The Club
Dial Square, this was the original name given to the club in 1886 by a group of workers employed by Dial Square at the Royal Arsenal, an armament factory in Woolwich, Kent.
The club were renamed Royal Arsenal shortly after their first match on December 11th 1886 against Eastern Wanderers. During the time span of 1889-91, Royal Arsenal won local trophies and entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1889-90.
The club turned professional in 1891 and changed their name once again in 1893, this time to Woolwich Arsenal, and formed a limited liability company to raise capital to purchase the Manor Ground. The club’s future looked bleak until the Football League invited them to join in 1893, with Woolwich Arsenal being the first ever southern club to enter the domestic league, joining the Second Division.
Woolwich Arsenal partook in the Second Division for 11 seasons and were a comfortable mid-table side before the appointment of Harry Bradshaw as manager in 1899. Bradshaw and his side, including goalkeeper Jimmy Ashcroft (Arsenal’s first ever England international) and left-back and club captain Jimmy Jackson, won promotion to the First Division in 1903. However, Bradshaw opted to move to Fulham in 1904 before the season had even begun. Woolwich Arsenal went on to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1905-06 and 1906-07, but never made a serious challenge for the League title, finishing only twice above tenth place in the First Division between 1904 and 1913. Financial problems proved to be the stumbling block, and with the clubs underpopulated area of Plumstead, it meant attendances were low, thus was the income. Woolwich Arsenal were forced to sell their star players such as Ashcroft, Tim Coleman and Bert Freeman. The club came close to bankruptcy, and in 1910 took up the option of voluntary liquidation before being bought by a consortium, with Sir Henry Norris, who was also the chairman of Fulham at the time, being one among many of the shareholders.
With Norris aware of the club’s financial woes, he decided to relocate the club to Highbury, north London. It’s thought Norris spent around £125,000 on building the new stadium. Woolwich Arsenal eventually moved to their new ground at the end of the 1913 season after being relegated to the Second Division.
In April 1914, the club replaced ‘Woolwich’ with ‘The’ and become ‘Arsenal’ in November 1919, although the press continued to refer to the club as ‘The Arsenal’ at the time.
In 1919 and with a bigger fan base behind them, Arsenal won promotion to the First Division, controversially mind, having only finished in sixth place in 1914-15 - the last season before the First World War.
With the Football League expanding from 20 teams to 22, they voted to give the extra two places to Chelsea and sixth-placed Arsenal for their service to the game. Arsenal received 18 votes, Tottenham eight, Barnsley five, Wolves four with a further six votes going to other clubs. This would be where the Arsenal Spurs rivalry would be born.
Due to financial irregularities found by the FA, Norris resigned as chairman of Arsenal and left the club in 1929. Despite their circumstances of their promotion in 1919, Arsenal have and remain in the top division, holding the English record for the longest unbroken stretch of top-flight football.
Arsenal’s return to the First Division did not come with much success though. Under manager Leslie Knighton, the club never finished above ninth, and came close to being relegated in the 1923-24 season, finishing in 19th place. The following season, the Gunners finished in 20th position which saw the end of Knighton’s time at the club and the start of Herbert Chapman’s.
Chapman reformed the club’s training, physio regimes and added numbers to the players’ shirts in August 1928. He then altered the team’s colours, adding white sleeves to the red shirt in March 1933. He then insisted that journalists referred to his side as simply ‘Arsenal’ and campaigned for the renaming of the local tube station from Gillespie Road to Arsenal.
With a large transfer budget at hand, Arsenal were soon known as the Bank of England Club. Chapman’s first signing was Charlie Buchan from Sunderland.
Arsenal came second in Chapman’s first season. But for the next few seasons, the club were a mid-table side as Chapman assembled his squad and implemented his new formation.
1926-27 saw Arsenal reach their first FA Cup final. Unfortunately, they lost 1-0 to Cardiff. But Chapman was not deterred and continued to build his side, signing Eddie Hapgood and three of the club’s great attacking players in David Jack, Alex James and Cliff Bastin.
In 1929-30, Arsenal reached Wembley again, this time they faced Huddersfield Town. Arsenal won 2-0 and was the club’s first major trophy.
Arsenal were to dominate the top-tier of English football following their FA Cup success, winning the First Division for the first time in the 1930-31 season, scoring 128 goals - a record high to this day.
Arsenal reached the FA Cup final again in the 1931-32 season, but they lost to Newcastle 2-1 due to a goal line decision. The Gunners also lost out to Everton in the title race by just two points.
The club’s second League title came the following season. But they were too be shocked in the FA Cup by Third Division Walsall, losing 2-0 in one of the competition’s greatest ever upsets.
In January 1934, Chapman died suddenly from pneumonia and, under caretaker Joe Shaw, Arsenal retained the title that season.
George Allison took over from Shaw in summer 1934 and signed Jack Crayston, Wilf Copping and Ted Drake. With these new signings, Allison oversaw a hat-trick of League titles in 1934-35. Drake scored a club record of 42 league goals that season.
Arsenal sealed their second FA Cup in 1935-36, beating Sheffield 1-0, and won their fifth League title in 1937-38, pipping Wolves on the final day of the season.
Post-World War II, Arsenal struggled to resume where they left off in 1946. The club were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round to West Ham that season and finished in 13th place the following season, their worst in 17 years. Allison retired from football at the end of the season and Tom Whittaker took charge.
Whittaker won the League title in the 1947-48 season and won the FA Cup in the 1949-50 campaign, defeating Liverpool 2-0. Arsenal went on to win their seventh League title in the 1952-53 season, winning on goal difference. This proved to be Arsenal’s last trophy for seventeen years. The club went into mediocracy, finishing in mid-table positions and had no luck in the FA Cup either.
Billy Wright was appointed Arsenal manager in 1962 and although he had no immediate success in the league, he did lead the club into their first European adventure in the 1963-64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup after finishing seventh the season before. In his final season in charge, Wright could only manage a 14th place finish in the league, their lowest in 36 years. Wright was dismissed by the board and replaced by then club physio Bertie Mee.
Mee turned the club’s fortunes around and led them to both European and domestic success. Mee won the 1970 Fairs Cup (the club’s first European trophy) and will always be remembered for masterminding the Double triumph of 1970-71, clinching the title by beating Spurs 1-0 and five days later defeated Liverpool in the FA Cup 2-1 thanks to an extra-time strike by Charlie George.
Former Gunner Terry Neill succeeded Mee in 1976. At the 34, Neill became the youngest Arsenal manager in history.
With the likes of Pat Jennings, Malcolm Macdonald, Frank Stapleton and Liam Brady in the Arsenal side, the club reached a trio of FA Cup finals (1978, 1979 and 1980) and lost the 1980 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final on penalties. Only in 1979 did Arsenal win the FA Cup against Manchester United, a game that will always be regarded as a classic and known as the ‘five-minute final’.
George Graham, one of Mee’s double winners, returned to Arsenal as manager in 1986. In his first season in charge, Graham led his side to their first League Cup.
Graham signed Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Steve Bould to complete the ‘famous back four’ led by Mr. Arsenal himself, Tony Adams. In the 1988-89 season, the Gunners won the tile in dramatic fashion. A last-minute goal by Michael Thomas against the formidable Liverpool at Anfield was enough to clinch the title, a goal that has gone down in Arsenal folklore for its purpose and commentary. Graham enjoyed further success by winning the title in the 1990-91 season and won the Cup double in 1993.
In 1994, Arsenal also won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, but despite his huge triumphs as manager, Graham’s reputation was tarnished after taking kickbacks form agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players. As a result, he was removed from his position in 1995 and replaced by Bruce Rioch.
Rioch only lasted one season as Arsenal manager after a dispute with the board of directors. His most notable accolade as Arsenal manager was bringing in Dutch genius Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan.
The Arsenal board were quick to find a successor to Rioch and opted for the unknown Arsene Wenger, who was appointed in 1996.
The Frenchman quickly put his stamp on the club by implementing a new, attacking style of football, an overhaul of dietary and fitness practices, as well as being efficient with the transfer budget given to him.
Wenger brought in a number of players who proved to be key to the club’s future success, such as Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka, Marc Overmar, Emmanuel Petit and Freddie Ljungberg. In his second season in charge of the club, Wenger won the domestic double. He did it again in 2001-02, having signed Thierry Henry and Robert Pires. Wenger then led Arsenal to the final of the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup but were beaten on penalties by Galatasaray. He has since made one European final, the Champions League in 2006 but lost 2-1 to Barcelona.
Wenger picked up his third FA Cup trophy in 2003 and the following season achieved his greatest managerial feat, leading his Gunners side through the entire Premier League campaign without a loss (26 wins, 12 Draws) and were dubbed ‘The Invincibles’. They were rewarded with a fold Premier League trophy as a mark of their achievement. Arsenal went on an unbeaten run which lasted a further 11 games the following season, taking the total to 49. In 2005, Wenger picked up his fourth FA Cup, beating Manchester United on penalties.
After 93 years at Highbury, Wenger engineered the move to the Emirates Stadium in July 2006. From this came only two League Cup finals in 2007 and 2011, but they were both lost 2-1 to Chelsea and Birmingham respectively.
Since the 2005 FA Cup triumph, the club went on a nine-year trophy drought, but managed to stay financially secure by qualifying for the Champions League consistently. During this time, Wenger’s reign came under-fire by sections of the Arsenal faithful, but the board stuck by the Frenchman due to his economic ability and belief he can deliver what is required.
On May 17th 2014, Arsenal beat Hull City in the FA Cup final, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. This was to be Wenger’s fifth triumph in the famous cup competition.
The following season (2014-15), the Gunners made the FA Cup final once again - their opponents this time were Aston Villa. Arsenal won the game comfortably 4-0, Wenger picked up his sixth FA Cup trophy and the Gunners became the most successful club in the tournament’s history with 12 titles. This has since been matched by Manchester united who beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup a year later.
Despite his efforts early on in his Arsenal career, winning Premier League titles, numerous FA Cups and moving the club to the Emirates Stadium, Wenger has since been unable to win a league title since the ‘Invincible’ season but has kept the club afloat financially.
Due to his lack of success (trophy wise) many Arsenal fans have questioned his position as manager, while some still believe he is the right man for the job. As it is, Wenger remains in charge of Arsenal and whether he decides to leave the club this summer or in the future, the Frenchman will go down as one of the club’s greatest ever managers.
Stadiums
Manor Ground
Arsenal played at Manor Ground in Plumstead for most of their time in south-east London. It was only between 1890 to 1893 they played at the nearby Invicta Ground.
The Manor Ground was essentially just an ordinary playing field until the club installed stands and terraces in September 1893. For the next 20 years, it was Arsenal’s home until they relocated to north London in 1913.
Highbury
Highbury was to be Arsenal’s new home from September 1913 to May 2006. The stadium originally started off with a single covered stand and three open-air terrace banks. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that Highbury was given a massive overhaul.
New Art Deco West and East stands were constructed which opened in 1932 and 1936 respectively. A roof was also added to the North Bank. This was bombed during the Second World War and restored in 1954.
Until the 1990’s Highbury could actually hold more than 60,000 fans at its peak but had a capacity of 57,000.
Due to the Premier League’s stadium regulations, the Gunners were obliged to convert Highbury to an all-seater stadium - this reduced the stadium capacity significantly from 57,000 to 38,419.
The capacity decreased during Champions League matches because of additional advertising boards, so for the next two seasons (from 1998 to 2000) Arsenal played their home matches in the Champions League at Wembley.
Emirates
Arsenal were unable to expand Highbury any further due to buildings around the stadium which left the club in danger of being left behind their rivals.
After much consideration, in 2000, Arsenal proposed building a new 60,361 capacity stadium at Ashburton Grove, which was to be renamed the Emirates Stadium. However, construction of the new stadium was delayed due to rising costs and red tape, but was finally completed in July 2006.
With the stadium upright, the club opted to name it after their sponsors (Emirates airlines) and signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football at the time, believed to be around the £100 million mark.
Fans weren’t too fond on the new stadium name and referred to it as Ashburton Grove, or the Grove, but it is to keep its name until 2028 when the sponsorship deal expires. From the 2010-11 season onwards, the stands were officially christened the North Bank, East Stand, West Stand and the Clock End.
The Badge/Crest
Royal Arsenal’s first crest was unveiled in 1888 which featured three cannons viewed from above pointing northwards.
Due to the cannons mistakenly being viewed as chimneys, the badge was dropped after they made the move to Highbury in 1913, only to be reinstated in 1922, this time with the adopted crest featuring a single cannon pointing eastwards, with club’s nickname ‘The Gunners’ alongside it. This crest lasted until 1925, when the club decided to point the cannon westward and also slimmed down.
1949,
Arsenal released a modernised crest which featured the same style of cannon below the club’s name. The text was black and this time featured the Latin motto ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’, translated to ‘Victory Through Harmony’. For the first time, the badge featured colour with red, gold and green.
Due to the number of crests developed over the years, Arsenal were unable to copyright it, but did manage to register the crest as a trademark.
Although the club had a long legal battle on their hands for the rights to the badge, in 2002 they opted to introduce a new crest with modern curve lines and a simplified version which was copyrighted.
The cannon faced eastwards and the club’s name was in sans-serif above the image. The club ditched the green for a dark blue, which was met with criticism by some supporters. The Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association claimed the club was ignoring the Gunners’ history and tradition with the modern design and failed to consult the fans over the new look.
Until the 1960’s, Arsenal adopted a monogram badge for high-profile matches, it simply had the club’s initials in red on a white background. Developed into an Art Deco-style badge, this early example of a corporate logo (introduced during the Herbert Chapman era) did not only feature on cup final shirts but also ringed around Highbury.
A white cannon was regularly worn on the shirt from 1967 until it was replaced by the club’s crest with the addition of ‘The Gunners' in the 1990’s.
The Gunners celebrated their 125th year anniversary in the 2011-12 season and because of this, the club decided to include a modified version of the current crest for the campaign ahead.
Placed on a red background, the crest was all white and featured 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to left - this represented the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub, while the laurel leaves paid tribute to the founding fathers to establish the club. The years 1886 and 2011 was also placed on either side of the motto ‘Forward’ which featured below the crest.
Moving on, Arsenal have stuck with the red, white and blue, but have also introduced gold into their badge.
The cannon still faces eastwards and remains the focal point of the whole design and features club’s name above it in white.
