Arsenal FC: the Gunners of London

The 2025/26 season is almost here. We have just one warm-up match left. Athletic will see out the pre-season by facing Arsenal FC in the Emirates Cup on Saturday August 9 at 19:00 CEST (18:00 BST).

You can watch the match live on Club Athletic Play via your Athletic Club digital account

Following on from Monday's double-header against Liverpool FC, Ernesto Valverde's Lions will get another test of Champions League-level football before the competition starts for real.

The Gunners are one of the most successful clubs in the history of English football, having won a total of 47 trophies, including 13 top-flight titles, 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, 17 Community Shields and the League Centenary Trophy.

The Londoners have lifted two European trophies: the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup. They reached the semi-finals in last season's Champions League, where they were knocked out by winner Paris Saint Germain, and were losing finalists to FC Barcelona in 2005/06. Under Arsene Wenger they also finished runners-up in the 1999/00 UEFA Cup, losing on penalties to Galatasaray.

The London club was founded in 1886 as “Dial Square” by employees of an arms factory in Woolwich, in south-east London. When it became a public limited company, the club's name changed to “Woolwich Arsenal” and they became the first team from south London to be accepted into the Football League.

Following a severe crisis, businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall rescued the Gunners from bankruptcy and moved the club's headquarters to the legendary Highbury, changing the team's name to “The Arsenal”.

Arsène Wenger's 'Invincibles'

Arsenal FC's history changed dramatically after they hired the French coach in 1996. After years of trying to establish themselves as England's top club, Arsène Wenger brought in a new way of training and working, in addition to a group of foreign players, kickstarting a golden era for the club.

The likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieria, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires and Gilberto Silva, along with English players such as Tony Adams, David Seaman, Ian Wright (Arsenal FC's all-time leading scorer until Henry surpassed him) and Ashley Cole, all had key roles during Arsenal's title-winning campaigns in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In 1997/98, Wenger's first full season in charge, the Gunners won the league and FA Cup double (a first top-flight title in seven years). They repeated the feat in 2001/02. 

The Gunners' most famous campaign came in the 2003/04 season when they won the Premier League without losing a single game, with that squad since being named 'The Invincibles'. From 7 May 2003 until losing to Manchester United on 24 October 2004, Wenger's side went an incredible 49 games without tasting defeat in the league.


Current squad

After initially struggling following Arsene Wenger's departure, Arsenal have bounced back under Basque coach Mikel Arteta, becoming regular contenders for the Premier League title once again.

Arteta has put together a highly-talented squad, packed with world-class players, to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool FC for England's top honours. What's more, the Donostia-born coach has signed up some of the Basque Country's best talents and footballers in recent years to bolster a team that aspires to win everything.

Mikel Merino, a midfielder who was used as a makeshift centre-foward last season, joined in 2024, while Arteta has also recently brought in deep-lying playmaker Martin Zubimendi and former Athletic goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Arsenal have top-level defenders like Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Christan Mosquera, a summer signing from Valencia CF and promising young English full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The engine room features Declan Rice, the aformentioned Merino, captain Martin Odegaard and Christian Norgaard, who's come in from Brentford this transfer window.

There's a plethora of talent up top, including, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Leando Trossard and Gabriel Jesus.

The Gunners have also made one of the biggest signings of the summer, bringing in the highly-rated Swedish striker Vyktor Gyokeres. The centre-forward hade huge waves at Sporting CP, joining from English side Coventry City, scoring a total of 97 goals in 102 matches during his time in Portugal.


Other Athletic-Arsenal connections

This will be the first time in history that our men's first teams have locked horns and what better stage than the Emirates Stadium.

However, our women's first teams have met on two occasions. Athletic Club Women faced the Gunners in a 2004 Women's Champions League match in Stockholm that ended as a 2-2 draw.

The Lionesses faced the English side again on 5 January 2013, when Arsenal were invited to Bilbao for a friendly at San Mames, which Las Rojiblancas won 1-0.

Apart from that, we screened '89' (a documentary about Arsenal's league-winning side that season) at the 2018 edition of our Thinking Football Film Festival, with Gunners legend Lee Dixon in attendance as the guest of honour.