Welcome to the FM 2023 Arsenal FC thread!
Arsenal, in full Arsenal Football Club, byname the Gunners, English professional football team based in Londen. Arsenal is one of the most successful squads in English football history, having played in the country’s top division (Football League first Division to 1992, Premier League thereafter) each season since 1919. In the process it has captured 13 league titles.
The club was founded in 1886 and took the name Royal Arsenal after its first game, combining the moniker of the Royal Oak pub, where the team members met, with that of their workplace, the Arsenal munitions factory in Woolwich. The name was changed to Woolwich Arsenal in 1891, and Woolwich was dropped from the name after the 1912–13 season, when the team moved its home stadium to the Highbury section of the London borough of Islington. The club played at Arsenal Stadium (commonly referred to as “Highbury”) until 2006, when it relocated to a new, 60,000-seat stadium(Emirates) in Islington’s Holloway district.
Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur; matches between the two are referred to as the North London derby. Other rivalries within London include those with Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham United.
Trophies:
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup – 1993–94 (1)
FA Community Shield – 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020 (16)
FA Cup – 1929–30, 1935–36, 1949–50, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016-17, 2019-2020 (14)
First Division (until 1992) and Premier League – 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04 (13)
League Cup – 1986–87, 1992–93 (2)
Squad:
Transfers 22-23:
In:
Gabriel Jesus
Man City
£45m
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Man City
£31.5m
Fabio Vieira
Porto
£31.5m
Matt Turner
New England
£5.7m
Marquinhos
Sao Paulo
£3m
Out:
Matteo Guendouzi
Marseille
£9m
Lucas Torreira
Galatasaray
£5.5m
Bernd Leno
Fulham
£3.2m
Konstantinos Mavropanos
Stuttgart
£2.7m
Alexandre Lacazette
Lyon
Free
Hector Bellerin
Barcelona
Free