by The End Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:45 am
The Arsène Wenger Era
In 1997/98, 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.
Three consecutive league runners-up medals followed and in 2000 Arsenal appeared in the UEFA Cup Final where they lost on penalties. In 2001 the Club reached the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League before being knocked out by Valencia. 2001/02 however saw a reversal of fortunes as the Club recorded their third ‘double’ by beating Chelsea in the FA Cup and ending their league campaign with a 13-game unbeaten run and a memorable 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arsenal remained unbeaten at home for the whole season. For that, Arsène Wenger was named Barclaycard Manager of the Year while Robert Pires was named Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year.
The following season Arsenal narrowly missed out on retaining the title but the Gunners became the first English club in more than 20 years to retain the FA Cup with their 1-0 victory over Southampton at Cardiff. Thierry Henry was voted player of the season by both the PFA and the Football Writers’ Association in a term which saw him join Dennis Bergkamp in the hallowed 100 Club having scored a century of goals for Arsenal. Season 2003/2004 saw Arsenal win back the title in unbeatable fashion managing to go though the entire league season without a single defeat. Finishing 11 points ahead of second-place Chelsea, Arsenal smashed several records on the way to their 13th league title win. Spanish youngster Cesc Fabregas arrived in January and by the end of the season had broken the record for the youngest Arsenal appearance aged 16 years and 177 days.
A Semi-Final defeat in the FA Cup by Manchester United and the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League by Chelsea ended any hope of a remarkable treble. The unbeaten league run continued the following season and in August 2004 Arsenal overtook 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.
The 2005/06 campaign was the Club’s last at Highbury and the Final Salute celebrations proved to be a fitting goodbye to the Club’s home of 93 years. Fourth place in the league — and Champions League football — was secured on the last day of the season with a 4-2 win over Wigan Athletic (coupled with Tottenham’s loss at West Ham United). Arsenal’s alltime record at Highbury reads as follows: Played 2,010; Won 1,196; Drawn 475; Lost 339; Goals Scored 4,038; Goals Conceded 1,955.
The highlight of the season was the Club’s amazing journey to the 2005/06 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. Despite having Jens Lehmann sent-off after just 18 minutes, the Gunners scored first through Sol Campbell before, in the second-half, the Spaniards scored two late goals to break the hearts of the travelling Arsenal support.