Bet on Arsenal FC

Betting on Arsenal was a given for a long time. After all, before foreign investors took over the Premier League, Manchester United and Arsenal reigned supreme. Two teams with great histories, the latter of which had perhaps one of the greatest teams to ever walk on the pitch.

Like Manchester United with Alex Ferguson, this team was the creation of a long-serving successful coach named Arsene Wenger. However, let’s look beyond history. The Gunners – after a lean period – are again top contenders for almost any prize. Moreover, with the Emirates Stadium, they have one of the best stadiums in the world.

With that, betting on Arsenal has become a lot more interesting again. That is because whether it is the Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League or Champions League – it will give you interesting bets for a season.

Bet on Arsenal FC: History of the club

Arsenal is one of many English football clubs founded in the 1880s. In 1886, it was Scotsman David Danskin who founded a football club with colleagues from a munitions company. They all put money together and chose as their name Dial Square Football Club, named after a workshop at the Royal Arsenal complex. Just a month later, the name was changed to Royal Arsenal.

For the first few years, they won some local cups, changed their name to Woolwich Arsenal, and played in the Second Division. In 1910, however, the club went bankrupt. To make matters worse, in 1913 their stadium was burnt down by activists for women’s suffrage. Therefore, they moved to a new stadium, the Arsenal Stadium at Highbury.

First prizes under Herbert Chapman

In 1919, just after WWI, Arsenal were voted into the restarted First Division at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur. This was despite being only fifth in the Second Division before the war, while Tottenham Hotspur had been relegated just before the war. In 1925, Herbert Chapman was appointed. He had been national champions with Huddersfield Town in 1924 and 1925, and had won the FA Cup (the English cup tournament, which is the KNVB Cup here with us) in 1922.

Chapman built a new team, brought in young talents and stars, and provided a lot of income from match tickets. Because of that big money, Arsenal became known as the ‘Bank of England Club’. Chapman eventually celebrated major successes with Arsenal in the early 1930s: the FA Cup in 1930 and the national title in 1931 and 1933. At the same time, the pounds were rolling in and out to bookmakers and punters betting on Arsenal.

Halfway through the 1933-1934 season, however, Chapman died suddenly at the age of 55 from pneumonia. His successors Joe Shaw and George Allisson won the national title in 1934, 1935 and 1938, and the FA Cup in 1936. In the 1930s, Arsenal also won the Charity Shield five times: the competition (supercup) between the national champion and cup winner.

Arsenal again national champions after WWII, then black hole

Between 1939 and 1946, football was shut down by World War II. To make matters worse, Arsenal also lost the most players of any English football club to the war. Yet they became national champions again in the second season after the war, in 1948. It was the first season of coach Tom Whittaker, who also took the title in 1953 and won an FA Cup and two Charity Shields.

However, the 1953 championship team was very old, and there was no young reinforcement for the club. In the 1950s and 1960s, Arsenal mostly camped in the middle of the First Division. Only in 1959 was there a remarkably high third-place finish.

First double, European success and FA Cup-fighter

In 1966, physiotherapist Bertie Mee was surprisingly appointed coach. He managed to put together a strong squad again. That led to (lost) League Cup finals in 1968 and 1969. A year later, Arsenal did pick up a first European prize. In 1970, the London club won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor to the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

However, the 1970-1971 season would become Mee and Arsenal’s season. It would also, therefore, be the season of all the bettors who had decided that betting on Arsenal was a good idea. The club won the double: the First Division and the FA Cup. With that eighth national title, they also became record holders, above Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton. The following season, they lost in the European Cup of Nations Champions in the quarter-finals to Ajax and lost the FA Cup final. After finishing second in the league in 1972-73, Arsenal slumped again.

In the late 1970s, there was a small revival under coach and former player Terry Neill. He led Arsenal to three FA Cup finals in a row in 1978, 1979 and 1980. Only the 1979 final was won, in a classic against Manchester United. In 1980, Arsenal reached the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, losing to Valencia on penalties.

Period of success under George Graham

Before Arsène Wenger, Arsenal had another very successful coach. In 1986, former player George Graham was appointed. Between 1986 and 1995, he led Arsenal to several national successes and a second European title. He did so mainly with a strong defence, the ‘famous Back Four’: Tony Adams from the youth academy and purchases Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Steve Bould.

They won the national title in 1989 and 1991, FA Cup in 1993, League Cup in 1987 and 1993 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. Ian Wright was the main goal scorer during that time, becoming club top scorer six times in a row from 1991-92. In 1995, however, Graham had to step down because he had taken money from a business agent to buy certain players.

Arsène Wenger, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry

After several short-lived trainers, Arsenal chose Frenchman Arsène Wenger as coach in 1996. He was a man of strict diets for his players, a frugal buying policy but also attacking football. He brought in players like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. In his second season, Wenger already won the double with the Premier League and FA Cup titles.

In eight Premier League seasons between 1997-1998 and 2004-2005, Arsenal finished as champions three times and runners-up five times. You can imagine something about the outright winner odds back then if you decided to bet on Arsenal. During that time, the club also won the FA Cup four times and the Charity Shield four times. In 2000, the UEFA Cup final was unfortunately lost against Galatasaray. However, the 2003-2004 season was particularly memorable: Arsenal won the national title with 26 wins, 12 draws and 0 defeats. The team of that season was therefore nicknamed ‘The Invincibles’. In particular, the Dennis Bergkamp-Thierry Henry tandem was fantastic at the time.

Robin van Persie, lost Champions League and FA Cups

In 2004, Wenger brought a young Robin van Persie from Feyenoord to Arsenal. He proved a worthy successor to Dennis Bergkamp, who retired as a footballer in 2006. Interestingly, neither of them were used by Wenger in the 2006 Champions League final. That match was lost against Frank Rijkaard’s FC Barcelona (but without young Lionel Messi) after an early red card for goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. That same year, incidentally, Arsenal moved into the Emirates Stadium.

Between 1998 and 2017, Arsenal played in the Champions League every year under Wenger. But between 2005 and 2013, there was also a prize drought. In his final years between 2013 and 2018, Wenger did still win the FA Cup three times and the Community Shield three times. His successor Unai Emery lost the Europa League final to Chelsea with Arsenal. Former player Mikel Arteta became coach in 2019. He won the FA Cup in 2020 and the Community Shield in 2021, but did not get beyond eighth place twice and fifth place in the league.

Rivals of Arsenal

Needless to say, London clubs are the rivals of Arsenal. For instance, they play the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur, and also meet Chelsea every season. Fulham and West Ham United are other London clubs that can be called rivals. Since the late 1980s, Manchester United also fits into the list, especially since the early 2000s when they competed for the Premier League.

Bet on Arsenal FC: Arsenal club icons

Arsenal’s first peak years were in the 1930s, starting under coach Herbert Chapman and later under Joe Shaw and George Allisson. The best-known players at the time included Jack Lambert, Ted Drake, Eddie Hapgood, Bob John, Joe Hulme, David Jack, Alex James and Cliff Bastin. After the war, Tom Whittaker led the club to a further five prizes.

The man of most games for Arsenal played in a down period for the club. Ireland’s David O’Leary played a total of 722 games between 1975-1993. He won two league titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups. He quit just too early to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. That happened under successful coach George Graham. The Scot especially had plenty of Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and David Seaman – all in the top ten of most duels for Arsenal.

Of course we cannot ignore Arsène Wenger, almost 22 years coach of the club. Four of his players are in the Premier League Hall of Fame: Ian Wright, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and club top scorer Thierry Henry. What about Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Cesc Fàbregas, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown, Ray Parlour and Robin van Persie.

Retrospective Arsenal season 2021/2022

Last season was one to quickly forget for Arsenal. The club did not play European football for the first time since 1995-96. In the Premier League, The Gunners finished fifth, which fortunately resulted in placement for the Europa League. The third round was already the finish line in the FA Cup, and the semi-final in the League Cup.

Arsenal season 2022/2023 outlook

Coach Mikel Arteta is building a squad that should once again compete for prizes. Among others, Manchester City‘s Gabriel Jesus was a good acquisition. Together with, among others, his Brazilian compatriot Gabriel Martinelli, he should provide the goals. Martin Ødegaard calls the shots in midfield, together with Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka. The Gunners could just surprise this season. If not in the Premier League, then in the Europa League. So keep a close eye on them, because betting on Arsenal is going to offer a lot of value this season.

Bet on Arsenal FC: Everything Arsenal has to offer

Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robin van Persie and Ian Wright; just a few names of the great strikers from this club’s football history. Between ’97 and 2002, this club had the most technically gifted team we have ever laid our eyes on. Like watching artists paint. It’s hard to believe that the SEGA DreamCast was on these guys’ shirts for a year back then! But we don’t have to look back to see greatness with Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Once a shooter, always a shooter!