Arsenal is a professional football club from the northern London. The club is playing in the English Premier League and is one of the most successful clubs in England. It has become the Premier League 13 times, 10 times - the FA Cups champions. The club is a record holder in terms of seasons won in a row having spent in the English highest division (since1919 till present time).

History of Arsenal professional football club

The Arsenal club was established in 1886 at the south-east of London by the workers of the artillery plant ‘Royal Arsenal’ which is located in Woolwich. At first the club was called ‘Dial Square’ (by the name of one of the workshops in the plant). Its first match Arsenal held on December 11, 1891. After acquiring the professional status in 1891, the club was renamed into “Woolwich Arsenal”.  Fans also called the club “Woolwich reds”. “Woolwich Arsenal” entered the Football League in 1893 and became the first southern team that had managed to do it.

The club started in the Second Division and in 1904 it got into the First Division. However, the geographical distance of the club became the reason of low attendance of matches, consequently it led to financial problems. In 1913 (shortly after returning to the Second Division) the club crossed the Thames to occupy the new stadium “Highbury” located at the north part of London.  Highbury was a home stadium of Arsenal until August 2006 when the club built a new 60-thousand stadium “Emirates”). The team threw away the part “Woolwich” from its name in 1914. The 1919 season Arsenal ended on the fifth place but, nevertheless, it was moved to the First Division. The peripeteia of this returning still remains the most shameful page in the history of Arsenal.

In 1925 the post of the manager was taken by Herbert Chapman. This person brought to Arsenal the first minutes of success. In 1925 the offside rule was changed. Chapman was the first who realized what benefit could be made out of this correction of the rules. His revolutionary tactics and ways of training in combination with star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin helped the club to become the leader in the 1930s. Between 1930 and 1938 Arsenal won 5 times in the First Division and twice became the FA Cup champions though Chapman didn’t see all these achievements as he died in 1934 from pneumonia. After his death the duties of the manager and the coach were divided between several people. Officially, George Allison was the coach of the team but in practice he dealt with organizational issues. Under his supervision Highbury turned to one of the most modern stadiums in England of that time. Moreover, Allison was engaged into inviting new players to the club.  

George Allison left the post of the manager at the end of the 1946-47 season. His post was taken by Tom Whittaker. Then the team experienced serious problems. In the championship Arsenal took only the 13th place, nine players who had played before in the main squad were killed during the war, Bastin and Drake left football. Whittaker changed the team’s tactics turning it extremely defensive. Moreover, the main responsibility fell on the veterans. Thanks to the 32-year-old Joe Mercer, the 35-year-old Ronny Rook and the 33-year-old Les Compton, Arsenal became the champion again. Rook scored 33 goals and became the best striker of the First Division. This achievement is the record of England for the after-war championships. 

The veterans were no longer able to pull the team. The changes of generations were necessary. After pouring in fresh blood, Arsenal couldn’t compete in the championship but in the 1949-50 season the team won the FA Cup. In the 1951-52 season the team was one step from a double (win in the championship and in the Cup) but because of a series of injuries the team stayed with nothing. In the next season Arsenal took the second place in the championship but this victory became the beginning of the period during which ‘the Gunners’ didn’t show any exceptional results, step by step turning into a second-rate team.

On June 20, 1966 Bertie Mee was appointed the manager of the club.This decision of the management was accepted ambiguously because Bertie had never played football before and didn’t have any experience as a coach. But the history showed that the decision was justified. Mee came down to business enthusiastically bringing more professionalism into the club’s performance. He strengthened the attack at the cost of young and talented players. More experienced and mature footballers played in the defense. Arsenal met with failure in two finals of the League Cup but in 1970 ‘the Gunners’ took the trophy at last. The 1970-71 season Arsenal won its first double. But after this Arsenal suddenly lost the coach of the youth team and the doctor. The most serious strike to the team was the leave of the first team coach Donald Howe who had played his role in the history of the team’s growth. After this the key players started leaving the team. Bertie Mee wasn’t able to find substitution to them and in the summer 1976 he resigned.

Terry Hill was appointed manager of the club. In the past he was the captain of the team. He returned Donald Howe in the staff. Under his guidance such future legends like David O'Leary played in the club. Arsenal played in three finals in a row in the FA Cups  (1978, 1979, 1980), being the first club that had been able to do it at Wembley. In the course of time the results went downhill (Bradley’s leave played its role in it as Bradley was the think-tank of Arsenal) and in 1983 Don Howe was appointed the coach of the team. Donald had proved himself to be a good assistant but he failed as a manager. Having reached nothing for three years of his governing, he resigned from the post of the main coach.

In 1986 Arsenal was headed by the legendary player of the team George Graham. Graham chose the defensive tactics for the club making the opponent stick in the middle of the field and relying only on long passes. This style was often criticized but it brought results. Gradually the Scotsman managed to create an incredibly strong defence line that consisted of  Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn. In the 1988-89 season Arsenal became the FA Cup champion for the first time in 18 years.
In the season 1992-93 Arsenal became the first team that managed to win at one time the FA Cup and League Cup. In 1994 Arsenal won the Cup Winners' Cup and this trophy became Graham’s last one in Arsenal. In February 1995 he was sacked with scandal. Bruce Rioch was appointed coach of Arsenal, though he wasn’t able to get on well with the players and soon he left this post.

The appointment of Arsène Wenger at the post of the team’s coach came as a surprise for the press and fans. At that time Wenger was working in Japan and very few people heard about him.   No one could suppose this person would become the most successful manager in the history of . It was his idea to buy Dennis Bergkamp. At that time Bruce Rioch was still the coach of the team. He was the initiator of building a new stadium instead of Highbury which didn’t correspond to the modern requirements of the large club. Under his guidance a great number of young talented players transformed into the world-class stars. Moreover, Кроме того, Wenger abandoned the previous boring and monotonous style of Arsenal. He implanted bright attacking football to the team which together with the overall efficiency conquered the hearts of many fans. Arsène Wenger became the first foreign coach who won the FA Cup.

In 1999 Anelka left for Real after a long-lasting saga and Thierry Henry who was fated to become one of the symbols and the best striker in the history of Arsenal was purchased in return. Wenger also had to compensate the loss of some other key players. Apart from Henry other famous players such as Robin van Persie, Sylvain Wiltord. In the 2001-02 season ‘the Gunners’ took the next double. But the peak of the team fell on the 2003-04 season when Arsenal didn’t lose any match and the series of 49 lossless matches became the record one in England.

Titles:

Premier League (13): 1930/31, 1932/33, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1937/38, 1947/48, 1952/53, 1970/71, 1988/89, 1990/91, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2003/04
FA Cup (10): 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 20

02, 2003, 2005
League Cup (2): 1987, 1993

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1): 1970
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1994

Current squad

1.    Aaron Ramsey (midfielder)
2.    Abou Diaby (midfielder)
3.    Alexandre Song (midfielder)
4.    Andrey Arshavin (attacking midfielder)
5.    Armand Traore (left back)
6.    Bacary Sagna (right back)
7.    Carlos Vela (forward)
8.    Cesc Fàbregas (midfielder)
9.    Denilson (midfielder)
10.    Eduardo (forward)
11.    Emmanuel Eboue (right back)/(right winger)
12.    Fran Merida (midfielder)
13.    Francis Coquelin (midfielder)
14.    Gaël Clichy (left back)
15.    Gilles Sunu (forward)
16.    Jack Wilshere (attacking midfielder)
17.    Johan Djourou (center back)
18.    Kerrea Gilbert (right back)
19.    Kieran Gibbs (left back)
20.    Lukas Fabianski (goal-keeper)
21.    Manuel Almunia (goal-keeper)
22.    Mark Randall (midfielder)
23.    Mikael Silvestre (center back)
24.    Nacer Barazite (midfielder)
25.    Nicklas Bendtner (forward)
26.    Philippe Senderos (center back)
27.    Robin Van Persie (forward)
28.    Samir Nasri (attacking midfielder)
29.    Sanchez Watt (forward)
30.    Theo Walcott (right winger)/ (forward)
31.    Thomas Vermaelen (center back)
32.    Tomas Rosicky (attacking midfielder)
33.    Vito Mannone (goal-keeper)
34.    William Gallas (center back)
35.    Wojciech Szczesny (goal-keeper)

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