ARSENAL SOCCER REPLICAS |
|
 |
 |
ARSENAL HOME JERSEY |
ARSENAL AWAY JERSEY |
| Arsenal F.C. (also
known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) is a north
London football team founded in 1886. They play at Arsenal
Stadium, Highbury. Early years Arsenal were originally called Dial Square. The club later changed its name to Woolwich Arsenal, and then to Royal Arsenal, then back to Woolwich Arsenal again (the original founders were employed in the "Dial Square" area of an armaments factory in Woolwich, south London). In 1893 they were the first southern team admitted to the Football League, a move partly caused by the refusal of other southern teams to play them after they turned professional. From 1893 to 1904, Woolwich Arsenal played in the second division of the Football League. They were promoted to the first division in 1904. Arsenal wear a mostly red home kit, in recognition of a charitable donation from Nottingham Forest. Dial Square's founding members, F. W. Beardsley and A. J. 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! Woolwich Arsenal were relegated in 1913, the same year they moved from their south London home to Arsenal Stadium (often referred to as "Highbury") in north London. With the move came the change of name to "The Arsenal" (the definite article, you might say). The club rejoined the first division by foul means in 1919 and have remained in the top division since that time, a unique feat in England. This unbroken stretch of top-flight football has come much to the chagrin and longstanding enmity of Tottenham Hotspur (or "Spurs" for short) and their supporters, who lost their first division place to The Arsenal. The first division was due to be expanded and the decision to promote The Arsenal (who came fifth in the final league season before the war) rather than Barnsley or Wolves (third and fourth place, respectively), or to not relegate Spurs (who finished bottom of the first division), has been linked to dubious back room deals by The Arsenal's chairman, and mastermind of the move from Woolwich to Highbury, Sir Henry Norris. 1930s to 1960s In 1925, Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman took over at The Arsenal. Under his leadership, a successful drive to rename the local tube station, Gillespie Road station, to Arsenal took place (the old name can still be seen picked out in tiles on the wall of the station). Chapman's Arsenal won the FA Cup in 1930 and the League in 1931. Arsenal dominated the league in the 1930s, winning five league titles including a hat-trick. In November 1934, Arsenal players made up seven of the eleven England players who beat World Champions Italy 2-0. It was also during Chapman's era that the club lost the definite article from its name, becoming just "Arsenal". It has been suggested by some that Chapman instigated the change so that Arsenal would be at the top of the League's alphabetical list, a position they maintain among the 92 top clubs today (however, should Accrington Stanley gain promotion from the Conference, they will lose it). At the outbreak of war in 1939, Arsenal Stadium was requisitioned as an ARP station, with a barrage balloon operating behind the Clock End. The stadium continued to operate as a football ground for the armed forces, often with two or three games on it every day. During the Blitz, a 3,000lb bomb fell on the North Bank stand, destroying that stand's roof and setting fire to the scrap that was being stored on the terrace. Arsenal played their wartime home games at White Hart Lane, courtesy of their local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. After the war, the Arsenal board presented the Spurs board with a cannon as a gesture of thanks. During the postwar era, Arsenal won several more trophies under the management of Tom Whitaker, but the club declined from the late 1950s through the 1960s. 1970s to mid-1980s Arsenal's performance in the 1970s was characterized by a few moments of brilliance, separated by long spells of disappointment. The highlight during this period was their first "double" win in 1970/71. One need only read Nick Hornby's novel Fever Pitch for a taste of the life of an Arsenal fan, or "Gooner" (after the team's nickname, "The Gunners"), during the late 1960s through the mid-1980s. In 1978 Arsenal began a record-equalling spell in which they reached three FA Cup finals in a row, beating Manchester United 3-2 in the 1979 final, with Alan Sunderland scoring late on to secure a famous victory. The George Graham years Under the management of George Graham, Arsenal once again rose to a regular spot at the top of the table, winning six major trophies in eight years. Arsenal's offside trap was known throughout the world (and provided a joke in The Full Monty), as was the paucity of their scoring rate and propensity for winning games by a single goal. This led to a standing joke among English football fans, the terrace chant "One-nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of the Village People song "Go West"). It is little known that the song originally came from French side Paris St. Germain, who sang "Allez Paris St. Germain" to this tune until Arsenal scored in their Cup Winners' Cup match; the travelling support liked the song so much they took it and began singing "One-nil" at the musically appropriate points, the "to the Arsenal" part being added shortly afterwards. The rise of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson provided a constant threat to Arsenal and any other team aiming at gathering silverware. Graham left Arsenal in 1994/95 after being embroiled in a kickbacks-for-transfer-contracts scandal. With his departure, Arsenal struggled under the caretaker-management of Graham's long-standing assistant Stuart Houston, although Houston did lead the Gunners to the Cup Winners' Cup final, in which they lost to Real Zaragoza thanks to a famous goal by Nayim. To add insult to injury, the goal has been immortalised in a chant often aimed at Arsenal fans. However, Arsenal's league form was so poor that they were in some danger of being relegated that season, although they later pulled clear to finish 12th (the last season to date in which they finished below Spurs in the table). It was obvious that Houston was not a viable long-term replacement for Graham and so Bruce Rioch was appointed to succeed him. Rioch's tenure in 1995/96 was very much a farce: while during pre-season he had signed Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt, two big-name signings of the sort that Arsenal fans had become severely un-accustomed to during Graham's years of relentlessly hoarding centre-halves, the side performed very inconsistently. Ian Wright was having problems adapting to playing alongside Bergkamp rather than a more traditional strike partner such as Kevin Campbell or Alan Smith and later clashed with his manager, at one point handing in a transfer request before changing his mind. Tony Adams was also beginning his descent towards rock bottom and Rioch himself was frustrated at the board's personal handling of transfer deals after the Graham scandal (beforehand, the manager was responsible for most aspects of signing players; now, he would simply provide the board with a list of names). Events came to a head shortly before the start of the 1996/97 campaign and Rioch was sacked, a move which came as something as a shock to most. Houston had stayed on as assistant manager with Rioch, but left when it became apparent that he was not going to get a chance to succeed him. Arsenal legend Pat Rice stepped into the breach for the start of the season while the board considered its options. The choice they made could (with the benefit of hindsight) quite probably be seen as the best single decision an Arsenal board has ever made. Wenger's Arsenal With the advent in 1996 of Arsène Wenger as manager, Arsenal rebuilt their squad with a crop of French players seemingly unknown to all but Wenger. This first batch included Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira. Wenger also decided to keep on Pat Rice as his assistant. The team has improved consistently under Wenger's management, achieving a UEFA Cup place in 1996/97 with six minutes left in the last game of the season. Not satisfied with this, Wenger then led the club to their second ever double in the following season. A more barren period followed as Arsenal failed to win anything for the next few years: they blew a winning position in the 1998/99 Championship, losing it on the final day, after having lost the last ever FA Cup Semi-Final Replay to Manchester United in extra time (thanks in no small part to Dennis Bergkamp missing a penalty in the last minute of normal time). This incident also began a sequence of Arsenal failing to score penalties, both in normal play and during shoot-outs. This has cost them, among other things, the UEFA Cup Final in 2000, which they lost on penalties to Turkish side Galatasaray; however, the problem has been partly alleviated since Thierry Henry cemented his position. Arsenal also had problems adjusting and improving enough to be able to compete among Europe's best in the UEFA Champions League. The agonising manner in which Arsenal lost the 2001 FA Cup Final to Liverpool was a blow to the club's ambitions; in that season, Arsenal had finished second but the league was lost to Manchester United a month before the end of the season. Arsenal hit back the following year as the club did the double for the second time under Wenger. They have since won the FA Cup (2003) and Premier League (2004), the latter memorably clinched at White Hart Lane. The team has yet to register top finishes in the UEFA Champions League, where they have still not progressed beyond the quarter-finals stage. This may have contributed to Thierry Henry's failure to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2003, although he is the third player to win the PFA Player of the Year award in two different seasons (after Mark Hughes and Alan Shearer), and is the first to win the award in two consecutive seasons. So far, Henry and other key players have shown loyalty to the team and its manager by renewing their contracts rather than departing for the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, where they would almost certainly be paid greater amounts of money than at Arsenal. 2003-present In the 2003/04 season, Arsenal won or drew all their top-flight league fixtures, something only Preston North End had previously achieved in the inaugural season of 1888/89. Arsenal's feat is regarded as the more impressive, as football today is a far more competitive game than a century ago, and also Arsenal had to play 38 games compared with Preston's 22, and participated in domestic and continental cup competitions as well. To mark this incredible feat Arsenal were awarded a scale replica of the F.A. Premier League trophy, with the gold and silver colours reversed. The Ladies' team, who have been the dominant force in English women's football since 1992, winning nineteen major trophies to date, lifted both the Women's Premier League and the Women's FA Cup this season. The final game was marked with anticipation, as a win by Fulham would gift them the title, while a draw would hand Charlton Athletic the championship. In the end, Arsenal achieved a double Premier League title and a combined treble. The club's unbeaten streak in the Premiership stretched to 49 matches, replacing the old record of 42 games set by Nottingham Forest. The Gunners' incredible run finally ended in controversial circumstances at the home of their arch-rivals, Manchester United, where Arsenal were beaten 2-0 on October 24, 2004. |
|