In the beginning (Dial Square):

Founded in 1886 the team was nameless, had no pitch and no kit.

The first game they played was against Eastern Wanderers on 11th December 1886; the game was played on the Isle of Dogs and (despite the lack of crossbars or pitch markings) the team claimed a 6-0 win.

In this early period, the team were referred to as Dial Square (the name of one of the workshops within the Arsenal where many of the 15 founders worked). At a team meeting on Christmas Day 1886, the team were renamed Royal Arsenal (possibly a combination of the venue for the meeting (the Royal Oak) and their place of work).

Their first kit comprised red shirts, generously donated by Nottingham Forest (in fact Arsenal continued to play in red shirts until Chapman added white sleeves to the kit for the home game against Liverpool on 4th March 1933). 1887 saw the first match against Tottenham Hotspur (on the Tottenham Marshes) on the 19th November. The Royal Arsenal lost the game 2-1 and, as Arsenal had arrived late, the game only lasted 75 minutes!

Between 1886 and 1913, the team played in four different locations within Plumstead. The 1886-87 season was played on the Common.

The club then moved to the Sportsman Ground for the 1887-88 season until their match against Milwall on 11th February 1888 when the Sportsman Ground was flooded and the team hastily relocated to the Manor Ground. The Manor Ground remained the clubís home turf until, following their success in the early rounds on the FA Cup in 1890, they moved to the new ground, the Invicta.

The Invicta was their first club with a stand, terraces and a dressing room. It was only after the landlordís attempted increase in rent, following their elevation to the football league in 1893, that the Arsenal moved back to the Manor Ground where they remained until their move to Highbury in 1913.

In 1891 the team turned professional and renamed Woolwich Arsenal (although the Football League continued to refer to the team as Royal Arsenal until 1896). Interestingly, despite the name they never played a game in Woolwich (their Plumstead grounds being a mile from the Woolwich Arsenal).

Woolwich Arsenal suffered their record defeat on 12th December 1896 away against Loughborough when the team were thrashed 8-0. A little over three years later they returned the compliment when, on the 12th March 1900, Loughborough were beaten 12-0 at the Manor Ground; Arsenalís record win.

History Overview

In the beginning, 1886, the team played at and were referred to as Dial Square. Later switching to Woolwich they became known as Woolwich Arsenal. In 1903 Woolwich Arsenal gained promotion to the first division. After a disastrous season in 1919, the team moved to Highbury and dropped the "Woolwich" from their name. Sir Henry Norris did some amazing dealings to get Arsenal promoted back to the first division (at the expense of Spurs), where Arsenal have remained ever since. Between 1925 and 1934, Chapman took the helm and Arsenal adopted the famous 3-4-3 formation and the ubiquitous red and white shirts. On Chapman's death Allison took over and held the club in the first division, during this period Cliff Bastin established a goal scoring record of 178 goals (a record not broken until 50 years later when Ian Wright scored his 179th against Bolton Wanderers). Tom Whittaker took the reins from Allison and despite some lean years lifted the fa cup and won the division. Like Chapman, Whittaker died young whilst in command of Arsenal. Following Whittaker came some unmemorable years, before Bertie Mee took the helm in 1966, Mee's most famous achievement would be the double in 1970. After Neil and Howe's years in control, George Graham (himself a player of the double season) took over, until the infamous bung scandal that cost him his job in 1995. Eventually, Arsenal would see the arrival of Arsene Wenger who achieved the unbelievable in his first full year, Arsenal's second double.

Arsenal's full honours