Arsenal F.C.
| chairman =
Peter Hill-Wood | manager =
Arsène Wenger | league =
FA Premier League | season =
2005â€"06 |
position = Premier League, 4th |
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=|
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=DD0000|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF|
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=|
leftarm2=FFDE00|body2=FFDE00|rightarm2=FFDE00|shorts2=565656|socks2=565656|
Arsenal Football Club (also known as
Arsenal,
The Arsenal or
The Gunners) are an
English professional
football club based in north
London. They play in the
FA Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in
English football. Arsenal have won thirteen
First Division and Premier League titles, ten
FA Cups and in
2005â€"06 became the first London club to reach the
UEFA Champions League final. Arsenal are also members of the
G-14 group of leading
European football clubs.
Arsenal were founded in
Woolwich, south-east London, in 1886, but in 1913 they moved north across the city to
Arsenal Stadium,
Highbury. In May 2006 they left Highbury, moving to their current home, the
Emirates Stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove,
Holloway. Arsenal have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with neighbours
Tottenham Hotspur, located four miles away in
Tottenham, whom they play in the
North London derby.
|
Arsenal's players and fans celebrate their 2004 League title win with an open-top bus parade |
Arsenal were founded as
Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the
Royal Arsenal in
Woolwich, but were renamed
Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards. They renamed themselves again to
Woolwich Arsenal after turning professional in 1891. The club joined the
Football League in 1893, starting out in the
Second Division, and won promotion to the
First Division in 1904. However, the club's geographic isolation resulted in lower attendances than those of other clubs, which led to the club becoming mired in financial problems. In 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, they moved across the
Thames to the new
Arsenal Stadium in
Highbury, north London. They dropped "Woolwich" from their name the following year. Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but nevertheless were elected to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals
Tottenham Hotspur, by reportedly dubious means.
[It has been alleged that Arsenal's promotion, on historical grounds rather than merit, was thanks to underhand actions by the then Arsenal chairman, Sir Henry Norris (see History of Arsenal F.C. for more details). These allegations range from political machinations to outright bribery; no firm proof has ever been offered. A detailed account of what is known can be found in A more speculative account is available from: ]In 1925, Arsenal appointed the highly successful
Herbert Chapman as manager. Chapman had won the league with
Huddersfield Town in 1924 and 1925, and he 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. Between 1930 and 1938, Arsenal won the First Division five times and the
FA Cup twice, although Chapman did not live to see all of these achievements, as he died of
pneumonia in 1934. In addition, Chapman was reportedly 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.
Following the suspension of English professional football during
World War II, Arsenal won the league in 1948 and 1953 and the FA Cup in 1950. However, their fortunes began to wane; unable to attract players of the same calibre as they had in the '30s, 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.
Arsenal's second successful era began with the surprise appointment of club
physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. After losing two
League Cup finals, they won the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, their first European trophy, in 1970. This was followed by an even greater triumph: their first League and FA Cup
double in 1971. However, the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1973, lost three FA Cup finals (1972, 1978 and 1980) and lost the 1980
Cup Winners' Cup final on
penalties. The club's only success during this time was an FA Cup win in 1979, with a last-minute 3â€"2 victory over
Manchester United that is widely regarded as a classic.
The return of former player
George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 1987, Graham's first season in charge. This was followed by a League title win in 1989, 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 1991, losing only one match, the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993 and a second European trophy, the
Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994. However, Graham's reputation was tarnished when it was revealed that he had taken kickbacks from agent
Rune Hauge for signing certain players,
[Graham was banned for a year by the Football Association for his involvement in the scandal after he admitted he had received an "unsolicited gift" from Hauge. Reference: ]Arsenal also formed the backdrop to one of the earliest football-related
films,
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939). The film is centred on a
friendly match between Arsenal and an amateur side, one of whose players is poisoned whilst playing. Many Arsenal players appeared as themselves, although only manager George Allison was given a speaking part.
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, and may have played an active part in, the revival and rehabilitation of football in British society during the 1990s. The book was later made into a film starring
Colin Firth, which centred on the club's
1988â€"89 title win. The book also inspired an
American film adaptation, about a fan of
Major League Baseball's
Boston Red Sox.
Arsenal have often been stereotyped as a defensive and "boring" side, especially during the 1970s and 1980s; 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
stripping.
The club have also been mentioned in several
Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches, and in
Douglas Adams'
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where a barman remarks that the impending end of the world is a "lucky escape" for Arsenal. Additionally, in the 2004 film
Ocean's Twelve, the main characters don Arsenal tracksuits as a disguise, in order to escape from a hotel during one of their European heists.
Arsenal have featured in popular music as well;
Joe Strummer wrote the song "
Tony Adams", dedicated to the then Arsenal captain, which appeared on his 1999 album
Rock Art and the X-Ray Style. Additionally, Arsenal (along with arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur) receive a mention in
The Pogues song "Billy's Bones", which appears on the band's second album,
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.Arsenal Ladies are the
women's football club affiliated to Arsenal. Founded in 1987, they turned semi-professional in 2002 and are one of the most successful teams in
English women's football today. They are managed by
Vic Akers, who is also kit manager for the men's side, and play in the
FA Women's Premier League; Arsenal Ladies are currently reigning champions, having won their eighth title in 2006. They also won the
FA Women's Cup seven times, the
Women's League Cup eight times, and have reached the semi-finals of the
UEFA Women's Cup twice, the furthest any English women's club have ever got. While the men's and women's clubs are formally separate they have quite close ties; Arsenal vice-chairman
David Dein is president of Arsenal Ladies, and they are entitled to play once a season at Highbury (they usually play their home matches at
Boreham Wood).
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 668 times. The record for a
goalkeeper is held by
David Seaman, with 563 appearances.
Current Arsenal captain
Thierry Henry is the club's top goalscorer with 214 goals in all competitions (as of
May 7,
2006), having surpassed
Ian Wright's total of 185 in October 2005. Wright's record had stood since 1997, a feat which overtook the longstanding total of 178 goals set by winger
Cliff Bastin in 1939. Henry also holds the club record for goals scored in the League (164, as of
May 7 2006), a record that had been held by Bastin until February 2006.
Arsenal's record home attendance is 73,707, for a
UEFA Champions League match against
RC Lens on
November 25,
1998 at
Wembley Stadium, where Arsenal 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. The planned capacity of Emirates Stadium is 60,000, so it is unlikely that these records will be broken in the foreseeable future.
Arsenal have also set records in English football, most notably the most consecutive seasons spent in the top flight (80 as of 2006-07) and the longest run of unbeaten League matches (49 between May 2003 and October 2004). This included all 38 matches of the
2003â€"04 season, making Arsenal only the second club ever to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten, after
Preston North End (who played only 22 matches) in
1888â€"89.
Arsenal also set a UEFA 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 finally ended in the final against Barcelona, when
Samuel Eto'o scored Barcelona's equaliser in the 76th minute.
As of July 28, 2006.Players out on loan
For recent transfers, see the "Transfer Deals" section of 2006-07 in English football.Listed according to year of Arsenal first-team debut (year in parentheses):
* 1920s: Jimmy Brain (1924), Joe Hulme (1926), Eddie Hapgood (1927), David Jack (1928), Cliff Bastin (1929), Alex James (1929).
* 1930s: Leslie Compton (1930), Ted Drake (1934), Wilf Copping (1934), George Swindin (1936), Denis Compton (1936), Reg Lewis (1938).
* 1940s: Walley Barnes (1946), Jimmy Logie (1946), Joe Mercer (1946), Laurie Scott (1946), Doug Lishman (1948).
* 1950s: Cliff Holton (1950), Dave Bowen (1951), Jack Kelsey (1951), Jimmy Bloomfield (1954), David Herd (1954).
* 1960s: George Armstrong (1962), Bob Wilson (1963), John Radford (1963), Frank McLintock (1964), Peter Simpson (1964), Sammy Nelson (1965), Bob McNab (1966), George Graham (1966), Pat Rice (1967). Charlie George (1969), Ray Kennedy (1969).
* 1970s: Liam Brady (1973), Frank Stapleton (1975), David O'Leary (1975), Pat Jennings (1977), Graham Rix (1977).
* 1980s: Paul Davis (1980), Kenny Sansom (1980), Tony Adams (1983), Martin Keown (1984), David Rocastle (1985), Paul Merson (1986), Michael Thomas (1986), Steve Bould (1988), Lee Dixon (1988), Nigel Winterburn (1988).
* 1990s: David Seaman (1990), Ian Wright (1991), Ray Parlour (1992), Dennis Bergkamp (1995), Patrick Vieira (1996), Emmanuel Petit (1997), Marc Overmars (1997), Nicolas Anelka (1997), Fredrik Ljungberg (1998), Thierry Henry (1999).
* 2000s: Ashley Cole (2000), Lauren (2000), Robert Pirès (2000), Sylvain Wiltord (2000), Sol Campbell (2001), Kolo Touré (2002), Gilberto Silva (2002), Jens Lehmann (2003), Francesc Fábregas (2003), José Antonio Reyes (2004), Robin van Persie (2004).As of May 18, 2006. Only competitive matches are counted.
* First Division and Premier League[Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the FA Premier League.] titles: 13
**1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1971, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2004
* FA Cups: 10
**1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005
* League Cups: 2
**1987, 1993
* Charity Shields and Community Shields[The trophy was known as the Charity Shield until 2002, and as the Community Shield since then.]: 12
**1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004
* Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1
**1970
* European Cup Winners' Cup: 1
**1994
Arsenal's tally of thirteen League Championships is the third highest in English football, after Liverpool and Manchester United, while the total of ten FA Cups is the second highest, after Manchester United. Arsenal have achieved three League and FA Cup "Doubles" (in 1971, 1998 and 2002), a joint record shared with Manchester United, and were the first side in English football to complete the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993.
Arsenal have one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times, and never below twentieth. Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the period 1900â€"1999, with an average league placing of 8.5.
*;Official websites
* Arsenal.com
* Arsenal at Premierleague.com
;General fan sites
* Arseweb
* Arsenal-Mania
* Arsenal World
* Arsenal Land
* Arsenal America
;News sites
* The Independent: Arsenal
* Arsenal news from VitalFootball
* Gooner News
;Fanzines
* Up the Arse!
* The Gooner
