Arsenal F.c.

Arsenal Football Club (often simply known as Arsenal or The Arsenal, or by their nickname The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London. They play in the Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won thirteen First Division and Premier League titles and ten FA Cups. They hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and are the only Premier League side to have completed a season unbeaten.

History

Arsenal were founded in 1886 and were the first Southern club to join the Football League, in 1893. They won their first major trophies in the 1930s, with five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years they became the second club of the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double in 1970–71, and during the past twenty years have recorded a series of successes – in this time Arsenal have won a Cup Double, two further League and FA Cup Doubles, and became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League Final.

The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, which have evolved through history. Similarly, the club have changed location over time; the team were initially founded in Woolwich, south-east London, and in 1913 they moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury. In 2006 they made a less drastic move to their current home, the Emirates Stadium in nearby Holloway.

Arsenal have a large fanbase, who hold a string of long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they regularly contest the North London derby. Arsenal are the third richest club in the world, valued at over $1.2 billion as of 2009, and, thanks to their stature, have regularly featured in portrayals of football in British culture. Arsenal Ladies are the most successful English club in women's football and are also affiliated with the club.

Some extra information: Arsenal History

Crest

Unveiled in 1888, Royal Arsenal's first crest featured three cannon viewed from above, pointing northwards, similar to the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich. These can sometimes be mistaken for chimneys, but the presence of a carved lion's head and a cascabel on each are clear indicators that they are cannon. This was dropped after the move to Highbury in 1913, only to be reinstated in 1922, when the club adopted a crest featuring a single cannon, pointing eastwards, with the club's nickname, The Gunners, inscribed alongside it; this crest only lasted until 1925, when the cannon was reversed to point westward and its barrel slimmed down. In 1949, the club unveiled a modernised crest featuring the same style of cannon below the club's name, set in blackletter, and above the coat of arms of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington and a scroll inscribed with the club's newly-adopted Latin motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit "victory comes from harmony", coined by the club's programme editor Harry Homer. For the first time, the crest was rendered in colour, which varied slightly over the crest's lifespan, finally becoming red, gold and green. Because of the numerous revisions of the crest, Arsenal were unable to copyright it. Although the club had managed to register the crest as a trademark, and had fought (and eventually won) a long legal battle with a local street trader who sold "unofficial" Arsenal merchandise, Arsenal eventually sought a more comprehensive legal protection. Therefore, in 2002 they introduced a new crest featuring more modern curved lines and a simplified style, which was copyrightable. The cannon once again faces east and the club's name is written in a sans-serif typeface above the cannon. Green was replaced by dark blue. The new crest was criticised by some supporters; the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association claimed that the club had ignored much of Arsenal's history and tradition with such a radical modern design, and that fans had not been properly consulted on the issue.

Until the 1960s, a badge was worn on the playing shirt only for high-profile matches such as FA Cup finals, usually in the form of a monogram of the club's initials in red on a white background.

The monogram theme was developed into an Art Deco-style badge on which the letters A and C framed a football rather than the letter F, the whole set within a hexagonal border. This early example of a corporate logo, introduced as part of Herbert Chapman's rebranding of the club in the 1930s, was used not only on Cup Final shirts but as a design feature throughout Highbury Stadium, including above the main entrance and inlaid in the floors.From 1967, a white cannon was regularly worn on the shirts, until replaced by the club crest, sometimes with the addition of the nickname "The Gunners", in the 1990s.

In the 2011–2012 season, Arsenal will celebrate their 125th year anniversary. The celebrations will include a modified version of the current crest worn on their jerseys for the season. The crest is all white, surrounded by 15 oak leaves to the right and 15 laurel leaves to the left. The oak leaves represent the 15 founding members of the club who met at the Royal Oak pub. The 15 laurel leaves represent the design detail on the six pence pieces paid by the founding fathers to establish the club. The laurel leaves also represent strength.To complete the crest, 1886 and 2011 are shown on either sides of the motto "Forward" at the bottom of the crest.

 

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  Arsenal's first crest from 1888

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  The 'monogram' badge as used in the 1930 FA Cup Final

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  The 'Art Deco' badge as used in the 1952 FA Cup Final

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  A version of the Arsenal crest used from 1949 to 2002

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  The Arsenal logo used from 2002 onwards (with the exception of the 2011-12 season)

•     The Arsenal logo, which commemorated its 125th anniversary, was used only in the 2011-12 season

Honours

Domestic

• First Division (until 1992) and 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, 2003–2004

2003-2004

The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 38 game league season and the second team overall (the first was Preston North End in 1889, 115 years earlier, during a 22 game league season) and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the season.

• FA Cup

10: 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005

• League Cup

 2: 1987, 1993

• FA Community Shield (FA Charity Shield before 2002)

7: 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (4 shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004

European

• European Cup Winners' Cup

1: 1993–94

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

1: 1969–70

Notable statistics

Arsenal's tally of 13 League Championships is the third highest in English football, after Manchester United (19) and Liverpool (18), while the total of 10 FA Cups is the second highest, after Manchester United (11). Arsenal have achieved three League and FA Cup "Doubles" (in 1971, 1998 and 2002), a feat only previously achieved by Manchester United (in 1994, 1996 and 1999), and in 1993 were the first side in English football to complete the FA Cup and League Cup double. They were also the first London club to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, in 2006, losing the final 2–1 to Barcelona.

Arsenal have one of the best top-flight records in history, having finished below fourteenth only seven times. Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the period 1900–1999, with an average league placing of 8.5. In addition, they are one of only six clubs to have won the FA Cup twice in succession, in 2002 and 2003.Arsenal also hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the Premier League at 49 games, and are the only team to have gone an entire Premier League season unbeaten in 2003–04.