17th August

Ex-Arsenal player Wilfred Copping was born on the 17th August 1909. He joined Arsenal in June 1934 from Leeds United where he had appeared in 162 league matches. He played at the centre and at the left of midfield, and earned 20 caps for the English national team. For Arsenal, he played 166 league matches and then joined Leeds again in 1939. He was nicknamed Iron Head due to his tenacity on the pitch, and had three superstitions before matches: he was always 6th in the line-up, he always put his left boot first, and he never shaved on a match day. Copping died in June 1980.

On the 17th August of the year 1977, one of the modern players that would go on to earn legend status at Arsenal was born: Thierry Henry. After playing for Monaco and Juventus, Henry joined Arsenal in 1999 and went on to make 254 league appearances for the club, scoring 174 league goals. His total for all competitions was 226 goals in 369 appearances. Thierry Henry moved on to Barcelona in the summer of 2007. In his time at Arsenal, he helped the Gunners win 2 Premier League titles, three times the FA Cup and twice the Community Shield.