arsenale". Ms Simon registered the name of her shop before she even opened it in 2007 and has faced litigation from the North London club ever since.[102]
Statistics and records
For more details on this topic, see List of Arsenal F.C. records and statistics.
Arsenal's tally of 13 League Championships is the third highest in English football, after Manchester United (19) and Liverpool (18),[103] while the total of 10 FA Cups is the second highest, after Manchester United (11).[104] Arsenal have achieved three League and FA Cup "Doubles" (in 1971, 1998 and 2002), a feat only previously achieved by Manchester United (in 1994, 1996 and 1999),[13][105] and in 1993 were the first side in English football to complete the FA Cup and League Cup double.[106] They were also the first London club to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, in 2006, losing the final 2–1 to Barcelona.[107]Arsenal have one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times. Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the period 1900–1999, with an average league placing of 8.5.[2] In addition, they are one of only six clubs to have won the FA Cup twice in succession, in 2002 and 2003.[108] Arsenal also hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League at 49 games, and are the only team to have gone an entire Premier League season unbeaten in 2003–04.[109]
David O'Leary holds the record for Arsenal appearances, having played 722 first-team matches between 1975 and 1993. Fellow centre half and former captain Tony Adams comes second, having played 669 times. The record for a goalkeeper is held by David Seaman, with 564 appearances.[110]
Thierry Henry is the club's top goalscorer with 228 goals in all competitions between 1999 and 2012,[111] having surpassed Ian Wright's total of 185 in October 2005.[112] Wright's record had stood since September 1997, when he overtook the longstanding total of 178 goals set by winger Cliff Bastin in 1939.[113] Henry also holds the club record for goals scored in the League, with 176,[111] a record that had been held by Bastin until February 2006.[114]
Arsenal's record home attendance is 73,707, for a UEFA Champions League match against RC Lens on 25 November 1998 at Wembley Stadium, where the club formerly played home European matches because of the limits on Highbury's capacity. The record attendance for an Arsenal match at Highbury is 73,295, for a 0–0 draw against Sunderland on 9 March 1935,[110] while that at Emirates Stadium is 60,161, for a 2–2 draw with Manchester United on 3 November 2007.[115]
Arsenal have also set records in English football, including the most consecutive seasons spent in the top flight (85 as of 2011–12) and the longest run of unbeaten League matches (49 between May 2003 and October 2004).[22] This included all 38 matches of their title-winning 2003–04 season, when Arsenal became only the second club to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten, after Preston North End (who played only 22 matches) in 1888–89.[21]
Arsenal also set a Champions League record during the 2005–06 season by going ten matches without conceding a goal, beating the previous best of seven set by A.C. Milan. They went a record total stretch of 995 minutes without letting an opponent score; the streak ended in the final, when Samuel Eto'o scored a 76th-minute equaliser for Barcelona.[24]
Players
First-team squad
- As of 31 August 2012.[116] For recent transfers, see 2012–13 Arsenal F.C. season.
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UEFA Reserve squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
For a list of every Arsenal player with 100 or more appearances, see List of Arsenal F.C. players
For record appearance and goalscorer statistics, see Arsenal F.C. records#Player records
Current technical staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Arsène Wenger |
| Assistant manager |  Steve Bould |
| First team coaches | Neil Banfield |
 Boro Primorac |
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| Goalkeeping coach |  Gerry Peyton |
| Fitness coach | Tony Colbert |
| Physiotherapist | Colin Lewin |
| Club doctor | Gary O'Driscoll |
| Kit manager | Vic Akers |
| Reserves coach | Terry Burton |
| Under-18s coach | Steve Gatting |
| Academy director | Liam Brady |
Managers
Main article: List of Arsenal F.C. managers
There have been eighteen permanent and five caretaker managers of Arsenal since the appointment of the club's first professional manager, Thomas Mitchell in 1897.[130] The club's longest-serving manager, in terms of both length of tenure and number of games overseen, is Arsène Wenger, who was appointed in 1996.[131][132] Wenger is also Arsenal's only manager from outside the United Kingdom.[132] Two Arsenal managers have died in the job – Herbert Chapman and Tom Whittaker.[133]Honours
For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. seasons.
See also: Arsenal F.C. Reserves#Honours and Arsenal F.C. Academy#Honours
Domestic
- First Division (until 1992) and Premier League[13][134]
10: 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005
2: 1987, 1993
1: 1958–59
- FA Community Shield (FA Charity Shield before 2002)[136]
1: 1988–89
European
1: 1993–941: 1969–70
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