The Arsenal Invincibles life the Premier League trophy.placeholder image
The Arsenal Invincibles life the Premier League trophy. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The story of how Arsenal went a whole Premier League season unbeaten to be nicknamed the ‘Invincibles’.
The 2003/04 Premier League season remains something of footballing folklore thanks to the incredible achievement of Arsenal. The Gunners, managed by Arsene Wenger, became the only the second team in first division history to end a campaign unbeaten.
Arsenal went into that season with dreams of winning the Premier League having finished runners up to Manchester United the previous year, a rampant end to the season from the Red Devils securing the trophy. Wenger, who had suggested at the start of that season that his team may be able to go unbeaten, was steadfast in insisting that the 2002/03 season was not a failure.
Prior to the Invincibles season, Arsenal fought to keep talisman Thierry Henry amid Chelsea interest and had a fairly quiet transfer window in north London, focusing more on maintaining their squad with new contracts for the likes of Patrick Vieria and Robert Pires. German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was added to the side to replace David Seaman. Jose Antonio Reyes would arrive in the January of 2004.
Arsenal begin campaign with win over Everton
Arsenal hosted Everton at Highbury in the first match of the campaign and the season looked to be off to a dreadful start with Sol Campbell sent off in the 25th minute. Nonetheless, a 2-1 win was recorded and Wenger’s side had their first three points.
The Gunners then beat Middlesbrough, Aston Vila and Manchester City to make it four wins from four. There was a temporary loss of momentum with draws against Portsmouth and Manchester United, Vieria sent off in the latter game having kicked out at Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Red Devils nearly beat Arsenal in that match but squandered a 90th minute penalty. It was back to winning ways against Newcastle United but Vieira picked up an injury in that fixture which saw him sidelined for two months.
As winter arrived, another memorable match came in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby of November 2003. The Gunners came back from 1-0 to win that fixture thanks to second half goals from Pires and Freddie Ljungberg. A 3-0 win away at Birmingham City after the international break extended the unbeaten run to 13 matches and set a new Premier League record.
Arsene Wenger puts unbeaten form down to ‘luck’
Another wobble came against Leicester City in December, with Henry and Vieria absent from the team. The Gunners took the lead after 60 minutes but conceded in stoppage time with Ashley Cole receiving a red card. Arsenal ended the calendar year in second place, one point behind Manchester United and three ahead of Chelsea, with the word ‘invincible’ starting to be thrown around.
By the time Wolves were beaten in mid February, Wenger started to face questions about a full season unbeaten run but played down that idea as something that would need ‘luck’. A 2-0 win over Southampton on February 10 saw the team move five points clear at the top of the table. That lead was nine points by the end of the month.
A tasty meeting with Manchester United came at the end of March with the Red Devils almost completing a late turnaround at Highbury. Instead, it was a 1-1 draw and left Sir Alex Ferguson admitting that the Gunners would ‘surely’ go on to win the league. Thierry Henry bagged a hat-trick in the next match, a 4-2 win over Liverpool, and then scored four goals against Leeds United in mid April.
Wenger: Arsenal Invincibles were ‘exceptional winners’
Arsenal went into the meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at the end of April knowing that a draw would secure the title. That matched finished as a 2-2 draw and the Gunners celebrated their title triumph at the home ground of their biggest rivals.
Two draws against Birmingham City and Portsmouth followed before wins over Fulham and Leicester City to end the campaign. Reflecting on the day Arsenal won the campaign, Wenger said: “For me it was special. We knew the situation before kick-off because Chelsea lost at Newcastle before our game. So we knew we just had to not lose the game to be champions, and we had a very strong performance. Of course I knew how special it was to win it at Tottenham, for our fans there as well – it was an exceptional moment.
“It was a bit spoilt by the fact that Jens gave away that late penalty that, for me, was not a penalty. When you see it today, it’s ridiculous. But Sol Campbell and Jens had an argument afterwards about it – because they are two winners. They just wanted to win the game, they didn’t even realise we had won the league at first. It’s unbelievable. But to be honest arguments like that happened often, because they were exceptional winners.”
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