Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England.

Arsenal History

Arsenal’s rich history goes back 132 years to October 1886, when workers from the Woolwich factory formed a football team and called themselves Dial Square. Within a span of a year, they had changed their name to Royal Arsenal and participated in their first FA Cup in the year 1889/90.

In 1891, Royal Arsenal became the first football club from London to turn professional. Two years later they renamed themselves to Woolwich Arsenal. In 1913, the club moved to a new stadium in Highbury, North London and in the following year they renamed themselves for the third time, to “The Arsenal”. “The” was slowly removed from official documents and the club finally came to be known as “Arsenal”.

Arsenal Logo

Arsenal adopted it’s first Logo in 1888, two years after it came into existence. Arsenal has seen numerous changes in it’s Logo over the years but the cannon has remained a constant. The present logo features an eastward facing cannon over a red and blue crest shaped in the shape of a shield.

Arsenal Club Records

David O’ Leary holds the record for having 722 appearances for the Gunners. Arsenal legend Thierry Henry holds nearly all of the top goal scoring records for the club. He has the most goals for the Gunners in the Premier League, European as well as the Champions League. Overall he has scored 228 goals for Arsenal.

Another legend, Robin Van Persie holds the record for most goals scored(30) for Arsenal in a Premier League Season along with Thierry Henry. Arsenal holds the record for having a 49 game unbeaten run from May 2003 to October 2004 and also hold the record of most FA Cup titles (13).

Arsenal’s Nickname

The Gunners

Arsenal is known all over the world as “The Gunners”. The nickname was derived from the cannons that have featured in the football club’s crest. The phrase, “The Gunners” also featured in Arsenal’s crest from 1922 to 1949, thus becoming an integral part of the club’s history as well.

Arsenal Manager - Unai Emery

Arsenal is currently managed by Unai Emery who has held the post since May 2018. Emery replaced the longest-serving and the most celebrated manager of the club, Arsene Wenger. Wenger held the post from 1996 to 2018 and was the first manager from outside the United Kingdom.

Arsenal Stadium - Emirates Stadium

Since the Arsenal’s formation, The Gunners have played in a number of stadiums. In the initial years, Arsenal played in Plumstead Common, the Manor Ground in Plumstead and at the Invicta Ground nearby. In 1913, Henry Norris decided that it was best for the club to move to North London.

Arsenal then moved to a new ground in Highbury which remained Arsenal’s home ground till May 2006.

Owing to the decrease in revenues over the years, the club constructed a new stadium at Ashburton Grove, now known as the Emirates Stadium, the home of the Gunners.

Arsenal Owner - Stan Kroenke

The largest shareholder of Arsenal Football Club is Stan Kroenke, an American Businessman and the owner of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment. As of May 2017, Kroenke owns approximately 67% of Arsenal’s shares. Red and White Securities owns approximately 30% of the shares making Kroenke Sports and Entertainment the official owners of Arsenal.

The Invincibles - Arsenal

Arsenal Football Club came to be known as the Invincibles for their 2003/04 unbeaten Premier League season. The Gunners became the first football club to have a 38 game season without facing a single league defeat. Arsenal was managed by their legendary manager Arsene Wenger for the 2003/04 season. 

The club played with a 4-4-2 formation for most of the 2003/04 season. Jens Lehman played every game of the season as Arsenal’s goalkeeper. Lauren, Toure, Campbell and Cole were Wenger’s preferred 4 at the defence and Pires, Silva, Viera and Ljunberg formed the 4 in the mid-field.

Dennis Bergkamp was mostly preferred as Thierry Henry’s partner up-front. The 2003/04 unbeaten season helped Arsenal on their way to a record 49 game unbeaten streak from May 2003 to October 2004.

Thierry Henry scored a remarkable 39 goals in the 48 games he started for the Gunners. The unbeaten run was broken by Manchester United in a controversial game at Old Trafford. Manchester United won this game by a score-line of 2-0.

Arsenal Invincible Squad

Arsenal Trophies

Arsenal is one of the most successful Clubs in England, Arsenal have won 45 trophies ever since the club’s inception in professional football.

Arsenal Premier League Titles (3)

Arsenal have been First Division champions 13 times with their first win coming in 1930/31 and their last one coming in 2003/04, which Includes 3 Premier League Titles, under Arsene Wenger who was the club Manager for 22 years.

Arsenal FA Cup Titles - (13 Record)

Arsenal hold the record for the most number of FA Cup Trophies won by a single club (13). Arsenal won their first FA Cup in 1930 and their latest FA Cup success came in 2017 when they beat Chelsea 2-1 in the finals.

Arsenal Top Scorer

Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry is Arsenal’s all time top goal scorer. Henry scored 228 goals in a total of 377 games in all competitions for the Gunners. He has also scored most goals for Arsenal in league games as well as European Leagues. 

Arsenal Training Ground

Shenley Training Centre

The present Arsenal squad trains at the Shenley Training Centre in Hertfordshire, southern England. The Arsenal Training Centre opened in October 1999 replacing the University College of London ground as the training centre for the Gunners. This centre also served as the training grounds for the England National Team from 2003 to 2012.

Arsenal Legends

Thierry Henry

In a span of 8 years at Arsenal, Thierry Henry left an everlasting impact on the club as well as world football. He still remains to be the all time highest goal-scorer for the Gunners with 228 goals to his name.

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp, the famous and dangerous number 10 at Arsenal was the fan favourite at Highbury. In a career spanning 11 years, Dennis found the back of the net 120 times.

Ian Wright

Ian Wright was a Gunner from 1991 to 1998. He is the second highest goal-scorer for the club having netted 185 goals for them.

Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira, The French midfielder was the heart of Arsenal’s central formation and build-up. He was an integral part of the Invincinle squad.

Robert Pires

Another French midfielder who was part of the Invincible squad was Robert Pires. He played for Arsenal as a midfielder from 2000 to 2006, netting 84 goals in 284 appearances.