Arsenal FC History, Crest, Players, Rivalry and More

Arsenal FC is a professional English football club based on Islington, London. The club is located in the northern part of the city of London.  Arsenal currently play in the Premier League. The club's home ground is called the Emirates Stadium which opened in 2006 and holds 60,432 people.

History:

Arsenal was founded in late 1886 when a group of workers from the Woolwich Arsenal armament Factory in South London decided to form a soccer team. They called themselves dial Square as a reference to the sundial a top the entrance to their Factory. The club name was soon changed to Royal Arsenal though when the club turned professional in 1891.

The name changed yet again to Woolwich Arsenal. The club didn't have an established home for the first 27 years of their existence as they bounced around the plumsted area of South London. In 1913, the club was relegated to the second division and was suffering financial issues. At that time Sir Henry Norris came to the club's rescue.

Sir Henry acquired Arsenal and decided that there was greater potential for the team in North London. He moved them to the Highbury section of London where Arsenal still play to this day although they moved stadiums in 2006. The Woolwich was dropped from the name in 1915 and the club became Arsenal Football Club.

Nickname:

The club's nickname is the Gunners. The first mentions of the Gunners in reference to Arsenal were actually from opponent newspapers in the late 19th century. The nickname was used to describe the Arsenal fans who carried explosives that they would set off during matches. The club was actually more commonly nicknamed the Reds in its early days for playing in the color red. But over the years, the fans and club names sorted became synonymous and the club was referring to themselves as the Gunners by 1910 at the absolute latest.

Crest:

Arsenal crests have included some type of cannon or cannons dating all the way back to the very first crest used in 1888. The cannons come from the military influence in the borough of Woolwich. In 1949, Arsenal uncovered their most notable peaks the Victoria Concordia cressid or VCC peak. Victoria Concordia cresset is Latin for victory grows out of harmony. It was written by Harry Homer the program editor in 1948.

The club like the motto and officially adopted it by 1949 along with launching a new crest. The new crest featured Arsenal in a Gothic style typeface had a westward facing cannon. The borough of Islington coat of arms where the club's home stadium was located in Highbury and ermine which are those weird look and snowflake things all over the crest. The club used this same crest from 1949 until 2002 with some slight variations over the years.

In 2002, the club was constructing a new stadium the Emirates where they play after 2002 and they were transitioning into the modern world of soccer which has a very heavy business and commercial focus. The club wasn't able to trademark the VCC crest that they had been using for the past 50 years and not being able to trademark a crest or logo for a business is financial suicide. The club was forced into changing to this really simplified logo of Arsenal with the cannon.

The Art Deco crest includes the intertwine letters a and C with a soccer ball in the middle. The a referencing Arsenal, the soccer ball representing football which is what England and most of the rest of the world call soccer and C representing club so Arsenal Football Club. It was created by Herbert Chapman and a man named Claude Waterlow Ferrier in 1925 to rebrand the club and usher in a new era for Arsenal. 

Important Event:

• In 1914-15 season which was the final season before the First World War, Arsenal finished in fifth place in the second Division. The professional league stopped for World War 1. Play resumed in 1919 with the first division being extended by two clubs from twenty to twenty two teams. Most people expected that the two clubs that would have been relegated who were Chelsea and Tottenham to remain in the first division along with the top two teams from the second division Derby and Preston being promoted. At the Football League's annual general meeting on March 10 1919, League chairman John McKenna made a passionate speech to the election committee recommending Arsenal's promotion ahead of Tottenham Hotspur even though Arsenal finished 5th in the second division in that 1914 15 season. His speech concluded that Arsenal deserved a higher standing in the Football League having joined the Football League in 1893 15 years before Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners won the vote by 10 votes and it's still not known to this day whether Arsenal's owner at the time influenced McKenna's speech or not. More than 90 years later, Arsenal are the only club to have remained in the top flight of English soccer every season since the Football League resumed after World War one. They are also the only club to have achieved promotion not based on playing merit during this time.
• In the 2003-04 Premier League season, Arsenal won 26 matches and drew 12 in the Premier League to finish the season undefeated. They were the first English team to finish the season undefeated since the 1888-89 season and were nicknamed the Invincibles. The club clinched the title with a draw on April 25th 2004 at White Hart Lane home of you guessed it their rivals Tottenham Hotspur. For their achievement, Arsenal were awarded a special gold Premier League trophy and their unbeaten run actually stretched 49 matches from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004. The Invincibles were a legendary team of the modern era. 

Supporters:

Arsenal supporters are nicknamed Gunners which is not actually a play on the club's nickname. In the 1970s when hooliganism was prevalent throughout England, Arsenal hooligan firm was called by some opposing firms as the goon squad in a derogatory kind of way. The Arsenal firm decided to adopt the goon squad nickname as a source of pride. Naturally as the goon squad was closely associated with the team nicknamed the Gunners, this evolved into the firm being called Gunners. As hooliganism has died out at least firms have died out, all fans have kind of adopted the nickname of Gunners.

Players:

Arsenal FC have had numerous unimaginable players since their commencement. Tier Andriy was a club legend and record goalscorer for the club. Dennis Bergkamp was an inventive striker who had impeccable control and scored amazing wonder goals. Tony Adams was nicknamed mr. Arsenal because he spent his entire 22 year playing career with Arsenal. Patrick Vieira was a combative centre midfielder who was and an astounding physical presence that combined incredible technical skills on the ball and Ian Wright was a lethal goal scorer who helped the club win many trophies.

Managers:

The club's two most important managers in their entire history are Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger.

Chapman was the very first modern manager in the world of soccer. He was a revolutionary and was the first person to control all aspects of running a soccer club. From player signings to training to match day tactics and running the club as a business Chapman was in charge. He was also one of the first tactical pioneers in the world of soccer inventing the WM formation. He was hired by Arsenal in the summer of 1925 and set the club on a path of dominance in the 30s after winning their first FA Cup in 1930. He caught pneumonia in January of 1934 while watching an Arsenal 13 match and passed away shortly thereafter. Chapman's leadership enabled Arsenal to continue their domination after his death until World War two. 

Arsene Wenger is the other most important manager in the club's history. He is a divisive figure for Arsenal fans but his resume is incredibly impressive. He was appointed manager on October 1st 1996 from the awesomely named Japanese Club Nagoya Grampus 8 where he was fairly unknown to English fans. He was a tactical pioneer. He did uh sure in a new age of possession based beautiful passing and flowing attacking soccer to the Premier League. He got it Arsenal to their first ever Premier League title in the 1997-98 season which was his first full season in charge. He also won the title in the Oh 1 Oh 2 season before making history in the oh three oh four season as manager of the Invincibles. He has won seven FA Cups a record for any manager and was voted manager of the year three times. He is Arsenal's longest ever serving manager and doesn't always get recognized for his efforts in managing the club's transition to a new stadium and into the modern age of soccer as big business.

Rivalry:

• The Chelsea rivalry dates back many years with each squad going through cyclical success but the modern rivalry has really heated up. This is due to three things  1)Both clubs are based in London 2)Chelsea's other historic rivals of Fulham and QPR have faded from prominence in recent years and 3)Roman Abramovich is acquisition of Chelsea in 2003 and subsequent influx of billions of pounds into the club turned them into a rival title contender overnight.
  
• Manchester United and Arsenal each have a glorious history in English soccer but it was always one or the other winning titles while the other faded to mid table obscurity or worse. That was until Arsene Wenger took over Arsenal in 1996 and built the club in two title contenders. Manchester United were the dominant squad at the time winning many Premier League titles in those early years and they continued to be a title contender famously Roy Keane who was Manchester United's combat centre midfielder and Patrick Vieira Arsenal's own combative centre midfielder had some epic battles in the late 90s and early 2000s. That made this rivalry into one of the most fierce and intense rivals at that time.
  
• Third rival of Arsenal FC is Tottenham Hotspur. The rivalry began when Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1913 which was only about five miles from where Tottenham Hotspur played at White Hart Lane. The rivalry escalated with that famous vote in 1919 with Arsenal being promoted to the first division at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur. Years of animosity between the clubs and important matches being played only a few miles apart have really helped this North London derby grow into one of the most intense rivalries in the Premier League. It is also helped that Spurs have been building a more formidable squad the last five years.
  

Statistics:

• Arsenal FC have spent 101 seasons in the top flight including more than 90 consecutive seasons. 
• The club has 30 major trophies including an English record, 13 FA Cups, 13 first division or Premier League titles, two League Cups and one UEFA Cup Winners Cup. 
• The club's record of first team appearance holder is David O'Leary with 772 appearances. 
• The club's record goal scorer is Thierry onry with 228 goals. 
• The club's record transfer purchase was Pierre Emerick albumen yang from German club Borussia Dortmund on January 31st 2018 for about 56 million pounds and the club's record transfer sale was Alex oxlade-chamberlain to Liverpool FC on August 31st 2017 for about 35 million pounds with a potential five million pounds.