Arsenal Football Club History

• 1886 - a group of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory decided to organize a football team. The first name given to the team was Dial Square. Shortly afterwards it was renamed Royal Arsenal.
• December 11, 1886 - the first match took place. The result of this game was a 6-0 victory over Eastern Wanderers.
• 1887 - 1891- the Club continued playing in local cup competitions. The new name Royal Arsenal was adopted.
• 1891 - run up to a professional level the Club changed its name to Woolwich Arsenal.
• 1893 - Woolwich Arsenal joined the Football League.
• 1904 - the club was taken over by Henry Norris. Woolwich Arsenal had financial problems and effectively bankrupt. The main reason was the club's geographic isolation that resulted in lower attendances of Woolwich Arsenal than those of other clubs.
• 1913 - H. Norris wanted to get more popularity for the team, so he thought to move the club elsewhere. After relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London.
• 1914 - The Club changed its name, they dropped "Woolwich" and became simply Arsenal.
• 1919 - Arsenal only finished in fifth place, but nevertheless were elected to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
• 1925 - Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager. H. Chapman had already won the league twice with Huddersfield Town in 1923–24 and 1924–25 , and he brought Arsenal their first period of major success.
• 1930 - 1931 - Herbert Chapman's revolutionary and unique tactics and training, along with such star players as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football. He guided the Gunners to their first major trophy — beating Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup Final. The following season Arsenal were champions for the first time.
• 1930 - 1933 - Arsenal won two League Championships.
• 1932 - H. Chapman was reportedly behind the renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to " Arsenal ", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club.
• 1933 - 1935 - the Club won a hattrick of league titles (which has only been achieved by four teams in the top flight). Sadly Chapman died of pneumonia in the middle of the run, by which time he had reached legend status.
• 1936 - the club was taken over by George Allison and Joe Show. The dominance continued for the rest of the decade. During this time Arsenal had some of the game's greatest players on its books: Alex James, Ted Drake, Cliff Bastin, David Jack, Eddie Hapgood and George Male were just some of the names in what was one of the greatest sides ever to play in the Football League.
• 1933 - 1938 - Arsenal won three more titles.
• 1935 - 1936 - winning one more FA Cup.
• 1947 - The Second World War stopped Arsenal in their tracks but Tom Whittaker became manager and Arsenal enjoyed a second period of success.
• 1947 - 1948, 1952 -1953 - Arsenal won the league and became Champions.
• 1949 - 1950 - the Gunners won the FA Cup.
• 1960 - in spite of the success of previous years the fortunes of the players waned. The club spent this time in trophy less mediocrity because they were unable to attract players of the same high-level as they had in the 1930s. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a period of 1962 and 1966.
• 1966 - Bertie Mee became a manager of Arsenal.
• 1969 - 1970 - After losing two League Cup finals Arsenal lifted their first ever European trophy (the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup), beating Anderlecht 4-3 over the two legged Fairs Cup Final.
• 1970 - 1971 - Arsenal won the league and FA Cup ‘double'.
• 1972 - 1973 - Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up.
• 1971 - 1980 - Arsenal lost three FA Cup finals.
• 1978 - 1979 - the club won FA Cup, with a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United that is widely regarded as a classic. It was the only one club's success during this time.
• 1979 - 1980 - the club lost the 1979–80 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties.
• 1986 - the beginning of the third period of glory. The former player George Graham (a member of the 1971 ‘double' winning team) became a manager.
• 1988 - 1989 - Arsenal won the League Cup beating fellow title challengers Liverpool with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season.
• 1990 - 1991 - the Gunners won the League Championship, with a famous last minute goal from Michael Thomas clinching the title with a 2-0 win at Anfield.
• 1992 - 1993 - Arsenal became the first club to win both domestic cups in the same season. Sheffield Wednesday were the beaten side on both occasions. Graham's era of success was rounded off the following season. A superb run in the European Cup Winners' Cup ended with 1-0 win over Parma in the Final in Copenhagen, thanks to Alan Smith's strike.
• 1995 - George Graham had left the Club. He was succeeded by Bruce Rioch, who was in charge for one season, during which time he signed Dennis Bergkamp. Arsenal failed to retain the trophy the following season, losing to Real Zaragoza.
• 1996 - the existing English talent, new training tactics and several foreign players were brought by Arsène Wenger. He became a new manager.
• 1997 - 1998 - Wenger's first full season at Highbury, Arsenal achieved, for the second time in the Club's history, the League and FA Cup ‘double' enabling the Frenchman to pick up the Carling Manager of the Year Award. Dennis Bergkamp was also named Football Writers' Association (FWA), Player of the Year and PFA Player of the Year. A tremendous season was rounded off perfectly for French Internationals Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira as the Gunners stars played their part in France's victorious World Cup campaign.
• 2001 - Arsenal appeared in the UEFA Cup Final where they lost on penalties. The Club reached the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League before being knocked out by Valencia.
• 2001 - 2002 - the fans were gratefully surprised by the third ‘double'. The Club beating Chelsea in the FA Cup and ending their league campaign with a 13-game unbeaten run. Also this period remained in funs memory as 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. All this season Arsenal remained unbeaten at home. For that, Arsène Wenger was named Barclaycard Manager of the Year while Robert Pires was named Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.
• 2002 - 2003 - with the help of the Gunners' 1-0 victory over Southampton at Cardiff, Arsenal became the first English club in more than 20 years to retain the FA Cup. Season 2003/2004 saw Arsenal win back the title in unbeatable fashion managing to go though the entire league season without a single defeat.
• August, 2004 - Arsenal broke Nottingham Forest's record for the longest all-time unbeaten sequence in English league football. The Gunners made it five trophies in four seasons by winning the FA Cup in a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United.
• 2005 - 2006 - The main event of the season was the Club's amazing journey to the 2005- 2006 Champions League Final in Paris. A 12- game unbeaten run, including a new competition record for the most amount of consecutive clean sheets (10 in all), saw Arsenal line-up against Barcelona in the Final on May 17 at the Stade de France.
• July, 2006 - the Club left , their stadium Highbury where they spent 93 years, and moved to new one. It is the Emirates Stadium in nearby Holloway. Arsenal's alltime record at Highbury was: Played 2,010; Won 1,196; Drawn 475; Lost 339; Goals Scored 4,038; Goals Conceded 1,955.

Now the history of Arsenal is continue and soon it will be enriched by the new records and wins.