List of Arsenal F.C. managers
[1] They became the first southern member[nb 1] admitted into the Football League in 1893, having spent their first four seasons solely participating in cup tournaments and friendlies.
[6] Since that time, they have not fallen below the first tier of the English football league system and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight.
The most successful person to manage Arsenal is Arsène Wenger, who won three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Community Shields between 1996 and 2018.
[14] The Scotsman's time at Woolwich Arsenal was brief and he left his post barely a year into his contract, though he did manage to take the club from tenth to fifth in the league.
[15] The changes did not have the desired effect; his team finished seventh in a league of 18 and were beaten 6–0 by Derby County in the FA Cup first round.
[19] Kelso departed in February 1908, amid uncertainty over the club's finances,[20] and was replaced by George Morrell, a fellow Scotsman.
[19] Morrell's time as manager coincided with Sir Henry Norris' takeover of Arsenal and the club's subsequent relocation to Highbury.
[23] Arsenal remained under financial strain during this period and stagnated in the league; Knighton in his autobiography claimed he was under strict instruction to spend little on transfers.
[25] The decision to sack Knighton was said to have been made following Arsenal's defeat to West Ham United in the FA Cup, a competition which presented the club's only realistic chance of silverware.
Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exhorbitant [sic] transfer fees need not apply.The notice caught the attention of Huddersfield Town manager Herbert Chapman, who according to journalist and former Arsenal player Bernard Joy wanted to manage a London club: "Arsenal appealed to him because it was a struggling club, something he could work on and make a power in the land.
[28] Considered the "great innovator" of English football,[28] Chapman introduced numbered shirts, advocated floodlights at Highbury and successfully campaigned for Gillespie Road station to be renamed to Arsenal on the London Underground.
[36] Joe Shaw stood in as caretaker manager and continued Chapman's good work, as Arsenal won the 1933–34 First Division title.
[40] Allison resigned in 1947, a year after professional football resumed, and his position was taken over by Tom Whittaker, the club's first-team trainer.
[41] Intent on playing an expansive style of football, he purchased Don Roper and converted Ian McPherson's position from defender to winger.
[48] His tenure started well as he guided the club to a top-three position in the league, but subsequent mid-table finishes and poor cup showings led to his departure in May 1962.
[49][50] Swindin's replacement Billy Wright fared no better and journalist Brian Glanville wrote of his spell: "He had neither the guile nor the authority to make things work and he reacted almost childishly to criticism.
[52] Wright was sacked by Arsenal in June 1966 and the board of directors hired the club's physiotherapist Bertie Mee as his successor.
[57] Mee's greatest triumph was the club's league and cup double of 1970–71, but he struggled to better that achievement, having made radical changes to a successful team.
[58] He arrived after guiding Tottenham Hotspur to a ninth-place finish, but his association with Arsenal's local rivals created animosity between himself and the club's fans.
[63][64] Though his three years brought no major silverware, he was responsible for giving debuts to several players such as Tony Adams and David Rocastle, who served the club well during the late 1980s.
[69] Graham's Arsenal struggled to put together a title challenge in the newly-formed Premier League, but were cup specialists in the early half of the nineties.
[80][81] The signings of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka, combined with the club's many experienced players, helped Arsenal win the double in 1997–98.
[82] Wenger led Arsenal to another double in 2001–02; his team scored in every Premier League game that season and won their remaining 13 matches to clinch the title.
[87][88] In October 2009, Wenger surpassed Allinson to become Arsenal's longest serving manager and reflected the club were "maybe not crazy, but brave" to appoint him.
[92] His team retained the cup the following year,[93] and victory against Chelsea in the 2017 final placed Wenger as the most successful manager in the competition's history with seven trophies.
After the season, Arteta's title was changed from head coach to manager and then in August went on to win the 2020 Community Shield against league champions Liverpool.
The whole season was documented in the Amazon Prime Video series All or Nothing: Arsenal,[100] which allowed viewers to see candidly Mikel Arteta's management style and tactics.
