Arsenal FC

Arsenal Football Club is an English professional football club based in Islington, London. Arsenal compete in the Premier League, the top division of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (including an unbeaten title), a record 14 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 16 FA Community Shields, 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup and 1 The champion of the International City Expo Cup. It is the third most successful club in English football in terms of trophies won.

Arsenal became the first club in southern England to join the Football League in 1893 and entered the First Division in 1904. Relegated only once in 1913, they continued the longest winning streak in the top flight[2] and won the second-largest top-flight win in English football history. [3] In the 1930s, Arsenal won five league championships and two FA Cup championships, and won the FA Cup and two league championships again after the war. They won their first league and FA Cup double in 1970-71. From 1989 to 2005, they won five league titles and five FA Cups, including two doubles. They finished the 20th century with the highest average league position. [4] From 1998 to 2017, Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for nineteen consecutive years.

Herbert Chapman, who forever changed Arsenal’s fortunes, won the club’s first silver medal and his legacy saw the club’s decade of domination in the 1930s; . He helped introduce World Cup formations, floodlights and shirt numbers; he also added white sleeves and light red to the club kit. Arsène Wenger is the longest-tenured coach and has won the most trophies. He won a record seven FA Cups and his side recorded the longest unbeaten run in England’s top flight in 49 games between 2003 and 2004, earning them the ‘Invincibles’ nickname.

In 1886, arms workers from the Woolwich Royal Arsenal founded the club and named it Dial Square. In 1913, the club moved across the city to the Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, becoming Tottenham Hotspur’s close neighbor and forming the North London derby. In 2006, they moved to nearby Emirates Stadium. Arsenal’s annual revenue in 2019-20 was £340.3 million[7] and Forbes valued Arsenal at $2.68 billion, making it the eighth most valuable club in the world[8], as well as social media One of the most talked about clubs on the media[9] The club’s motto has long been Victoria Concordia Crescit, Latin for “victory through harmony”.

In October 1886, Scotsman David Danskin and 15 other munitions workers founded the Dale Square Football Club in Woolwich, a workshop at the center of the Royal Arsenal complex name. Each member contributes 6p and Danskin contributes 3 shillings to form the association. [10] [a] Dial Square played their first game on 11 December 1886 against the Eastern Wanderers, winning 6-0. A month later, the club changed its name to Royal Arsenal,[13][15] and its first home ground was Plumstead Common,[13] although they played most of their time at the Manor Ground. Their first trophies were the Kent Senior Cup and London Charity Cup in 1889-90, and the London Senior Cup in 1890-91; the only County Association trophy won by Arsenal during their time in South East London. In 1891, Royal Arsenal became the first London club to turn professional. [18]

The Royal Arsenal became a limited company in 1893 and changed its name a second time. Later that year, when the club was promoted, they registered their new name, Woolwich Arsenal, with the Football League. [19] [20]: 5–21 Woolwich Arsenal were the first Southern members of the Football League to start in the Second Division and reach the First Division in 1904. The club was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1910 due to financial difficulties for the munitions workers and the arrival of more accessible football clubs elsewhere in the city. [21][20]:112–149 Businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall became involved with the club and attempted to transfer them elsewhere. [22][20]: 22–42

In 1913, shortly after relegation back to the Second Division, the club moved across the river to the new Arsenal Stadium at Highbury. 1919 In 1919 the Football League controversially voted to promote Arsenal to the newly expanded First Division instead of relegation despite finishing fifth in the Second Division in the final pre-war 1914-15 season local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Later that year, Arsenal began dropping “The” from their official documents, gradually changing their name one last time to the Arsenal we know today. [26] 1919–1953: Bank of England Club
A bronze bust of Herbert Chapman stands at the Emirates Stadium.

With the arrival of a new home and the Premier League, attendance at the Manor more than doubled and Arsenal’s budget grew rapidly. Its location and record-breaking wages attracted Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman in 1925. Over the next five years, Chapman built a new arsenal. He appointed Tom Whittaker as permanent new head coach,[31] orchestrated a new change in Charlie Buchan’s burgeoning World Cup squad,[32][33] conquered Cliff Bastin and Youngsters such as Eddie Hapgood and squandering Highbury earnings on David Jack and Alex James. With record-breaking spending and goals, Arsenal quickly became known as the Bank of England club.

After the switch, Chapman’s Arsenal won their first domestic trophy, the FA Cup, in 1930, followed by league titles in 1930-31 and 1932-33. Chapman also spearheaded off-field changes: white sleeves and jersey numbers were added to jerseys; [b] a subway station was named after the club; [40] [41] two of the ornate Art Deco stands The first has been completed and includes some of the first floodlights in English football. [28] Suddenly, in the middle of the 1933/34 season, Chapman died of pneumonia. [42] His work was left to Joe Shaw and George Allison, who scored hat-tricks in 1933-34 and 1934-35 before winning the FA Cup in 1936 and the Championship in 1937-38.

World War II meant the Football League was suspended for seven years, but Arsenal regained the title in the second post-war season in 1947-48. It was Tom Whittaker’s first season as manager and he was promoted to replace Allison as the club equaled the English Championship record. They won a third FA Cup in 1950 and a record-breaking seventh league title in 1952-53. However, the war took its toll on Arsenal. The club has killed more players than any other top club and the debt to rebuild the north shore stand is draining Arsenal’s resources

For another 18 years, Arsenal will not win the league or the FA Cup. The ’53 Champions’ squad has aged and the club has been unable to attract a strong enough replacement. [46] Although Arsenal were competitive in those years, their fortunes had declined; the club remained mid-table for much of the 1950s and 60s. Former England captain Billy Wright also failed to lead the club to success between 1962 and 1966. [48]

Arsenal temporarily appointed club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as acting manager in 1966. Led by new assistant Don Howe and new players such as Bob McNabb and George Graham, Mee led Arsenal to their first League Cup final in 1967/68 and 1968/69. Arsenal’s breakthrough came the following season when they won their first European sporting trophy in the 1969–70 International City Fairs Cup. The following season saw Arsenal go even further and set a new record for the English Championship with their first league and FA Cup double. [51] This marked the untimely high point of the decade; the double-winning side soon disbanded and the next decade ended with a series of near misses for Arsenal, with Arsenal in 1972 The runner-up in the FA Cup in 1972-73 and the runner-up in the First Division in the 1972-73 season.

Former player Trinier succeeded Mee in 1976. At 34, he became the youngest ever Arsenal manager. [52] With the signings of Malcolm McDonald and Pat Jennings, as well as a host of talented players such as Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton, the club reached three FA Cup finals (1978 FA Cup, 1979 FA Cup and 1980 FA Cup) and lost the 1980 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final on penalties. The club’s only trophy during this period was the 1979 FA Cup, a 3-2 final victory over Manchester United in what is widely regarded as a classic

George Graham, one of Mere’s two-time champions, returned as manager in 1986 and Arsenal won their first League Cup in 1987, Graham’s first season as manager. New additions Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Steve Boulder joined the club in 1988, completing the “famous back four” led by homegrown Tony Adams. [55] They immediately won the 1988 Football League Centenary Trophy, followed by the 1988-89 Football League Championship with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against title challengers Liverpool. Graham’s Arsenal won the title again in 1990/91, losing just one game, winning the 1993 FA Cup and League Cup double and the 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup. Graham’s reputation was tarnished when it was discovered that he had been bribed by agent Rune Hauge to sign certain players, and he was fired in 1995. [57][58] His successor, Bruce Rioch, lasted only one season and left the club following a dispute with the board. [59] 1996-2018: The Wenger years
After completing their only unbeaten Premier League season, Arsenal were awarded a unique gold trophy.

The club changed under French coach Arsène Wenger, who took over in 1996. Attacking football,[60] an overhaul of diet and fitness practices[c], and money efficiency[d] shaped his reign. With key players from Arsene Wenger’s homeland including Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, Arsenal won their second league and cup double in 1997/98 and 2001/02. In addition, the club reached the UEFA Cup final in 1999-2000, won the FA Cup finals in 2003 and 2005, and won the Premier League title in 2003-04 with a clean sheet. The feat earned the team the nickname “The Invincibles”.[69] This feat came after a national record of 49 league games unbeaten from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004.

Arsenal finished first or second in the league in eight of Wenger’s first nine seasons, though they never won back-to-back titles. The club had never reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before the 2005/06 season. That season they became the first London club to reach the final in the competition’s 50-year history, but were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona. In July 2006, they moved to the Emirates Stadium after 93 years at Highbury. [73] Arsenal reached the 2007 and 2011 League Cup finals, losing 2-1 to Chelsea and Birmingham City. The club hadn’t won the trophy since the 2005 FA Cup until Arsenal, led by club record-setting Mesut Ozil, beat Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup final,Reversed from a 2-0 deficit to end the match 3-2. 74] A year later, Arsenal completed another FA Cup victory and became the most successful club in the competition.Made history by winning a 13th FA Cup in 2016-17. However, that same season saw Arsenal finish fifth in the league, dropping out of the top four for the first time since Arsene Wenger arrived in 1996. Wenger left Arsenal on 13 May 2018 after another lackluster league season the following year.