The usual starting lineup. Top row, left to right:
Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Edu Gaspar,
Jens Lehmann, Lauren Mayer, Sol Campbell, Kolo Touré.
Bottom row, left to right: A mascot, Ashley Cole,
Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires.
Only once before had an English team gone through an entire top-flight season without a League loss: Preston North End, in the 1st Football League season, 1888-89. And that was a season of 22 games. Arsenal in 2003-04? As the announcer on that day's broadcast, Jon Champion, said at the final whistle, "Played 38, won 26, drawn 12, lost exactly none!"
Arsène Wenger, from Strasbourg, France, had been named manager of Arsenal in September 1996, having won a League title as a player for RC Strasbourg, and as a manager for AS Monaco, and national cups for Monaco in France's Football Federation (even though Monaco, however small, is a separate country) and for Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan. In 1998, he led Arsenal to win the Premier League and the FA Cup, "The Double." He led them to another Double in 2002.
Arsène Wenger, 2002
In 2002-03, Wenger was mocked for saying he dreamed of going an entire League season unbeaten. When it didn't happen, oh, how the English media and fans of other teams laughed at the Frenchman. But a year later, in 2003-04, he did it. No other manager has. Like those Preston pioneers, the 2003-04 Gunners became known as "The Invincibles."
Arsenal had won the FA Cup in 2002-03, but a loss to Blackburn Rovers on March 15 and another to Leeds United on May 4, with 2 League games to go, cost them the title, throwing it to Manchester United. Between them, Arsenal and United had won 12 of the last 15 titles in the English top flight. (The Football League Division One became the Premier League in 1992.)
Arsenal beat Southampton and Sunderland in their last 2 games of 2002-03. At the time, few people cared. But those 2 games would become part of the most remarkable streak in English soccer history.
The main lineup: Goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann of Germany; right back, Lauren Etame Mayer (usually just "Lauren") of Cameroon; left back, Ashley Cole of England; centerbacks, Sol Campbell of England and Kolo Touré of the Ivory Coast; midfielders, Freddie Ljungberg of Sweden, Captain Patrick Vieira of France, Gilberto Silva (usually just "Gilberto") of Brazil, and Robert Pires of France; and forwards, Dennis Bergkamp of the Netherlands and Thierry Henry of France.
The season began with the FA Community Shield, formerly named the Charity Shield, the annual season opener, not counting in League standings, between the previous year's League and Cup winners. (If a team won both, "The Double," then the 2nd-place team is invited.) The game was scoreless, and United won on penalties. There seemed little foreshadowing in it, and, compared to what came, it was soon forgotten.
The 1st 4 games of the 2003-04 Premier League season weren't very notable: Arsenal beat Everton at home, Middlesbrough away, Aston Villa at home, and Manchester City away. After the previous season, their greatest goalkeeper ever, David Seaman, saw his contract run out. He signed with Man City, as Arsenal signed Lehmann. As the game against Man City proved, he had aged a lot overnight, and by the time the teams played again later in the season, he had retired.
Then came 2 threats to the Gunners' ambitions. The 2nd was expected. The 1st was not. Portsmouth, of Hampshire on England's South Coast, came in to Highbury on September 13. The English media treated their manager, Harry Redknapp, once a pedestrian player for West Ham United, as a jolly good bloke. In truth, he was one of the dirtiest managers in League history.
Teddy Sheringham, who drove Arsenal crazy with local rival Tottenham Hotspur, and then with competitive rival Manchester United, scored for Portsmouth in the 26th minute. In the 39th, Pires was tripped in the box by Steve Stone. To this day, Arsenal-haters insist that this was a "dive" by Pires. They are idiots. Henry converted the penalty, and Arsenal had a draw.
Then they went to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. The game was scoreless after 90 minutes, when United's Diego Forlán made a pathetic, obvious dive. Since it was Old Trafford, and since the opponent was Arsenal, the penalty was awarded.
Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, also a notorious diver, took it, but it clanged off the crossbar, and the game ended 0-0. Veteran English centerback Martin Keown, who had seen so much United chicanery, got in van Nistelrooy's horselike face, and the teams had to be separated. It is one of a few games that is known as the Battle of Old Trafford.
"Count Keown" vs. "Ruud Van Horseface"
Surviving such a close call seemed to spark Arsenal. They beat Newcastle United at home, beat Liverpool away on a stunning goal by Pires, beat Chelsea at home, survived a close call to draw with Charlton Athletic in South London, and crushed Leeds United away.
Then came the 1st North London Derby of the season. It had been 10 years since Tottenham Hotspur, or "Spurs," had beaten Arsenal at Highbury. They took a 1-0 lead, but Pires equalized, and in the 79th, a Ljungberg shot was deflected high into the air, but came down in the net. This is my favorite Bergkamp moment, and he didn't even touch the ball: The deflection just begins to come down, and he raises his fists, as he realizes before anybody else in the stadium that it's going in.
This was followed by a win away to Birmingham City, draws at home to Fulham and away to Leicester City, a win over Blackburn Rovers, a draw away to Bolton Wanderers, a 3-0 home demolition of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day, and they closed the calendar year winning away to Southampton. They were now halfway through the League schedule: Played 19, won 13, drawn 6, lost none.
The new year began with Everton holding them to a draw in Liverpool, but this was followed by 9 straight wins: Home to Middlesbrough, away to Aston Villa, home to Manchester City, away to Wolverhampton, home to Southampton, over Chelsea in West London, home to Charlton, away to Blackburn, and home to Bolton. That was 29 straight unbeaten to start the League season, through March 20. This tied the record set by Leeds United in 1973-74. They ended up losing 4 games.
Writing in The Times on February 9, Rick Broadbent wrote, "Some people refuse to appreciate new Arsenal. They still believe this is the side that Nick Hornby said stood for boring and lucky and dirty and petulant and rich and mean. The truth is, it is a privilege to watch new Arsenal. They are Prozac for those used to the prosaic."
Arsenal weren't totally unbeatable. They rarely take the League Cup seriously, and were knocked out of it by Middlesbrough in the Semifinal on February 3. In the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League, they lost 2 and drew 1, before winning 3 straight to top their group, including a 5-1 defeat of Internazionale Milano, making them the 1st English team ever to beat "Inter" at the San Siro. (In a 2008 CL match, they became the 1st English team to beat AC Milan there.)
They got past the CL's Round of 16, eliminating Celta Vigo, including their 1st win ever in Spain. But the Quarterfinals began on March 24, and this began the most difficult part of the season. It was an All-London matchup, against Chelsea. Arsenal managed a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, which seemed to be a good sign. Then, on March 28, came the home game against Man United, and Henry gave them a 1-0 lead, but Louis Saha scored in the 86th to earn United a draw. That was 30 straight to start, a new record, and, despite back-to-back draws, there seemed little reason to worry.
But the next game, on April 3, was also against United, in the FA Cup Semifinal, on neutral ground at Villa Park in Birmingham. Arsenal had been cruising through the Cup to this point. They won 4-1 away to Leeds United in the 3rd Round, won 4-1 home to Middlesbrough in the 4th round, and beat Chelsea 2-1 at home in the 5th Round. Unlike the 2 League games against Portsmouth, the Quarterfinal away to them was easy, a 5-1 win.
But in the Semifinal, Paul Scholes scored in the 32nd minute, and that was it: Arsenal, still thinking about a "European Treble" of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, were out of the Cup.
On April 6, the home leg of the CL Quarterfinal was played. Chelsea had recently been bought by Russian energy baron Roman Abramovich. Whether he was spending his wealth on bribing officials to look the other way on his players' misdeeds is still, for all the evidence, speculation. Whether he was spending it on bringing in great players from around the world was obvious. But it was the rather pedestrian left back Wayne Bridge who scored in the 87th minute to help Chelsea advance.
Given that Chelsea then lost in the Semifinal to AS Monaco, who then lost in the Final to Portuguese team FC Porto, managed by Jose Mourinho, the 2003-04 Champions League is considered by many to be the great missed opportunity in Arsenal history. The next season, Chelsea hired Mourinho away, and what was essentially a 2-team League became a 3-team League.
Four straight big games that Arsenal had failed to win. Knocked out of 2 competitions in 3 days. Only the League, and the chance at an unbeaten season, remained. But in the next game, Arsenal trailed Liverpool 2-1 at the half, at home. It looked like it was all falling apart. But Pires equalized, and then Henry completed a hat trick with 2 candidates for the goal of the season, and Arsenal had won, 4-2. This was followed with a draw away to Newcastle United, and a 5-0 home walloping of soon-to-be relegated Leeds United, with Henry scoring 4 goals, for 33 down, 5 to go.
Thierry Henry, 2002
On Sunday, April 25, 2004, Arsenal were scheduled to play Spurs, 4.7 miles up the road at White Hart Lane. Newcastle had beaten Chelsea in the day's early game, meaning that Arsenal could clinch the League title with only a draw. They jumped at the chance, with superb goals by Vieira in only the 3rd minute of the game, and Pires, who always seemed to score against Spurs, in the 35th.
But in the 58th, Jamie Redknapp, son of Harry, hit a screamer of his own. In stoppage time, referee Mark Halsey ruled that Lehmann had pushed Robbie Keane during a corner kick, and awarded a penalty. Keane took it, and it was 2-2.
Before the game, Wenger had told his players that, if they get the point they need, they should not celebrate on the pitch, but rather wait until they were in the dressing room. But, as Henry later said, after the equalizer, the Spurs fans "celebrated like they won the World Cup Final." (As a part of the France team that did just that in 1998, he would know, as would Vieira and Pires, and 2002 Brazil winner Gilberto.)
Play resumed, and when Halsey almost immediately blew his whistle, the Gunners basically said, "To hell with it, we're the Champions," and partied along with the Arsenal fans who'd made the trip up the Seven Sisters Road to celebrate. The song, dating back to the 1971 title clincher in the old Football League Division One, went up:
We won the League (We won the League)
at White Hart Lane! (at White Hart Lane!)
We won the League at White Hart Lane!
We won the League at the Shithole!
We won the League at White Hart Lane!
Sol Campbell, 2002
The title was won. The unbeaten season was still to play for. Fans of teams who have achieved much, but not an unbeaten season, accuse Arsenal of having "played for draws" the rest of the way. Which is stupid. They were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Birmingham City on May 1, and a 1-1 draw away to Portsmouth on May 4. But they beat Fulham 1-0 at Loftus Road for the 37th straight. (Fulham were renovating their usual home, Craven Cottage, and playing home games at the home of their West London neighbors and arch-rivals, Queens Park Rangers.)
May 15. One to go. Home to Leicester City, already relegated. It shouldn't have been too hard. But Paul Dickov, who had started his career with Arsenal, scored in the 26th minute. As Sky Sports announcer Alan Parry said, "That wasn't in the script now, was it?"
But they had come too far to blow it in the last game, at home, against a relegated opponent. A Bergkamp pass came to Cole in the box, but Cole was practically given an American-style football tackle by Frank Sinclair. Referee Paul Durkin correctly awarded the penalty. (It was the last game for the retiring Durkin, who had also officiated in major Arsenal wins in the 1998 FA Cup Final and the title-clincher against Manchester United in 2002.) Henry took it, becoming the 1st Arsenal player to score 30 goals in a League season since Ronnie Rooke in the title season of 1948. In the 66th minute, Captain Vieira, appropriately, closed it out: Arsenal 2-1 Leicester.
Patrick Vieira, 2004
At the final whistle, Parry said, "Make a note of the date: May the 15th, 2004. History has been made. One of the greatest achievements since English football began: Arsenal have gone through an entire League campaign without losing. The first time it's happened for over 100 years. Played 38, won 26, drawn 12, lost exactly none!"
The streak was actually 40 straight, counting the last 2 games of the season before. They broke the old record of 42, set by Nottingham Forest in 1977-78. They ran their streak of unbeaten matches in the League to an all-time record 49, before a Wayne Rooney dive would give Man United a dubious penalty and a dubious win at Old Trafford the following October 24.
Arsenal have not won the Premier League since. They've won the FA Cup in 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2017. They've reached the Final of the League Cup in 2007 and 2018, and of the UEFA Champions League in 2006. They've seriously challenged for the League title -- contrary to what a bunch of fools will tell you -- in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016. (UPDATE: And 2023, and 2024.) But they haven't won it.
Manchester United have won the "European Treble": The Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League, in 1999. Manchester City have won the "Domestic Treble": The Premier League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup, in 2019. But nobody else has been "The Invincibles." Only The Arsenal have done it.
One more note about United: Having knocked Arsenal out in the Semifinal, they won the FA Cup a week later, defeating South London team Millwall, 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium (now the Principality Stadium) in Cardiff, the Final's temporary home while the new Wembley Stadium was being built in West London.
United Captain Roy Keane accepted the Cup, not from a representative of the royal family as is usually the case, but from the manager of the England national team at the time, Sven-Göran Eriksson. So the championship of England was played in Wales, won by a manager from Scotland, with the trophy accepted by a Captain from Ireland, from a presenter from Sweden.
*
May 15, 2004 was a Sunday. Football was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA Playoffs. The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat, 94-83 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 88-76 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
There was 1 game played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 4 was played in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. But the Lightning would win the series in 7 games, and beat the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Finals.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 13-7 at Yankee Stadium. Donovan Osborne started for the Yankees, and didn't have much. The Yankees got 2 home runs from Alex Rodriguez, and 1 each from Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams. Derek Jeter went 1-for-7.
Here's what Yankee pitcher Gabe White allowed in the top of the 13th inning: Double, intentional walk, sacrifice bunt, a 2nd intentional walk, a 2-RBI double, a 3rd intentional walk, hit a batter to force a run home, and a 3-RBI double, before finally getting 2 more outs.
* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 7-4 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston. Once-and-future Yankee Andy Pettitte started and won for the Astros.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Bronson Arroyo allowed 3 hits over 8 innings, and Keith Foulke completed the 4-hit shutout.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-7 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-6 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins, 4-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Chris Carpenter allowed 4 hits over 7 1/3rd innings, and and 2 Cardinal relievers completed the 5-hit shutout.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies, 16-5 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-0 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Claudio Vargas allowed 6 hits over the 1st 7 innings, and Luis Ayala finished the 7-hit shutout.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 7-5 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Todd Van Poppel allowed 5 hits over 6 innings, and 3 Reds relievers completed the 6-hit shutout.
* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at SBC Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds did not play in this game against his former team.
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