thumb|[[Thierry Henry became Arsenal's record goalscorer in October 2005.|alt=Freddie Ljunberg, wearing gloves and a redcurrant football shirt applauds the crowd. A stand full with people and man wearing a football shirt are visible in the background.]]
Arsenal Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Islington, London. The club was formed in Woolwich in 1886 as Dial Square before being renamed as Royal Arsenal, and then Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. In 1914, the club's name was shortened to Arsenal F.C. after moving to Highbury a year earlier. After spending their first four seasons solely participating in cup tournaments and friendlies, Arsenal became the first southern member admitted into the Football League in 1893. In spite of finishing fifth in the Second Division in 1919, the club was voted to rejoin the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Since that time, they have not fallen below the first tier of the English football league system and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight. The club remained in the Football League until 1992, when its First Division was superseded as English football's top level by the newly formed Premier League, of which they were an inaugural member.
The list encompasses the honours won by Arsenal at national, regional, county and friendly level, records set by the club, their managers and their players. The player records section itemises the club's leading goalscorers and those who have made most appearances in first-team competitions. It also records notable achievements by Arsenal players on the international stage, and the highest transfer fees paid and received by the club. Attendance records at Highbury, the Emirates Stadium, the club's home ground since 2006, and Wembley Stadium, their temporary home for UEFA Champions League games between 1998 and 1999, are also included.
Arsenal have won 14 top-flight titles, and hold the record for the most FA Cup wins, with 14. The club's record appearance maker is David O'Leary, who made 722 appearances between 1975 and 1993. Thierry Henry is Arsenal's record goalscorer, scoring 228 goals in total.
All figures are correct as of 6 August 2023.
Honours and achievements
thumb|The [[Premier League commissioned a unique gold trophy to commemorate Arsenal's unbeaten season of 2003–04.]]
Arsenal's first ever silverware was won as the Royal Arsenal in 1890. The Kent Junior Cup, won by Royal Arsenal's reserves, was the club's first trophy, while the first team's first trophy came three weeks later when they won the Kent Senior Cup. Their first national major honour came in 1930, when they won the FA Cup. The club enjoyed further success in the 1930s, winning another FA Cup and five Football League First Division titles. Arsenal won their first league and cup double in the 1970–71 season and twice repeated the feat, in 1997–98 and 2001–02, as well as winning a cup double of the FA Cup and League Cup in 1992–93. In 2003–04, Arsenal recorded an unbeaten top-flight league season, something achieved only once before by Preston North End in 1888–89, who only had to play 22 games. To mark the achievement, a special gold version of the Premier League trophy was commissioned and presented to the club the following season. Their most recent success came in 2023, when they defeated Manchester City 4–1 on penalties to secure their 17th Community Shield title.
Arsenal's honours and achievements include the following:
EFL and Premier League
- First Division (until 1992) and Premier League
:Winners (14): 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, 2025–26
:Runners-up (12): 1925–26, 1931–32, 1972–73, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2015–16, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25
- Second Division (until 1992)
:Runners-up (1): 1903–04
- EFL Cup
:Winners (2): 1986–87, 1992–93
:Runners-up (7): 1967–68, 1968–69, 1987–88, 2006–07, 2010–11, 2017–18, 2025–26
- League Centenary Trophy
:Winners (1): 1988 (record)
The FA
- FA Cup
:Winners (14): 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, 2019–20 (record)
:Runners-up (7): 1926–27, 1931–32, 1951–52, 1971–72, 1977–78, 1979–80, 2000–01
- FA Community Shield
:Winners (17): 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2023
:Runners-up (7): 1935, 1936, 1979, 1989, 1993, 2003, 2005
UEFA
- UEFA Champions League
:Runners-up (2): 2005–06, 2025–26
- UEFA Europa League
:Runners-up (2): 1999–2000, 2018–19
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
:Winners (1): 1993–94
:Runners-up (2): 1979–80, 1994–95
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
:Winners (1): 1969–70
- UEFA Super Cup
:Runners-up (1): 1994
Regional honours
London FA
- London Senior Cup
:Winners (1): 1890–91
:Runners-up (1): 1889–90
- London Challenge Cup
:Winners (11): 1921–22, 1923–24, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1969–70 (record)
:Runners-up (6): 1914–15, 1925–26, 1936–37, 1960–61, 1965–66
- London Charity Cup
- Most League Cup appearances: David O'Leary, 70
- 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 appearances
Competitive matches only, includes appearances as substitute. Numbers in brackets indicate goals scored.
- Most league goals in a season: Ted Drake, 42 goals in the First Division, 1934–35
- Youngest hat-trick scorer: John Radford, 17 years, 315 days (against Wolverhampton Wanderers, First Division, 2 January 1965) Henry was Arsenal's leading goalscorer for seven consecutive seasons, from 1999–2000 to 2005–06.
Competitive matches only. Numbers in brackets indicate appearances made.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:4%;"|Rank
! scope="col" style="width:14%;"|Player
! scope="col" style="width:14%;"|Years
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|League<sup>a</sup><br>Games/Goals
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|FA Cup<br>Games/Goals
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|League Cup<br>Games/Goals
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|European<br>Games/Goals
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Other<sup>b</sup><br>Games/Goals
! scope="col" style="width:10%;"|Total<br>Games/Goals
|-
|1
! scope="row"|
| , 2012
| 258 / 175
| 26 / 8
| 3 / 2
| 86 / 42
| 4 / 1
| 377 / 228
|-
|2
! scope="row"|
| 1991–1998
| 221 / 128
| 16 / 12
| 29 / 29
| 21 / 15
| 1 / 1
| 288 / 185
|-
|3
! scope="row"|
| 1929–1947
| 350 / 150
| 42 / 26
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 4 / 2
| 396 / 178
|-
|4
! scope="row"|
| 1964–1976
| 379 / 111
| 44 / 15
| 34 / 12
| 24 / 11
| 0 / 0
| 481 / 149
|-
|rowspan="2"|5
! scope="row"|
| 1923–1931
| 204 / 125
| 27 / 14
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 1 / 0
| 232 / 139
|-
! scope="row"|
| 1934–1945
| 168 / 124
| 14 / 12
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 2 / 3
| 184 / 139
|-
|7
! scope="row"|
| 1948–1956
| 226 / 125
| 17 / 10
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 1 / 2
| 244 / 137
|-
|8
! scope="row"|
| 2004–2012
| 193 / 96
| 17 / 10
| 12 / 6
| 53 / 20
| 2 / 0
| 278 / 132
|-
|9
! scope="row"|
| 1926–1938
| 333 / 107
| 39 / 17
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 2 / 1
| 374 / 125
|-
|10
! scope="row"|
| 1928–1934
| 181 / 113
| 25 / 10
| 0 / 0
| 0 / 0
| 2 / 1
| 208 / 124
|}
<div style="font-size: 90%;">
:a. Includes the Football League and the Premier League.
:b. Includes goals and appearances (including those as a substitute) in the FA Charity/Community Shield.
</div>
International
180px|thumb|[[Caesar Jenkyns was the first Arsenal player to receive an international cap.|alt=A black-and-white photograph of footballer Caesar Jenkyns, wearing a vertically stripped shirt.]]
This section refers only to caps won while an Arsenal player.
- First capped player: Caesar Jenkyns, for Wales against Scotland on 21 March 1896
- First capped player for England: Jimmy Ashcroft, against Ireland on 17 February 1906
- Most capped player: Thierry Henry with 81 caps
- Most capped player for England: Kenny Sansom with 77 caps
- First players to play in the World Cup finals: Dave Bowen and Jack Kelsey, for Wales against Hungary on 8 June 1958
- First players to play in a World Cup for England: Graham Rix and Kenny Sansom against France on 16 June 1982
- Most players from one club in an England starting line-up: 7, against Italy – the so-called "Battle of Highbury" on 14 November 1934
- First player to play in a World Cup final: Emmanuel Petit for France against Brazil on 12 July 1998
- First players to win a World Cup winners' medal: Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira (1998 FIFA World Cup)
- First players to play in a European Championship final: Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira for France against Italy on 2 July 2000
- First players to win a European Championship winners' medal: Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira (UEFA Euro 2000)
Transfers
thumb|[[Mesut Özil's transfer to Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 broke the club's transfer record at the time by £27.4m.]]
thumb|[[Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's £35m transfer to Liverpool in 2017 was Arsenal's highest fee received for a player transfer. His record would later be matched by Folarin Balogun who joined Monaco for the same fee in 2023.]]
Declan Rice's transfer from West Ham United is Arsenal's record transfer fee paid for a player, the England international joined the club on 15 July 2023 for £100m, with another £5m in additional bonuses. According to Bob Wall, Chapman negotiated the transfer with Bolton's representatives in a hotel bar, his tactic being to drink gin and tonics without any gin in them, while asking the waiter to double the alcohol served to the other side. Chapman remained sober while the Bolton representatives got very drunk, and managed to haggle down the fee to a price he considered a bargain. Jack's transfer to Arsenal was the second time Jack broke the world football transfer record, the first time being his £3,500 move from Plymouth Argyle to Bolton Wanderers in 1920.
For consistency, where the report mentions an initial fee potentially rising to a higher figure depending on contractual clauses being satisfied in the future, only the initial fee is listed in the tables.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%; width:70%;"
|+ Record transfer fees paid by Arsenal
! Rank
! Player
! Fee ()
! Date
! Club transferred from
! class="unsortable" |
|-
| 1
| align="left" |
| £100m
| 15 July 2023
| align="left" | West Ham United
|
|-
| 2
| align="left" |
| £72m
| 1 August 2019
| align="left" | Lille
|
|-
| 3
| align="left" |
| £62m
| 28 June 2023
| align="left" | Chelsea
|
|-
| 4
| align="left" |
| £60m
| 23 August 2025
| align="left" | Crystal Palace
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 5
| align="left" |
| £56m
|
| align="left" |
|
|-
| align="left" |
| £56m
| 6 July 2025
| align="left" | Real Sociedad
|
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%; width:70%;"
|+ Record transfer fees that Arsenal have received
! Rank
! Player
! Fee ()
! Date
! Club transferred to
! class="unsortable" |
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1
| align="left" |
| £35m
| 30 August 2023
| align="left" | Monaco
|
|-
| 4
| align="left" |
| £28m
| 8 August 2019
| align="left" | Everton
|
|-
| 5
| align="left" |
| £27m
| 29 July 2024
| align="left" | Fulham
|
|}
Managerial records
- First full-time manager: Thomas Mitchell managed Arsenal from March 1897 to 1898.
- Longest-serving manager: Arsène Wenger – (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%
Club records
Matches
Firsts
- First match: Eastern Wanderers 0–7 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 top-flight match: Newcastle United 3−0 Woolwich Arsenal, 3 November 1904
- First match at Highbury: Woolwich Arsenal 2–1 Leicester Fosse, Second Division, 6 September 1913
- First match at the Emirates Stadium: Arsenal 2–1 Ajax, testimonial match for Dennis Bergkamp, 22 July 2006
- Record FA Cup win: 12–0 against Ashford United, first qualifying round, 14 October 1893
- Record European win: Additionally, Arsenal lost 0–9 to Chelsea in a wartime London Combination match on 21 April 1916, but this is not counted as an official first-class match.|group=lower-alpha Second Division, 12 December 1896
: 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 consecutive wins: 14, from 12 September 1987 to 11 November 1987
- Record consecutive wins coming from behind: 4, from 11 February 2012 to 12 March 2012
- Record consecutive defeats: 8, from 12 February 1977 to 12 March 1977
- Record consecutive league matches without a win: 23, from 28 September 1912 to 1 March 1913
- Fewest league goals scored in a season: 26 in 38 matches, First Division, 1912–13
- Most league goals conceded in a season: 86 in 42 matches, First Division, 1926–27 and 1927–28
- Fewest league goals conceded in a season: 17 in 38 matches, Premier League, 1998–99
Points
- Most points in a season:
- Two points for a win: 66 in 42 matches, First Division, 1930–31
- Three points for a win: 90 in 38 matches, Premier League, 2003–04
- Fewest points in a season:
- Two points for a win: 18 in 38 matches, First Division, 1912–13
Attendances
This section applies to attendances at Highbury, where Arsenal played their home matches from 1913 to 2006, the Emirates Stadium, the club's present home, and Wembley Stadium, which acted as Arsenal's home in the UEFA Champions League during the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons.
- Highest attendance at Highbury: 73,295, against Sunderland, First Division, 9 March 1935
- Lowest attendance at Highbury: 4,554, against Leeds United, First Division, 5 May 1966
- Highest attendance at the Emirates Stadium: 60,383 against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Premier League, 2 November 2019
- Lowest attendance at the Emirates Stadium: 25,909, against BATE Borisov, UEFA Europa League group stage, 7 December 2017
- Highest attendance Wembley Stadium: 73,707, against Lens, UEFA Champions League group stage, 25 November 1998
- Lowest attendance at Wembley Stadium: 71,227, against AIK, UEFA Champions League group stage, 22 September 1999
On 17 January 1948, a league-record attendance of 83,260 watched Manchester United play Arsenal at Maine Road. All of the top three attendances in league football occurred at Arsenal games. Despite having never won the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal have set numerous records in the competition. Between the 1998–99 and 2016–17 seasons, they participated in nineteen successive editions, a record only surpassed in Europe by Real Madrid. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann kept ten consecutive clean sheets in the run-in to Arsenal's first UEFA Champions League final and the defence went 995 minutes until conceding a goal. Arsenal were also the first British side to defeat Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund away from home, and both Milanese teams: Internazionale and Milan at the San Siro. They were also the first British side to win away to Juventus.
Global records
In August 1928, Arsenal, alongside Chelsea, made history by becoming the first football clubs to wear numbered shirts. A year earlier the first ever live radio commentary of a football match took place, between Arsenal and Sheffield United. Arsenal played in the first match broadcast live on television, against their reserve counterparts in 1937 and have since participated in the world's first live 3D and interactive football matches, both with Manchester United.
See also
- Football records and statistics in England
- Premier League records and statistics
Footnotes
References
General
Specific