History of Dial Square, The Present Arsenal Football Club

Founded: 1886

Country: England

City: London

Plumstead Common (1887)

Sportsman Ground (1887–1888)

Manor Ground (1888–1890)

Invicta Ground (1890–1893)

Manor Ground (1893–1913)

Highbury (1913–2006)

Emirates Stadium (2006 Till date)

First Division/Premier League: 13

FA Cup: 13

League Cup: 2

UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1

Charlie Buchan, Scot Alex James, Ted Drake, Pat Jennings, Liam Brady, Charlie George, Joe Mercer, Cliff Bastin, Frank McLintock, Tony Woodcock, Paul Merson, David Rocastle, Nigel Winterburn, Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Lee Dixon, Sol Campbell, David Seaman, Ray Parlour, Patrick Vieira, Fredrik Ljungberg, Dennis Bergkamp, Ashley Cole, Robert Pirès, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fàbregas, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Mesut Özil, Olivier Giroud

Arsenal FC started as a team named Dial Square in 1886 – the workers were blacksmiths that built cannons, which is the reason for the club being known as the Gunners.

Shortly thereafter, the club turned professional and changed its name to Woolwich Arsenal, becoming a full-fledged member of the Football League in 1893 (the first club from the south parts of the country).

The following period was fraught with difficulties for the club; besides not being able to form a team that could challenge for the title, jim(owner) was geographically isolated from the rest of the league, which resulted in low attendances.

After teetering dangerously close to bankruptcy, the club was bought out by businessman Henry Norris in 1910 and moved to North London in 1913 (Highbury became the new home ground). The following year, the club was renamed to Arsenal.

The club’s first rise to prominence came with the hiring of Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. In the process of modernizing many aspects of the club, Chapman improved the training regimen and made efficient changes to the club’s traditional 2-3-5 formation.

After following this up by signing a couple of star players, Arsenal won their first major trophy in 1930, defeating Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the FA Cup final. This proved to be the beginning of a fruitful period for the club; during the 30s, they claimed five league titles and another FA Cup trophy.

They bounce back onto the track of prosperity with another two League titles (1948, 1953) and an FA Cup (1950). Those were the last trophies the club would see for the next seventeen years with their best players retiring or leaving for more successful clubs, Arsenal fell into a slump of mediocrity. Only after winning their first Double in 1971, it seemed like the club’s fortunes had finally returned.

Yet, this was followed up by a long string of second-place league finishes and losses in Cup finals, with the 1979 FA Cup victory being the only bright spot on their record during this time. They were a little more successful under George Graham, whose defense-oriented mindset proved a good fit with the club’s players. players

During Graham’s nine years in charge (1986–1995), Arsenal won two League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, as well as their first and only Cup Winners’ Cup by defeating Parma 1-0 in the final (they had been very close to win the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup Final, losing against Valenca in the final after a penalty shootout).

Arsenal would become far more watchable with the appointment of Arsène Wenger. The then-unknown French manager immediately transformed the club into a goal-scoring behemoth, partly by successful import of French players such as Robert Pirés, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.

Henry was incredibly effective as the lace of the team’s attack. Between 1996 and 2004, Arsenal claimed three League titles and three FA Cups, with the 2003–2004 season being particularly noteworthy due to the club not losing a single game in the Premier League. The squad that consist several legends like j. Ljungberg, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole & other versatile team players was powered by Henry’s 30 goals in 37 matches and were later dubbed “The Invincibles”.

Arsenal has been known as a club that doesn’t buy big names, but instead finds talents through excellent scouting. An exception, however, was the transfer of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid in 2013. He did cost £42.5 million, a transfer record for the club.

 Being one of the top clubs in England, the 38,419 seats at Highbury was not sufficient, Arsenal wanted to expand the stadium, but wasn’t given permission due to some historical reasons.

They had to build a new stadium and in 2006 Emirates Stadium was ready for first kick-off with the stadium having the capacity of over 60,000 spectators. While the club was always among the favorites to win the league, a string of major injuries and/or disappointing losses would inevitably see them tail off in the title race.

The early crest included three canons and was influenced by the heraldic arms of the Royal Borough of Greenwich (the club was in its early years based in Borough). Over the years the Arsenal logo has been modernized into a more simplified fashion.

Winners (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

Runners-up (9): 1925–26 , 1931–32 , 1972–73 ,
1998–99 , 1999–2000 , 2000–01 , 2002–03 ,
2004–05 , 2015–16

Runners-up (1): 1903–04

Winners (2): 1986–87 , 1992–93

Runners-up (6): 1967–68 , 1968–69 , 1987–88 ,
2006–07 , 2010–11 , 2017–18

League Centenary Trophy
Winners (1): 1988

–FA Cup

Winners (13): 1929–30 , 1935–36 , 1949–50 ,
1970–71 , 1978–79 , 1992–93 , 1997–98 , 2001–02 , 2002–03 , 2004–05 , 2013–14 , 2014–15 ,
2016–17

Runners-up (7): 1926–27 , 1931–32 , 1951–52 ,
1971–72 , 1977–78 , 1979–80 , 2000–01

–UEFA Champions League (European Cup before 1992)

Runners-up (1): 2005–06

–UEFA Europa League (UEFA Cup before 2009)

Runners-up (2): 1999–2000 , 2018–19

–UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (European Cup Winners’ Cup before 1994)

Winners (1): 1993–94

Runners-up (2): 1979–80 , 1994–95

–UEFA Super Cup (European Super Cup before 1995)

Runners-up (1): 1994

–Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Winners (1): 1969–70

–Most league appearances: David O’Leary , 558

–Most FA Cup appearances: David O’Leary, 70

–Most League Cup appearances: David O’Leary, 70

–Most European appearances: Thierry Henry, 86

–Youngest first-team player: Cesc Fàbregas , 16 years, 177 days (against Rotherham United, League Cup third round, 28 October 2003)

–Oldest first-team player: Jock Rutherford, 41 years 159 days (against Manchester City , First Division , 20 March 1926)

–Most consecutive appearances: Tom Parker , 172 (from 3 April 1926 to 26 December 1929)

–Most separate spells with the club: Hugh McDonald , 3 (1905–06; 1908–10 and 1912–13)

–Most goals in a season: Ted Drake , 44 goals (in the
1934–35 season)

–Most league goals in a season: Ted Drake, 42 goals in the First Division , 1934–35

–Most goals in a 38-game league season: Thierry Henry , 30 goals (in the Premier League , 2003–04 ),
Robin van Persie , 30 goals (in the Premier League,
2011–12 )

–Most goals in a match: Ted Drake, 7 goals (against
Aston Villa , First Division, 14 December 1935)

–Youngest goalscorer: Cesc Fàbregas, 16 years, 212 days (against Wolverhampton Wanderers , League Cup fourth round, 2 December 2003)

–Youngest hat-trick scorer: John Radford , 17 years, 315 days (against Wolverhampton Wanderers, First Division, 2 January 1965)

–Oldest goalscorer: Jock Rutherford, 39 years, 352 days (against Sheffield United, First Division, 20 September 1924)

•Top goalscorers 

Thierry Henry is the all-time top goalscorer for Arsenal. He passed Ian Wright ‘s eight-year record after scoring twice in a European tie against Sparta Prague in October 2005. [72] Henry was Arsenal’s leading goalscorer for seven consecutive seasons, from 1999–2000 to 2005–06 .

•Record transfer fees received

–First full-time manager: Thomas Mitchell managed Arsenal from March 1897 to 1898.

–Longest-serving manager: Arsène Wenger, 21 years, 224 days (1 October 1996 to 13 May 2018)

–Shortest tenure as manager: Pat Rice – 2 weeks, 3 days (13 September 1996 to 30 September 1996)

–Highest win percentage: Pat Rice (caretaker), 75.00%

–Lowest win percentage: Steve Burtenshaw , 27.27%

–First match: Eastern Wanderers 0–6 Royal Arsenal,
friendly , 11 December 1886

–First FA Cup match: Royal Arsenal 11–0 Lyndhurst , first qualifying round, 5 October 1889

–First Football League match: Woolwich Arsenal 2–2
Newcastle United, Second Division , 2 September 1893

–First match at Highbury : Woolwich Arsenal 2–1
Leicester Fosse , Second Division, 6 September 1913

–First League Cup match: Arsenal 1–1 Gillingham , second round, 13 September 1966

–First European match: Stævnet (Copenhagen XI) 1–7 Arsenal, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round, 25 September 1963 –First home match at Wembley Stadium : Arsenal 2–1
Panathinaikos , UEFA Champions League group stage, 30 September 1998

–First match at the Emirates Stadium : Arsenal 2–1
Ajax , testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp , 22 July 2006

–Record league win: 12–0 against Loughborough , Second Division, 12 March 1900

–Record FA Cup win: 12–0 against Ashford United, first qualifying round, 14 October 1893

–Record League Cup win: 7–0 against Leeds United, second round, 4 September 1979 )

–Record European win:

7–0 against Standard Liège , UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup second round, 3 November 1993.

7–0 against Slavia Prague , UEFA Champions League group stage, 23 October 2007

–Record league defeat: 0–8 against
Loughborough , Second Division, 12 December 1896

–Record FA Cup defeat:

0–6 against Sunderland , first round, 21 January 1893

0–6 against Derby County , first round, 28 January 1899

0–6 against West Ham United, third round, 5 January 1946

–Record League Cup defeat: 0–5 against Chelsea, fourth round, 11 November 1998 –Record European defeat:

0–4 against Milan, UEFA Champions League round of 16, 15 February 2012

1–5 against Bayern Munich , UEFA Champions League group stage, 4 November 2015

1–5 against Bayern Munich , UEFA Champions League Last 16, 15 February 2017

1–5 against Bayern Munich , UEFA Champions League Last 16, 7 March 2017.