Wenger Leaves Arsenal

The last of a generation? Quite possibly.

Arsene Wenger announced this morning he is to leave Arsenal, having been the manager of the club since October of 1996 – which made him the longest serving Premier League manager of all time (Sir Alex Ferguson, while having been manager of Manchester United for longer, pre-dated the Premier League era).

While recent times have been more of a struggle for Arsenal – which included a eight-year drought without a trophy and the “St. Totteringham’s Day” streak coming to an end last season – it’s hard to deny Wenger has been one of, if not the, best managers in the club’s history.

It didn’t take long for Arsene to make his impact with the club – winning the Premier League title in his first full season in charge in 1997/98, and becoming the biggest rival to the dominant Ferguson and Manchester United. He also became the first manager from outside of the UK to win a league title in England.

Wenger would continue to make Arsenal a dominant force in the late 90’s-early 00’s – if they weren’t champions, they always finished 2nd between 1997-2005 in the Premier League – eight consecutive seasons, just one shy of United’s best in the Premiership.

Arsenal would go undefeated in 2003/04, earning them the nickname “The Invincibles”.

However, Arsene’s greatest triumph would come in the 2003/04 season. His third and final Premier League title with the club would be without a single defeat – becoming only the second team in English League history to achieve this feat (behind Preston North End in the very first season in 1888/89). As a result, a golden trophy was presented to the team at the end of the season (instead of the regular silver trophy). It became part of a 49-game unbeaten run the team had in the league, which is still a record to this day.

Another one of Wenger’s greatest successes came in the FA Cup tournament – a trophy he won seven times, more than any other manager in history.

In recent years, the once dominant days Wenger once enjoyed with the fans became a rocky relationship, as Arsenal would go eight full seasons without a single trophy to their name between 2006 and 2014. Growing frustrations led to an online campaign #WengerOut, as some fans wanted a new manager to take on the role and take the club in a new direction. Despite this, Wenger would still go on to sign a new contract.

Eventually, Arsene would find trophy success once again, winning the FA Cup for three out of four consecutive years. Despite this, anger grew again when Arsenal last season finished 5th – 11 points behind local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, meaning for the first time in 22 years they would be behind Spurs in the English League – something that’s all but confirmed to happen again this season too.

Wenger won the FA Cup 7 times – more than any other manager in history.

Wenger’s announcement means an end of an era for football managers – one that gave time for the coach to build his team, with modern times demanding almost imminent success. Arsene stepping away means Paul Tisdale (manager of Exeter City since 2006) will take the record for the longest English Football League manager currently serving their club.

Good times, bad times, and everything in between – but with 3 Premier League titles, 7 FA Cup successes and 7 FA Community Shields, plus a new stadium later – no longer “Arsene Who?“, but one of the greatest managers in English history.

Ashley Redman
Can’t remember a previous Arsenal manager