Arsenal Football Club History & Profile

see also Arsenal Football Club Museum

Club History & Facts:

Arsenal Football club were formed in 1886 in Woolwich, south-east London, they were first known as Woolwich Arsenal. The Arsenal Chairman is Peter Hill-Wood and Arsenal has been a family owned club for many generations. Their home ground was in Plumstead South London before they moved to north London to play their football at Highbury in Islington in 1913.

They moved again 93 years later in 2006 to their current home The Emirates Stadium which holds 60,000 just minutes walk from Highbury. Arsenal also play in a red strip and are nicknamed the Gunners by the North London faithful. Arsenal had their most consistently successful period in the 1930,s winning five first division championships. The man responsible was Gunners heroine Manager Herbert Chapman who made that side the best in English league football. Former record goal scoring Cliff Bastin was a vocal point in the team, his goals were hugely responsible for Arsenal’s glory.

The reds achieved their first of three double winning sides in 1971, they beat a strong Liverpool team to claim that year’s Fa Cup. The double winning heroes included irishman Liam Brady. They won the fa cup again in 1979 in a thrilling encounter with Manchester United. Alan Sunderland scored the dramatic goal to beat United 3-2 and lift their first trophy in 8 years. Arsenal would experience a mediocre time until the arrival of ex player George Graham in 1986. He managed the side to the league cup trophy in 1987 with fellow Scotsman Charlie Nicholas one of the key figures in that triumph.

They went on to win the league title in 1989 and 1991 establishing Graham as arguably their best manager since Chapman 50 years before that. They continued to win cups with Graham in charge adding the Fa cup in 1993. Strikers Alan Smith and Ian Wright along with legendary captain Tony Adams were the stars during Grahams tenure before he was dismissed in 1995 due to improper transfer dealings.

Current manager Arsene Wenger took on the managers role in october 1996. and won Arsenal the Premiership in his first full season in charge in 1998 along with the fa cup for Arsenal’s second domestic double. They went trophy less for 4 years before recording another double in 2002, players such as Robert Pires, Freddie Ljunberg and all-time record goal scorer Thierry Henry were Wenger’s crown jewels. Arsenal made history in 2004 by going the entire 38 match season unbeaten, they were given the moniker ‘The invincible’s’ and were arguably the greatest side in Premiership history. In 2005 they beat rivals Manchester United in the FA cup final, Wengers 3rd fa cup in 4 years. Captain Patrick Vieira scored the winning penalty, but it was his departure that saw a recent demise and has sent Arsenal to 6 seasons without a trophy to put in their historic cabinet.

The Gunners managed to reach the Champions League in 2010 with a 3rd placed finish. It did end up as another disappointing season for the underachieving reds who once again ended the season trophy less. Despite a promising start to the season Arseanl fell away once again at the vital time of the season and went from being title favourites to finishing 4th and lost narrowly to their old enemy Barcelona with the 4-3 defeat over two legs in the second round. Perhaps the biggest embarassment for the Gunners though was the 2011 Carling Cup final defeat to relegated Birmingham City, the Londoners were punished for a typical defensive horror show and lost to the Midlands club in the last minute.

Arsenal European Performance / Record

In 1994 the Reds won the European Cup Winners Cup, In 2006 they reached the 2006 Champions League final but lost out to a great Barcelona side 2-1. They finished the 2007-2008 season 3rd in the league without any silverware. Arsenal were comfortably knocked out in the Semi-finals of the 2009 Champions League by runners up Manchester United, a performance which humbled many of the North London faithful. Barcelona broke Arsenal hearts once again in the 2010 Quarter final when they comfortably defeated The reds over two legs.

Despite much domestic glory Arsenal have experienced much heartbreak in the Champions league and have failed to ever lift the trophy, the one cup which has always eluded the Londoners..

Travelwise

Access to the Emirates Stadium, Holloway, Ashburton Grove N5 1BU

The closest tube station to the stadium is Arsenal station which is served by the Piccadilly Line and is approximately a 3 minute walk to the ground. Holloway Road station is located within a few minutes walk of the Stadium, but is exit only on match days.

Stations Close By: – Highbury and Islington station which is served by national rail as well as the Victoria tube line and is a 15 minute walk from the stadium. Finsbury Park station has a national rail service as well as the Victoria and Piccadilly tube lines and is roughly 20 minutes walk away from the stadium. Drayton Park is the nearest Railway station to the Emirates, but is closed on match days. The main bus stops are located on Holloway Road (43 & 271), with numerous other routes stopping within a 10 – 15 minute walk to the ground close by in Seven Sisters Road, Blackstock Road and Highbury Corner,.

It is advised not to drive to the stadium on match days as there are many issues with parking etc… It is strongly recommended that fans should use public transport to get to the game.

Links

Arsenal Football Club Official Website

Arsenal Supporters Clubs Worldwide

For Sale £15

	F.A Cup Final
	Sat 8th May 1971
	Season 1970- 71
	Arsenal 2 Liverpool 1 !
	Buyer collects N. London

post@euromost.info