Arsenal Football Club is one of the most historic and successful football clubs in the history of English football. Throughout their history, they have been respected for their results and the way they have played the beautiful game.
Only Everton has spent more time in the English top flight than the club from north London. They also hold the distinction of being the club that has been in the top flight for the most consecutive seasons.
4 – For those asking, Arsenal relegated from top-flight in 1913, Everton most recently in 1951, Liverpool 1954 & Man Utd 1974. Plunge.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 18, 2013
Arsenal, along with Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, have not been relegated in the Premier League era.
The early history of Arsenal and their only relegation
The Gunners have not suffered relegation in the current era of the English game. In fact, the north London outfit has suffered relegation from the English top-flight just once in their history.
Arsenal was founded as Dial Square in 1886 by 15 munition workers in Woolwich. However, in January 1887, the club was renamed Royal Arsenal. The new club gained some early success and became the first capital club to become professional in 1891.
The Gunners had another name change in 1893, this time becoming Woolwich Arsenal. The North London club was not a founding member of the Football League. However, they became the first team from the south of England to become members.
They started in the Second Division but enjoyed their first taste of top-flight football by 1904. However, even in the first tier, the team struggled to draw crowds, and the club suffered financial difficulties. By 1910, the Gunners were close to going out of business.
Businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall saved the club, believing a move to a new location would be beneficial. This seemed like a logical idea, as financial pressures played a big part in the Gunners’ only relegation to the Second Division in 1913.
Soon after suffering relegation, Arsenal moved across the river to the Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. The Gunners didn’t spend long in the second tier, though, as in 1919, somewhat luckily, they were elected to be members of the newly expanded First Division.
This was a controversial decision, as they were chosen ahead of North London rivals Tottenham. The league had only returned in 1919 after the end of the First World War, and they had finished just fifth place in the second-tier table in season 1914/15, the last football campaign before the war had begun.
Shortly after their admission into the English top flight, the north London club started to become known as just Arsenal with no prefix.
A new location and the Herbert Chapman era
The move to Highbury paid off handsomely, as attendances doubled from their old home, the Manor. Bigger attendances meant a bigger budget.
That bigger budget was used to bring Huddersfield Town’s highly accomplished manager, Herbert Chapman, to the North London club in 1925. It turned out to be a pivotal moment in the club’s history.
Chapman transformed the team over the next decade. In 1930, the Gunners claimed their first major domestic silverware as the North London club won the FA Cup.
The victory was just the start of their success in the English game. The club became English champions for the first time in season 1930/31, and the team once again claimed the league title in season 1932/33.
In an unexpected turn of events, the great Chapman, in the middle of season 1933/34, died of pneumonia. It was a sad end to his Arsenal reign.
The Gunners went on to enjoy enormous success with Chapman’s team under Joe Shaw and George Allison. In fact, they won three more First Division titles in seasons 1933/34, 1934/35, and 1937/38, as well as winning the FA Cup in 1936.
Unfortunately, the Second World War hit Arsenal hard, as they lost more players in the fighting than any other club. However, the Gunners were champions once again in season 1947/48. The title win meant that they had matched the record for the most English titles won by any team.
They repeated the trick in the season 1952/53 to become the most successful team in the English game.
A lack of trophies before George Graham
Incredibly, after their last league win in 1953, the Gunners endured an 18-year trophy drought in which they failed to win a league title or an FA Cup. The drought ended in the 1970/71 season when Arsenal won the league and FA Cup double under Bert Mee.
The arrival of one of Mee’s double-winning players, George Graham, as boss in 1986 proved to be another big moment for the Gunners. The north London club struggled for silverware until Graham’s arrival, although they won the FA Cup in 1979 when they recorded a 3-2 final win over Manchester United.
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Arsenal were once again crowned English champions in 1987, in the Scot’s debut campaign as Gunners boss. The team from North London also claimed the league title once again in 1989 and a third in the 1990/91 season.
Graham left his position in 1995, with accusations of alleged wrong-doing involving agent Rune Hauge.
The unknown Frenchman revolutionises Arsenal
Graham’s replacement, Bruce Rioch, lasted just a season after an underwhelming campaign. Rioch’s exit saw the arrival of an unknown French boss, Arsene Wenger, from Japanese football in 1996.
He turned out to be yet another inspired appointment by the north London club. Not only did he revolutionise the Gunners’ style of play, but he was also successful at winning trophies.
In 1997/98, Wenger led the club to a League and Cup double and repeated the feat in 2001/02.
However, the most famous season under Wenger was the 2003/04 campaign, when the Gunners not only won the title but became only the second team in the history of the English top flight without losing a single league game.
Wenger left the north London club in 2018 after a trophy-laden spell at the club. He left a massive legacy. Unfortunately for the Gunners, the 2004 title was their last to date.
Since then, Spanish pair Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta have managed the club. However, the team has struggled to recapture the glory days of Wenger’s Invincibles.
Arsenal are in no danger of relegation
In truth, Arsenal has never been in much danger of being relegated from the English top flight in recent decades. The team’s worst finish in just under half a century came in the 1970s when they finished 16th and 17th in 1974/75 and 1975/76, respectively.
Arsenal’s record of being the team with the most consecutive seasons in the English top flight is highly secure.