Arsenal Football Club was founded in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south east London. Although at first the club was known as Dial Square but soon after it was changed to Royal Arsenal. In 1891 Royal Arsenal turned professional and again changed their name to Woolwich Arsenal. The year 1893 saw Woolwich Arsenal join the Football League, starting out in the Second Division but earned promotion to the First Division in 1904. After having joined the First Division the club experienced financial problems due to the club’s geographic isolation, which meant that the crowd attendances where not up to standard, in 1910 it declared bankruptcy. A takeover bid was proposed by Henry Norris, soon after Norris was granted his proposal and took over the club as chairman. Norris wanted to move the club somewhere else, after making a comeback in the Second Division in 1913, the club moved to the Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, London. This was when they changed their named once more, this time dropping Woolwich and leaving the name to be Arsenal Football Club. In 1919 Arsenal finished fifth on the table and was enough to send them into the First Division yet again at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur. In 1925 Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as their manager and it was Chapman who introduced Arsenal to their first period of success. Many believed it was his radical tactics and training which brought success to the club and clever signings of stars such as Alex James and former record holder Cliff Bastin. Under Chapman Arsenal won their first major trophy. The FA  in the 1929-1930 season and two League Championships in 1930-1931 season and the 1932-1933 season. Arsenal Football club are currently the only football team to have a London Underground station named after them as in 1932 the local underground station was renamed, from Gillespie Road to Arsenal. In 1934 Chapman unexpectedly died of pneumonia but Joe Shaw and George Allison continued his work, under Shaw and Allison, Arsenal won three more titles during the 1933-1934, 1964-1935 and 1937-1938 and an FA Cup in 1935-1936. Towards the end of the decade, with the war fast approaching, professional football was suspended due to World War II.

After the war, Tom Whittaker was appointed as manager and brought Arsenal to their second period of success, winning the League in the 1947-1948, 1952-1953 seasons and an FA Cup in the 1949-1950 season. After this spell Arsenal went somewhat downhill in the 1950’s and 1960’s, an era of winning not a single trophy due to the club’s lack of appeal to sign stars of the same talent as the ones in the 30’s. In 1966, to the nation’s surprise, physiotherapist Bertie Mee was appointed as manager. He won Arsenal their first European trophy (Inter-Cities Fairs Cup) in 1969-1970 season. The season after was more magical for the Gunners as they won their first Double (winning the League and FA Cup) and went on to win the FA Cup again in the classic match between Manchester United in 1978-1979 season. In 1986 Arsenal Football Club saw the return of George Graham but this time round as manager, he was the man that brought Arsenal to their third period of success. In his first season in charge Graham won the League Cup for Arsenal with further League titles in 1988-1989, 1990-1991, an FA Cup and League Cup double in 1992-1993 and their second European trophy, Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1993-1994 season. After having discovered the fact that Graham had taken certain amount of money from an agent for signings of several players, he was sacked in 1995. His successor Bruce Rioch left after one season over a dispute about transfer funds, but left his own legacy by signing one of Arsenal’s biggest stars, Dennis Bergkamp. In 1996, an unknown to many, Arsène Wenger was appointed as manager. Wenger brought in new tactics, training regimes and several foreign players which revolutionized the club and making it great as it is to this day. Wenger brought the club its’ second double in the 1997-1998 season and a third in the 2001-2002 season, an FA Cup in the 2004-2005 season. Something even greater was waiting for Arsenal, winning the league in the 2003-2004 season with exceptional style, going through the whole season without defeat. This earned them the nickname The Invincibles.