CLUB HONOURS from 1889-1919

This is a list of seasons played by Arsenal Football Club in English and European football, from 1889 (when Royal Arsenal, as the club were known then, first took part in the FA Cup) to the present day. It details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top scorers for each season.Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Top scorer[1]
Division P W D L F A Pts Pos
1889-90 — – – – – – – – – Fourth qualifying round Humphrey Barbour, James Meggs, Hope Robertson & William Scott 4
1890-91 — – – – – – – – – First round Harry Offer 1
1891-92 — – – – – – – – – First round George Davie 1
1892-93 — – – – – – – – – First round Charles Booth & James Henderson 5
1893-94 Div 2 28 12 4 12 52 55 28 9th First round James Henderson 18
1894-95 Div 2 30 14 6 10 75 58 34 8th First round Peter Mortimer 14
1895-96 Div 2 30 14 4 12 58 42 32 7th First round Henry Boyd 13
1896-97 Div 2 30 13 4 13 68 70 30 10th Fifth qualifying round Patrick O'Brien 14
1897-98 Div 2 30 16 5 9 69 49 37 5th First round Fergus Hunt 15
1898-99 Div 2 34 18 5 11 72 41 41 7th First round Fergus Hunt 15
1899-00 Div 2 34 16 4 14 61 43 36 8th Third qualifying round Ralph Gaudie 15
1900-01 Div 2 34 15 6 13 39 35 36 7th Second round Ralph Gaudie 8
1901-02 Div 2 34 18 6 10 50 26 42 4th First round Tommy Briercliffe 11
1902-03 Div 2 34 20 8 6 66 30 48 3rd First round Tim Coleman 19
1903-04 Div 2 34 21 7 6 91 22 49 2nd Second round Tommy Shanks 25
1904-05 Div 1 34 12 9 13 36 40 33 10th First round Charlie Satterthwaite 11
1905-06 Div 1 38 15 7 16 62 64 37 12th Semi-finals Tim Coleman 15
1906-07 Div 1 38 20 4 14 66 59 44 7th Semi-finals Charlie Satterthwaite 19
1907-08 Div 1 38 12 12 14 51 63 36 14th[2] First round Peter Kyle 9
1908-09 Div 1 38 14 10 14 52 49 38 6th Second round Thomas Fitchie 10
1909-10 Div 1 38 11 9 18 37 67 31 18th Second round David Neave 5
1910-11 Div 1 38 13 12 13 41 49 38 10th Second round Jackie Chalmers 16
1911-12 Div 1 38 15 8 15 55 59 38 10th First round Alf Common 17
1912-13 Div 1 38 3 12 23 26 74 18 20th Second round Charles Lewis 4
1913-14 Div 2 38 20 9 9 54 38 49 3rd First round Pat Flanagan 13
1914-15 Div 2 38 19 5 14 69 41 43 5th[3] Second round Harry King 29
In 1915 first-class football was suspended due to World War I, with regional competitions contested instead. The following standings are all unofficial.
1915-16 Lon Comb 36 13 9 14 62 77 35 11th[4] — Harry King 19
1916-17 Lon Comb 40 19 10 11 62 47 48 5th — Jimmy Chipperfield 12
1917-18 Lon Comb 36 16 5 15 76 57 37 5th — Fred Pagnam 14
1918-19 Lon Comb 36 20 5 11 2 4 45 2nd —JIMMY CHIPPERFIELD and Wally Hardinge

PAST MANAGERS

nformation correct as of October 4 2008. Only competitive matches are counted. Wins, losses and draws are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shoot-outs are not counted.[7]Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win% Honours
Thomas Brown Mitchell August 1897 March 1898
George Elcoat March 1898 May 1899 43 23 6 14 92 55 53.49
Harry Bradshaw August 1899 May 1904 189 96 39 54 329 173 50.79
Phil Kelso July 1904 9 February 1908[8] 152 63 31 58 225 229 41.45
George Morrell 10 February 1908[8] 19 April 1915[9] 292 103 73 116 358 411 35.27
James McEwen*[A] 19 April 1915 c. 10 April 1919[10] 1 1 0 0 7 0 100.0
Leslie Knighton c. 10 April 1919[10] 16 May 1925[11] 268 92 62 114 330 380 34.46
Herbert Chapman 11 June 1925[12] 6 January 1934 403 201 97 105 864 598 49.88 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup, 3 Charity Shields
Joe Shaw*[B] 6 January 1934 28 May 1934[13] 23 14 3 6 44 29 60.87 1 First Division Championship
George Allison 28 May 1934[13] 31 May 1947[14] 279 129 74 76 534 327 46.24 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup, 1 Charity Shield
Tom Whittaker[C] 2 June 1947[14] 24 October 1956 429 202 106 121 798 568 47.09 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup, 2 Charity Shields
Jack Crayston† 24 October 1956 19 May 1958[15] 77 33 16 28 142 142 42.86
George Swindin 21 June 1958[16] 1 May 1962[17] 179 70 43 66 320 320 39.11
Billy Wright 1 May 1962[17] 13 June 1966[18] 182 70 43 69 336 330 38.46
Bertie Mee† 20 June 1966[19] 4 May 1976 539 241 148 150 739 542 44.71 1 First Division Championship, 1 FA Cup, 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Terry Neill 9 July 1976[16] 16 December 1983[16] 416 187 117 112 601 446 44.95 1 FA Cup
Don Howe† 16 December 1983 22 March 1986[20] 117 54 32 31 187 142 46.15
Steve Burtenshaw* 23 March 1986[20] 14 May 1986[16] 11 3 2 6 7 15 27.27
George Graham 14 May 1986[16] 21 February 1995[21] 460 225 133 102 711 403 48.91 2 First Division Championships, 1 FA Cup, 2 Football League Cups, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 1 Charity Shield
Stewart Houston* 21 February 1995[21] 15 June 1995[16] 19 7 3 9 29 25 36.84
Bruce Rioch 15 June 1995[16] 12 August 1996[22] 47 22 15 10 67 37 46.81
Stewart Houston* 12 August 1996[22] 13 September 1996[23] 6 2 2 2 11 10 33.33
Pat Rice* 13 September 1996[23] 30 September 1996[24] 4 3 0 1 10 4 75.00
Arsène Wenger[D] 1 October 1996[24] Present 679 391 169 119 1228 613 57.5

GUNNERS COACHING STAFF

Current coaching staff
As of 23 October 2009.[94][95][96]Position Name
Manager Arsène Wenger
Assistant manager Pat Rice
First team coach Boro Primorac
Reserve team coach Neil Banfield
Youth team coach Steve Bould
Goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton
Fitness coach Tony Colbert
Physiotherapist Colin Lewin
Club doctor Gary O'Driscoll
Kit manager Vic Akers
Chief scout Steve Rowley
Head of youth development Liam Brady

GUNNERS TEAM

o. Position Player
1 GK Manuel Almunia
2 MF Abou Diaby
3 DF Bacary Sagna
4 MF Cesc Fàbregas (captain)
5 DF Thomas Vermaelen
6 DF Philippe Senderos
7 MF Tomáš Rosický
8 MF Samir Nasri
9 FW Eduardo
10 DF William Gallas
11 FW Robin van Persie
12 FW Carlos Vela
14 FW Theo Walcott
15 MF Denílson
No. Position Player
16 MF Aaron Ramsey
17 MF Alexandre Song
18 DF Mikaël Silvestre
19 MF Jack Wilshere
20 DF Johan Djourou
21 GK Łukasz Fabiański
22 DF Gaël Clichy
23 MF Andrei Arshavin
24 GK Vito Mannone
27 MF Emmanuel Eboué
28 DF Kieran Gibbs
30 DF Armand Traoré
32 MF Fran Mérida
52 FW Nicklas Bendtner



For recent transfers, see Arsenal F.C. 2009–10 transfers.
Reserve squad
See Arsenal F.C. Reserves and Arsenal F.C. Academy.
As of 24 November 2009.[85][86]No. Position Player
33 MF Nacer Barazite
34 DF Kyle Bartley
35 MF Francis Coquelin
36 DF Thomas Cruise
37 DF Craig Eastmond
38 MF Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
39 DF Cedric Evina
40 FW Luke Freeman
No. Position Player
41 MF Emmanuel Frimpong
42 DF Kerrea Gilbert
43 MF Conor Henderson
46 DF Luke Ayling
48 MF Mark Randall
49 GK James Shea
51 FW Gilles Sunu
54 MF Sanchez Watt


Players out on loan
As of 24 November 2009.No. Position Player
44 DF Gavin Hoyte (at Brighton & Hove Albion until 2 January 2010)[87]
45 MF Henri Lansbury (at Watford until 31 December 2009)[88]
47 FW Rhys Murphy (at Brentford until 24 Febuary 2010)[89]
50 FW Jay Simpson (at Queens Park Rangers until July 2010)[90]
No. Position Player
53 GK Wojciech Szczęsny (at Brentford until 20 December 2009)[91]
— DF Håvard Nordtveit (at Nürnberg until July 2010)[92]
— DF Pedro Botelho (at Celta Vigo until July 2010)[93]


Notable players
For a list of every Arsenal player with 100 or more appearances, see List of Arsenal F.C. players
For record appearance and goalscorer statistics, see Arsenal F.C. records#Player records

HISTORY OF ARSENAL

Arsenal was originally formed in 1886 by a group of workers at the Woolwich armaments factory in south London, and the club was first known as Dial Square. The name was soon changed to Royal Arsenal, though when the club turned professional in 1891 the name changed again to Woolwich Arsenal. The prefix was later dropped and the club became Arsenal Football Club. For a period it was popularly known as The Arsenal though this was never the club's official name.

Arsenal was elected to the 2nd division of the Football League in 1893, and gained promotion to the 1st division in 1904. The club survived in the first division for nine years, high points of that period coming in 1906 when the semi-final of the FA Cup was reached, and in 1909 when a 6th place finish in the league was achieved.

Unfortunately, relegation followed in 1913, but coincided with a major landmark in the club's history. Having played for the previous 27 years at various sites in Plumstead, South London, the club moved to its present site at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, North London. The move was instigated by the then chairman, Sir Henry Norris who foresaw greater potential for the club in the north London catchment area. It almost paid off in the following season when Arsenal missed out on promotion only on goal average, and 5th place was achieved in 1915 before the hiatus caused by the 1st World War.

Promotion back to the 1st division was engineered by the colourful Sir Henry under somewhat contentious circumstances when the Football League resumed in 1919, and Arsenal has not been relegated since, thus holding the record for unbroken tenure in the top division of English football. The incident remains the source of rancour with local rivals Tottenham, along with the earlier move when Arsenal were seen as invading their new neighbours' north London fiefdom. Spurs had finished the 1915 season at the bottom of the 1st division, but after the war the league was expanded to include an extra 2 teams in division 1, so Tottenham expected to stay up after the top 2 teams in Division 2 were promoted. However, Norris somehow managed to get Arsenal elected in their place, and elements of the Tottenham support have nursed a grievance ever since.

The following few seasons saw the club maintain a mediocre standard adequate to remaining in the 1st division, but insufficient to progress. However, after narrowly avoiding relegation in 1925, another turning point in Arsenal's fortunes was reached. The legendary Herbert Chapman, fresh from guiding Huddersfield to the first 2 of their 3 successive titles, was appointed manager and over the next 9 years transformed Arsenal from an average first division club into one of the great names in world football.

The visionary Chapman had the nearby underground station renamed in honour of the club, introduced the now famous white sleeves and pioneered the use of shirt numbers. Under his guidance Arsenal gradually progressed in the late twenties, coming 2nd in the league in 1926 and reaching the Cup final in 1927. The club went on to dominate English football over the following decade. The FA Cup became Arsenal's first major trophy in 1930, and the first league championship in 1931 was followed by a further 4 titles and another FA Cup over the next 7 years.

1937-38 brought Arsenal's 5th league title in seven years, though the near invincible team which had dominated the decade was generally held to be in decline. After the interruption caused by the 2nd World War, Tom Whittaker forged another great team, and 2 more titles (1947-48 and 1952-53) and an FA Cup (1950) were won over a 5 year period, with the 1951-52 season also seeing the Gunners narrowly miss the elusive double, runners up in both league and FA cup.

Whittaker's death in 1956 marked a decline in fortunes of the great club, and a barren 14 years followed. Even the appointment as manager of Billy Wright, one of the great names in English football, failed to turn things round, and it took an unknown to bring the glory days back to Highbury. Bertie Mee was previously the club physio and had minimal experience in professional football when he took over as manager in 1966, but he led the club to Wembley in the League cup final in 1968 (though that ended in ignominious defeat to 3rd division Swindon), and 2 years later Arsenal captured their first European trophy, winning the UEFA Fairs Cup against Anderlecht, having to come back from a 3-1 first leg deficit to do so.

The following season was to be the most successful in the club's history so far, when the mythical domestic double was achieved. The league was clinched on the sweetest of nights, a 1-0 win at the home of the old enemy Tottenham, and the FA Cup followed a few days later, a Charlie George goal winning the cup in extra time at Wembley against Liverpool.

The double success wasn't really built upon, despite reaching the FA cup final again in 1972 and finishing second in the league the following season, and Arsenal became a mid-table team once again during the mid seventies. Towards the end of the decade however, under Terry Neill and Don Howe, some success returned when Arsenal set another record, reaching the FA Cup final in 3 successive seasons. Only the middle visit to Wembley, in 1979, was triumphant, a thrilling last minute 3-2 victory against Manchester United. The following season saw cup heartbreak when Arsenal lost the FA Cup final to West Ham, and 4 days later the European Cup Winners Cup final to Valencia on penalties.

Success became more habitual once again during the George Graham era. After Graham took over in 1986, Arsenal won six major trophies in the next eight years. A League Cup triumph in 1987 was built upon, and in 1989 the league championship returned to Highbury after an 18 year absence when Arsenal pipped Liverpool to the title on goals scored. In the most exciting finish to the league season ever witnessed in English football the final, deciding match at Anfield was won 2-0 with a now definitive last minute winner by Michael Thomas. Another championship followed two years later when Arsenal lost only one league game and conceded just 18 goals in 38 matches.

Arsenal's Premiership history - 1992 to the present

In the Premiership's inaugural year 1992-93, still under Graham's stern control, Arsenal again made history by becoming the first team ever to win both domestic cups in the same season, Sheffield Wednesday the unfortunate victims on both occasions. Arsenal came from behind to win the Coca Cola Cup 2-1, and eventually also won the FA Cup, winning the replay by the same score with a last minute extra time winner from Andy Linighan. The following year an ambition for further European success was fulfilled by winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in Copenhagen. Graham's workmanlike side were underdogs against the star-studded Parma of Italy, but defended doggedly for much of the match to carve out a trademark 1-0 win with Alan Smith's winner.

However, despite the cup successes with what at the time was regarded as an ageing team, Arsenal's league results during the first 3 years of the Premiership were distinctly ordinary, and following the Rune Hauge bung affair Graham was disgraced and sacked in the middle of the 94-95 season. Under the temporary stewardship of Stewart Houston, Arsenal did manage to reach the Cup Winners Cup final for the 2nd successive year, but lost in the final seconds of extra time to the Spanish team, Real Zaragoza.

The period 1995-1997 turned out to be transitional and somewhat turbulent. Bruce Rioch was installed as manager in June 1995, but after guiding Arsenal to UEFA Cup qualification with a 5th place finish in the league and significantly signing Dennis Bergkamp, he was inexplicably sacked in August 1996 just days before the new season was due to begin. The sanity and motives of the Arsenal board were questioned, but eventually the Frenchman Arsene Wenger was confirmed as Arsenal's new manager at the end of September. He quickly impressed the Arsenal faithful by the calm and assured way he took control, and without making any major changes (apart from introducing the majestic Vieira) took Arsenal to 3rd in the league, and qualification for the UEFA Cup again, by the end of the season.

The following season, 1997-98, he made history by winning the double for the second time. With some astute close season signings from abroad he revitalised and reforged the team, apart from the astonishingly enduring defence. The new faces took time to bed in, and the early part of the season reached a low point with a UEFA Cup 1st round exit at the hands of PAOK Saloniki, but the ultimate result was an exhilirating and irresistible late season surge. At one point in January 13 points behind Manchester United, Arsenal eclipsed their rivals in the title run-in to clinch their first Premiership (and 11th league) title with 2 games to spare. The second half of the double, the FA Cup, was acheived with a comfortable 2-0 win against Newcastle at Wembley in May.

The team almost performed similar heroics the following season, but this time fell just short, losing unluckily in FA Cup semi-final extra time to Manchester United, and missing out on the title to the same deadly rivals by just one point. In a sign of times to come, a reserve Arsenal side played in the Worthington cup, losing heavily in the 4th round to Chelsea. The Gunners also disappointed in the Champions' League, failing to get beyond the group stages as self inflicted woes cost them dear.