Arsenal – a club that is steeped in history and rich in tradition. A model club in Europe that is the envy of a number of clubs not only because of the style of football but also the sound business model that had even UEFA gushing when they implemented Financial Fair Play regulations.
The Premier League club has seen it all in 130 years of existence. Having never been relegated since they last got back into the top flight in 1919, the club has now cemented itself as one of the most successful in England.
Along the way, it has reached a number of memorable milestones and celebrated some moments of immense success. We look back at five of the greatest moments in the club’s history.
#5 Appointing Herbert Chapman – 1925
Although the club was founded in 1886, the club did not win its first trophy until 1930. It all changed in 1925 when Herbert Chapman arrived from Huddersfield Town – the club that had won the last two league titles.
“Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exorbitant transfer fees need not apply,” said an advertisement put out by the club when they looked for a new manager. Chapman was sold when he realised that he would be paid £2,000 and he set about rebuilding the side with a five-year plan that would bring a relegation-threatened club a trophy.
After pioneering the W-M formation, he slowly improved the squad’s attack, specialising in a counter-attacking style of game. And he pulled a few rabbits out of the hat while negotiating transfer fees for certain players. Sure enough, five years later the Gunners won their first ever trophy. Ironically, the FA Cup was won after beating Chapman’s former club Huddersfield Town in the final.
The 1930s was a successful decade for the club. He would win the league title in 1930/31 and 1932/33 before he tragically died of pneumonia in January 1934. He was sadly not around to see his club win the league in 1933/34, 1934/35 and 1937/38.
But his statue now stands outside the Emirates Stadium and the club will forever be indebted to the man whose forward-thinking revolutionised football. From advocating the use of floodlights to signing black players when others refused to using numbered shirts – Chapman did it all.
#4 The 1979 FA Cup final: the ‘Five-minute Final’
In the late ‘70s, both Arsenal and Manchester United were struggling to win trophies and the 1979 FA Cup final was their one big chance. Nobody who was at Wembley that day knew they were about to witness one of the greatest Cup finals of all time.
The Gunners seemed to be in control of the game going into half-time when Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton had given the London club a 2-0 lead going into the half-time interval. Both goals had come through good teamwork as they attacked United on their weaker left flank.
Arsenal looked all set to win their fourth FA Cup title until the 85th minute saw the game turn on its head. A United set-piece first saw Gordon McQueen score to halve the lead. Sammy McIlroy then scored on a United counter-attack two minutes later after dribbling past two players and bundling the ball past goalkeeper Pat Jennings.
The Gunners did not know what hit them as United celebrated wildly in front of their fans. But before United could recoup to look for a winner, Arsenal struck again just a minute after United scored the second.
A turnover of possession saw Arsenal attack down the left and a cross to the far post saw Alan Sunderland slot it home to give them a remarkable 3-2 win! The match would forever be known as the ‘Five-minute Final’.
#3 1988/89 – Winning the League title right at the death
“It’s up for grabs now...!”
For 18 years, Arsenal fans had not won a league title. And then on that memorable night at Anfield, commentator Brian Moore’s words in stoppage time of the final game of the season brought to an end a league title drought in a virtual final against the most dominant team of the ‘80s.
Liverpool had won five league titles in the ‘80s and seven in the ten years before that fateful day. They were chasing a unique double that season and the final game saw the Gunners travelling to Anfield to take on Kenny Dalglish’s side with the odds very much against the London side.
Here is how things stood before the final game of the season:
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 37 | 22 | 10 | 5 | 65 | 26 | 39 | 76 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 37 | 21 | 10 | 6 | 71 | 36 | 35 | 73 |
To clinch the title, even a 1-0 loss would have sufficed for Liverpool. Arsenal, however, needed to win by a margin of at least two goals to take the trophy home. To make it even more challenging for the Gunners, history was against them. They had not won at Anfield in 15 years while the Reds had not lost by two goals or more at home in three years!
Although the first half saw no goals, Arsenal drew first blood through the league’s top scorer Alan Smith in the second period. With both sides now having one hand on the trophy, the game came down to a tense final minutes and that was when George Graham’s side found their miracle.
A long ball in stoppage time saw Smith flick it on for Michael Thomas who charged through the midfield and defence to slot the ball home past Bruce Grobbelaar. The away fans lost their minds. The Liverpool players sank to their knees. The Kop looked on in agony. Dalglish stood still on the touchline in utter disbelief at what he had just witnessed.
At the final whistle, the table looked like this:
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 73 | 36 | 37 | 76 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 38 | 22 | 10 | 6 | 65 | 28 | 37 | 76 |
With the exact same record (W-D-L, Points and Goal Difference), Arsenal took home their ninth league title because they had scored more goals!
#2 Appointing Arsene Wenger – 1996
Arsene who?
Trust the English press to belittle anything that is out of the ordinary with that sort of headline. And a foreign manager working in England’s top flight at one of its most reputed clubs was definitely something that was out of the ordinary.
In truth, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein had thought about hiring the charismatic manager in 1989 when they met for the first time. But he got his man a few years later and convinced him to return to Europe after the French manager had taken a job at Japan’s Nagoya Grampus Eight.
Wenger brought about a revolution at the club – from changing player diets to hiring specialists in fitness and nutrition – and, in the process, he changed the mindset of the players, many of whom would prolong their careers thanks to his meticulous planning and inspirational ideas.
New players arrived at Highbury and fans suddenly saw a new breed of Premier League players who completely changed the game. “Boring, boring Arsenal” was soon a thing of the past. Players such as Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry were just a few of the marquee signings who arrived while others at the club, such as the legendary Dennis Bergkamp, found a new lease of life.
In 20 years since, the club has won three league titles and six FA Cups under the French manager. In the process, he also oversaw a successful move from their old spiritual home that was Highbury to the larger and financially viable 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium that has allowed the club to compete with cash-rich clubs.
In spite of several hiccups along the way in the past decade, Wenger stood firm and refused to have his head turned by other European superpowers during the tough years of financial strain and a period where world class players moved away on a regular basis.
“What I like about Arsenal, and I am very proud of, is that the club is a mixture of respecting traditional values while not being scared to move forward.
“I believe in the last 15 to 20 years you have all of that – fantastic periods, difficult periods – I stayed here for the respect I have for all that.” – Arsene Wenger
More: Arsene Wenger's Best XI in 20 years at Arsenal
#1 The Invincibles – 2003/04
When Arsene Wenger said that it was possible for a team to go unbeaten in a league season, nobody took him seriously. The press mocked him and the fans ridiculed him. Two years later, his dream came true as the Gunners went an entire season unbeaten.
“I learned that you can achieve things that you think are not achievable,” Wenger said, silencing his critics once and for all. In an era where Sir Alex Ferguson was winning titles by the half-dozen, Wenger had dared to challenge the status quo and had followed up his 2001/02 double with England’s most historic domestic triumph.
Preston North End had achieved it in 1889 but had played only 22 games back then. Wenger’s Gunners played 38, won 26 and drew 12 to take home not just the trophy but also immortality.
Led by Henry and Bergkamp, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg to support them on either side, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto in the middle of the park to hold them all together in front of a defence led by Sol Campbell and “mad Jens” Lehmann in goal, half the battle was won when the teams lined up in the tunnel before the game.
No opponent seemed worthy. No comeback was deemed impossible. No hurdle insurmountable. And they topped it off by clinching the league title in their feisty neighbour’s backyard – White Hart Lane; the mightiest of body blows to the north London club’s derby rivals.
The Gunners would go on to extend that run to a total of 49 games and the chant of ‘49 Unbeaten’ is now heard in the terraces wherever they play – home or away.
