Arsenal FC Away Shirt for the 2011/12 season manufactured by Nike

This will be the official Arsenal Away shirt for the 2011/12 season, where Arsenal will be looking to improve on their 4th place finish in the 2010/11 Barclays Premier League season. The picture shows attacking-midfielder Jack Wilshere wearing the new away shirt manufactured by American world-renowned sportswear brand Nike. The shirt is divided diagonally in two. The upper half is dark blue whereas the lower half is a lighter shade of blue. The right sleeve is dark blue and the left sleeve is light-blue. Both the special Arsenal crest which marks the club's 125th anniversary, and the Nike Swoosh logo, will be white.

Arsenal FC: A Glorious History

The seed which eventually brought about one of the biggest clubs in the world, Arsenal FC, was planted in 1886 when a team named Dial Square was set up by workers of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. The club was located in the south-east of London and was then renamed to Royal Arsenal. When the club was converted into a limited liability company in 1893, it changed its name again to Woolwich Arsenal. The club joined the Football League in 1893, competing in the Second Division. They won promotion to the First Division in 1904. The fact that the club was relatively geographically isolated led to financial difficulties and brought about the club’s bankruptcy in 1910. Henry Norris and William Hall bought over the club. With the contribution of Henry Norris, the club was relocated to North London in Highbury in 1913, after they were relegated back to the Second Division. In 1914, the club administration decided to drop the word ‘Woolwich’ from the name and the club became known as Arsenal FC.

The club’s rivalry with local club Tottenham Hotspur dates back to these early years. In 1919, Arsenal FC finished 5^th in the Second Division league table but were still promoted to the First Division in a dubious manner at the expense of the same Tottenham Hotspur. Encounters between Arsenal and Tottenham are a heated affair up to this present day and the two clubs contest the North London derby at least twice in each season (Premier League home and away).

Continuing in our brief walk throughout the club’s history, Arsenal FC appointed Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925 after he has won the league two times in a row between 1923 and 1925 with Huddersfield Town. The first period of success for Arsenal came during the era of Chapman. Under Herbert’s guidance, Arsenal won the 1930 FA Cup, the 1930/31 First Division and the 1932/33 First Division. This was achieved through his revolutionary tactics and training as well as star signings like Alex James and Cliff Bastin.

The era of Herbert Chapman did not last more than 9 years as he died suddenly of pneumonia. Joe Shaw and George Allison continued to build on his successful work, and under their guidance the club went on to win the 1933/34 First Division title, dedicated to the memory of the late Herbert Chapman, the 1934/35 First Division, the 1936 FA Cup and the 1937/38 First Division. The retirement of key players meant that the club’s success started to fade by the end of the highly successful 1930s period. Competitive football in England was suspended due to the Second World War.

After the war, Tom Whittaker took over from George Allison and led the club to the triumphs in the 1947/48 and 1952/53 First Division titles and the 1950 FA Cup. The club had a long downturn in the 1950s and 1960s as it failed to attract players of calibre to sign for the club. Former England captain Billy Wright took over the club’s management but was still unable to bring success to the once-successful Arsenal FC between 1962 and 1966.

The unlikely appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966 gave the unlikely results: the club started to win silverware again following a disappointing period. The club won their first European trophy in the form of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup of 1969/70. This was followed by a great season where Arsenal FC won the double: the First Division and the FA Cup in 1970/71. The 70s was a period where the club fans and players went through several disappointments through near-misses: runners-up in 1972/73 First Division, losing the Final of the FA Cup in 1972, 1978 and 1980, and losing the Cup Winners’ Cup 1980 Final on penalties against Valencia through a miss by Liam Brady. The only success during the 70s came in 1979 when the club beat Manchester United by the score of 3-2 in the Final of the FA Cup, a game which is still regarded as a classic.

Former player George Graham took over as manager in 1986 and brought about another period of glory for supporters and players alike. The club won the 1986/87 League Cup on Graham’s first season in charge of the club. Then Arsenal won the 1988/89 First Division with a last-minute goal in the last game of the season against title challengers Liverpool. Graham’s team continued to win the 1990/91 First Division title, where they lost just one match: 2-1 against rivals Chelsea. The team went on to win another double in 1993, securing the FA Cup and the League Cup, and their second European trophy in 1994, the Cup Winners’ Cup with a 1-0 score against Parma. Successful manager Graham was dismissed in 1995 after his reputation was tarnished when it was proven that he took kickbacks from agent Rune Hauge for signing certain players. His successor, Bruce Rioch, stayed for just one season in charge of Arsenal after a dispute with the club’s Board of Directors.

After Rioch came an era which is still going on at present: the time of the great Arsene Wenger. Wenger took charge of the club in 1996 and brought new tactics, a new training regime and the signing of a number of foreign players which complemented the English players that the club had. Arsenal FC under Wenger secured the 1997/98 double comprising of the Premier League and the FA Cup (against Newcastle by the score of 2-0). After reaching the final of the UEFA Cup of 1999/00 and losing it on penalties to Galatasaray, the same double was achieved in 2001/02 when Arsenal finished top of the league table and won the FA Cup by the score of 2-0 against bitter rivals Chelsea, at the time managed by the Italian Claudio Ranieri. The club won the 2003 FA Cup, the 2003/04 Premier League without losing a single match, and the 2005 FA Cup. For the unbeaten run in the 2003/04 season, the club became known as The Invincibles. In that season, Arsenal went unbeaten for 49 league matches.

Arsene Wenger brought back the glory days to the club as Arsenal FC finished either first or second in the league table in 8 of the first 11 seasons under his management. However, the club never managed to win the title in consecutive seasons. Until present, the club is one of the four teams to have won the Barclays Premier League since its inception in 1992, with the other three clubs being Manchester United (12 Barclays Premier League titles), Chelsea (3 Barclays Premier League titles) and Blackburn Rovers (1 Barclays Premier League title). Until 2005/06, Arsenal had never progressed beyond the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League, but the 2005/06 season ended on a very positive note: Arsenal became the first club from London to reach the Final of the Champions League in its 50-year history. In this Final, played in front of 79500 fans in Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Arsenal lost against Barcelona by the score of 2-1. After Campbell opened the score for Arsenal in the 37^th minute, Barcelona scored the equaliser through Eto’o in the 76^th minute and scored the winning goal in the 81^st minute through Belletti.

In 2006, the club moved into the newly built Emirates Stadium after a total of 93 years playing home games at Highbury. During their history since 1886, the club has enjoyed spells of success several times, and are now regarded as one of the most successful clubs in England, one of the best in Europe and also on a worldwide scale with large fan bases abroad. They remain the only side to have completed a Premier League season without being beaten, and also hold the record for enjoying the longest uninterrupted period in the top English football division. Until present, the club has won the top league in England a total of 13 times, the FA Cup 10 times, the League Cup twice, and the Community Shield 12 times. Much of the club’s recent glory can be attributed to Arsene Wenger, which is the club’s longest-serving and most successful manager in terms of competitions won.