Arsenal F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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| Full name | Arsenal Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Gunners | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1886 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London |
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| Capacity | 38,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Peter Hill-Wood |
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| Manager |  Arsène Wenger |
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| League | FA Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004-05 | Premier League, 2nd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are a football club based in north London. They play in the FA Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in England. Arsenal have won thirteen First Division and Premier League titles, and the FA Cup ten times, although the team have yet to achieve similar success in the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal were founded in south-east London in 1886, but moved to their current home ground, the Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, in 1913. In August 2006 the club will move to the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove. Arsenal enjoy a fierce rivalry with Tottenham Hotspur, from nearby Tottenham, whom they play in the North London derby.
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History
- For more details on this topic, see History of Arsenal F.C..
Arsenal were founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, but were renamed to Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards. They renamed themselves again to Woolwich Arsenal after turning professional in 1891. The club were then known by fans as the Woolwich Reds, although they played their games in nearby Plumstead. Woolwich Arsenal entered the Football League in 1893, becoming the first southern team to do so.
The club started out in the Second Division, and won promotion to the First Division in 1904. However, the club's geographic isolation, and the resulting low attendances, 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. The tube station on Gillespie Road is the only one named after a football club. 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.[1]
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 star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, helped the club to dominate 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.
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 3–2 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 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,[2] and he was sacked in 1995. His replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted for only one season, leaving the club after a dispute over transfer funds.
The club's success in the late 1990s and 2000s owes a great deal to the appointment of manager Arsène Wenger in 1996. Wenger brought new tactics, a new training regime and several foreign players who complemented the existing English talent. Arsenal won a second league and cup double in 1998 and a third in 2002. In addition, the club were victorious in the 2003 and 2005 FA Cups, and won the League in 2004 without losing a single match. Arsenal finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's first nine seasons, and they are now considered to be one of the "big three" clubs in England along with Manchester United and Chelsea. However, they have been unable to replicate their domestic success in the Champions League, having never progressed beyond the quarter-finals.[3]
Crest
Royal Arsenal's first crest, unveiled in 1888, featured three cannon viewed from above, pointing northwards, similar to the crest of the Borough of Woolwich. These can sometimes be mistaken for chimneys, but the presence of a carved lion's head and a cascabel on each are clear indicators that they are cannon. In 1922, the club adopted its first single-cannon crest, featuring an eastward-pointing cannon. This crest was only used until 1925 when the cannon was reversed to point westward, its barrel was slimmed down and the club's nickname, The Gunners, was inscribed to the left of it. In 1949, the club unveiled a modernised crest featuring the same style of cannon, the club's name set in blackletter above the cannon, and a scroll inscribed with the club's newly adopted Latin motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit ("victory comes from harmony"). For the first time, the crest was rendered in colour – red, green, and gold – which varied slightly over the crest's lifespan.
Because of the numerous revisions of the crest, Arsenal were unable to copyright it, so in 2002 they introduced a new crest featuring more modern curved lines and a simplified style.[4] The cannon once again faces east and the club's name is written in a sans-serif typeface above the cannon. Green was replaced by dark blue. The new crest received a mixed response from supporters, with some claiming that it had ignored much of Arsenal's history by removing the blackletter text, motto, and coat of arms.
Colours
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| Arsenal's usual home colours | |||||||||
For much of Arsenal's history, their home colours have been bright red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts, though this has not always been the case. The choice of red is in recognition of a charitable donation from Nottingham Forest, soon after Arsenal's foundation in 1886. Two of Dial Square's founding members, Fred Beardsley and Morris Bates, were former Forest players who had moved to Woolwich for work. As they put together the first team in the area, no kit could be found, so Beardsley and Bates wrote home for help and received a set of kit and a ball. The shirt was a darker shade of red than the club's modern-day colours, almost purple, and was worn with either white or dark red shorts. Arsenal's colours inspired Sparta Prague to adopt a dark red kit in 1909, which they wear to this day.
In 1933 Herbert Chapman, wanting his players to be more distinctly dressed, updated the kit, adding white sleeves and changing the shade to a brighter pillar box red. The team have stuck with the combination since, aside from two seasons. Firstly, in 1963–64 the kit reverted to all red, but this proved unpopular and the white sleeves returned the following season. Secondly, as 2005–06 is the last season that Arsenal will play at Highbury, the team's shirts have temporarily reverted back to the original darker red, or "redcurrant", to reflect the colour worn in the first season at Highbury, in 1913. The club will return to its usual colours at the end of the season.
Arsenal's away colours are traditionally yellow and blue, although they wore a green and navy away kit for a short while in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s and the advent of the lucrative replica kit market, the away colours have been changed every couple of seasons. Generally, they have been either yellow and blue, or two-tone blue designs, although there was a metallic gold and navy strip for the 2001–02 season. However, many Arsenal fans feel that the blue shirts bring bad luck – all three of the club's recent Premier League titles have come in a season where the team wore yellow or gold. The 2005–06 away colours are yellow and dark grey.
Stadium
Arsenal Stadium, widely referred to as Highbury, has been Arsenal's home since the club's move to North London in 1913. The original stadium was built by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, and had a design common to many football grounds in the UK at the time, with a single covered stand and three open-air banks of terracing. In the 1930s, the entire stadium was given a massive overhaul, with new Art Deco East and West stands constructed, and roofs added to the North Bank and Clock End terraces. At its peak, Highbury could hold over 60,000 spectators, and had a capacity of 57,000 until the early 1990s. The Taylor Report and Premier League regulations forced Arsenal to convert Highbury into an all-seater in 1992, reducing its capacity to the current total of 38,500[5]. Expansion has been restricted because the East Stand is now a Grade II listed building.
These limitations in Highbury's capacity have prevented the club from maximising the revenue that their domestic form could have brought in recent seasons. Although the club remains highly profitable, Arsenal are currently in the process of building Emirates Stadium, a new 60,000-seater stadium at Ashburton Grove, about 500 metres south-west of Highbury. While this project was delayed by red tape (including final approval of the necessary compulsory purchase orders by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott) and rising costs, construction has now begun and the stadium is expected to be ready for the start of the 2006–07 season. The stadium is named after its sponsors, the airline company Emirates, with whom the club signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football history, worth approximately £100 million over the term of the deal. As a part of the deal the stadium will be known as Emirates Stadium for at least the first 15 years, and the airline will be the club's shirt sponsor from 2006 until the end of the 2013–14 season.
Supporters
Arsenal have a large and generally loyal fanbase, with virtually all home matches selling out. The club's location, adjoining both wealthy areas such as Islington and working-class suburbs such as Holloway, has meant that Arsenal's supporters have come from across the usual class divides. Arsenal have the highest proportion (7%) of non-white attending supporters of any club in English football, probably because of the high proportion of ethnic minorities in north London.[6]
Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Official Arsenal Football Supporters Club, which is affiliated with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association which maintains an independent line. The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as The Gooner, Highbury High, Gunflash and the less cerebral Up The Arse! There is also a very healthy blogosphere dedicated to the club, with "Arseblog," "East Lower," "Goodplaya," and "Gunner Blog" all proving popular. In addition to the usual English football chants, Arsenal's supporters sing "One-Nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of "Go West") and "Boring, Boring Arsenal", which used to be a common taunt from opposition fans but is now sung ironically by Arsenal supporters when the team is playing well.
In recent times, a supporter's attachment to a football club has become less dependent on geography, so Arsenal now have many fans not just from London but all over England and indeed the world. While there have always been small pockets of supporters abroad, Arsenal's supporter base has widened considerably with the advent of satellite television, and there are now significant supporters' clubs in Scandinavia, South East and East Asia and the United States. A 2005 report by Granada Ventures, which owns a 10% stake in the club, estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million, the third largest in the world.[7]
Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbour, Tottenham Hotspur, with matches between the two being referred to as North London derbies. Matches against other London sides such as Chelsea are also derbies, but the rivalry is not as intense as that between Arsenal and Tottenham. In addition, Arsenal and Manchester United have had a strong on-pitch rivalry since the late 1980s, which has intensified in recent years when both clubs have been competing for the Premier League title.
Arsenal in popular culture
As one of the most successful teams in the country, Arsenal have often featured when football is depicted in British culture. The club were 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 1988–89 title win.
Arsenal's perceived tendency to be defensive and "boring" through the 1970s and 1980s made the team the butt of jokes by many comedians such as Eric Morecambe. 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 is also mentioned in several Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches, and in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: a barman remarks that the impending end of the world is a "lucky escape" for Arsenal, who are playing that afternoon. Most recently, in the 2004 box office hit Ocean's Twelve the stars put on Arsenal tracksuits as part of one of their European heists.
Arsenal Ladies
- For more details on this topic, see Arsenal L.F.C..
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, if not the dominant team, 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. They are currently reigning League champions, having won their seventh title in 2005.
As well as their seven League titles, Arsenal Ladies have won the FA Women's Cup six times and the Women's League Cup eight times; this includes two Trebles in 1993 and 2001. They have also reached the semifinals 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 the women's side play once a season at Highbury.
Statistics and records
- For more details on this topic, see Arsenal F.C. statistics.
David O'Leary holds the record for Arsenal appearances, having played 722 first-class 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 187 goals in all competitions, 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.
Arsenal have also set records in English football, most notably the most consecutive seasons spent in the top flight (79, as of 2005) and the longest run of unbeaten League matches (49 between May 2003 and October 2004). This included all 38 matches of the 2003–04 season, making Arsenal only the second club ever to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten, after Preston North End in 1888–89.
Current squad
As of September 30, 2005:
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- Players out on loan
| –– | |
FW | Jeremie Aliadière (at West Ham United, season-long) |
| –– | |
FW | David Bentley (at Blackburn Rovers, season-long) |
| –– | |
DF | Justin Hoyte (at Sunderland, season-long) |
| –– | |
MF | Ryan Smith (at Leicester City, until end of 2005) |
| –– |  |
GK | Graham Stack (at Reading, season-long) |
Famous players
- For more details on this topic, see List of Arsenal F.C. players.
Listed according to year of Arsenal first-team debut (year in parentheses):
- 1920s: Jimmy Brain (1924), Eddie Hapgood (1927), David Jack (1928), Cliff Bastin (1929), Alex James (1929).
- 1930s: Leslie Compton (1932), Ted Drake (1934), Denis Compton (1936), Reg Lewis (1938).
- 1940s: Walley Barnes (1946), Joe Mercer (1946), Laurie Scott (1946).
- 1950s: 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), Bob McNab (1966), Charlie George (1969), Ray Kennedy (1969).
- 1970s: Liam Brady (1973), Frank Stapleton (1975), David O'Leary (1975), Pat Jennings (1977).
- 1980s: Kenny Sansom (1980), Tony Adams (1983), David Rocastle (1985), Paul Merson (1986), Michael Thomas (1986).
- 1990s: David Seaman (1990), Ian Wright (1991), Dennis Bergkamp (1995), Patrick Vieira (1996), Marc Overmars (1997), Fredrik Ljungberg (1998), Thierry Henry (1999).
- 2000s: Ashley Cole (2000), Robert Pirès (2000), Sol Campbell (2001).
Managers
| Manager | Period |
|---|---|
| Sam Hollis | August 1894 – July 1897 |
| Thomas Mitchell | August 1897 – March 1898 |
| George Elcoat | March 1898 – May 1899 |
| Harry Bradshaw | August 1899 – May 1904 |
| Phil Kelso | July 1904 – February 1908 |
| George Morrell | February 1908 – May 1915 |
| Leslie Knighton | May 1919 – June 1925 |
| Herbert Chapman | June 1925 – January 1934 |
| Joe Shaw* | January – June 1934 |
| George Allison | June 1934 – May 1947 |
| Tom Whittaker | June 1947 – October 1956 |
| Jack Crayston | October 1956 – May 1958 |
| George Swindin | July 1958 – May 1962 |
| Billy Wright | May 1962 – June 1966 |
| Bertie Mee | June 1966 – May 1976 |
| Terry Neill | July 1976 – December 1983 |
| Don Howe | December 1983 – March 1986 |
| Steve Burtenshaw* | March – May 1986 |
| George Graham | June 1986 – February 1995 |
| Stewart Houston* | February – May 1995 |
| Bruce Rioch | June 1995 – August 1996 |
| Stewart Houston* | August – September 1996 |
| Pat Rice* | September 1996 |
| Arsène Wenger | September 1996 – present |
* denotes caretaker manager.
Honours
- First Division and Premier League[8] 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
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (predecessor of the UEFA Cup): 1
- 1970
- European Cup Winners' Cup: 1
- 1994
- Three "Doubles": 1971 1998 2002
- One Domestic Cup Double: 1993
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 one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times, and never below twentieth.
Footnotes
- ^ 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). No firm proof has ever been offered, though Chapter Two of Rebels for the Cause (listed below) and this webpage present plenty of supporting evidence. An investigation by Four Four Two magazine reported that financial irregularities had taken place.
- ^ 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. As one of the few football corruption cases where wrongdoing was proven, it is often referenced in the press (e.g. in this Observer article), and is given a detailed treatment in Broken Dreams by Tom Bower (ISBN 0743440331).
- ^ As of 16 October 2005.
- ^ ""Arsenal go for a makeover"". BBC News website. URL accessed on October 14, 2005.
- ^ The capacity has to be reduced further during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising hoardings.
- ^ "Soccer violence declining say fans". BBC News website. URL accessed on October 13, 2005.
- ^ "Arsenal named the Premiership's fastest-growing brand". Brand Republic. URL accessed on October 13, 2005.
- ^ Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the FA Premier League.
References
- Hornby, Nick (1992) Fever Pitch, Indigo. ISBN 1840189002
- Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2000) The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal, Hamlyn. ISBN 0600601757
- Spurling, Jon (2004) Rebels for the Cause: The Alternative History of Arsenal Football Club, Mainstream. ISBN 0575400153
- "Arsenal.com - The Club." Accessed July 27, 2005.
- "ArseWeb statistics page." Accessed July 27, 2005.
- "Arsenal Shirts." Accessed August 12, 2005.
External links
- Official website
- News & statistics
- Arseweb
- Arsenal World
- Arsenal-Mania
- Online Arsenal
- Arsenal Stattoshop
- Arsenal statistics (in Polish)
- Fanzines
- Blogs
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