The giant, round Champions League flag ripples between its legion of bearers in the centre circle just as the excitement does amongst the crowd of 35,472 fans. The familiar anthem by Tony Britten begins and the breaths of many around the world habitually grow slower and deeper just for a second. Then the heart rates raise as the shiny metallic Handel inspired majesty builds purposefully towards its crescendo. And then they raise. Die Meister. Die Besten. Les grandes équipes. The champions. Tuesday 28th March 2006. The final season at Highbury before Arsenal moved to the Emirates. Champions League Quarter Final. Two genuine European heavyweights going head-to-head. Arsenal v Juventus. The Gunners v The Old Lady. England v Italy. Tradition abounds. Patrick Vieira’s first return to the club where he

Injured. Probably the word most football fans would use to describe Abou Diaby’s career. He’s now announced his retirement at the age of 32. Diaby made just 198 club appearances in total during a 14-year career, and had been without a club since being released by Marseille in 2017. To contextualise that tally, James Milner has made 162 appearances for Liverpool in less than four seasons. The reason for Diaby’s restricted game time almost doesn’t even need to be told. His staggering total of 42 injuries while at Arsenal has been well documented, to the sad result that Diaby has become something of a joke figure for many football fans. This detracts from the quality that the former French international brought when

On 31 March 2001, when Arsenal’s new No.7 scored a gem of a goal in the North London derby match with Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury, the crowd tearfully remembered one of their favourite sons, who used to wear the same No.7 jersey for the Gunners. Just before the match, more than 38,000 people observed a minute's silence without the faintest interruption after reports came in that David “Rocky” Rocastle had died in the early hours of 31 March 2001, aged 33. Born in Lewisham, south-east London, Rocastle, a fast, skilled, powerful outside right was one of three players from the same area who played a crucial part in the Gunners' success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Rocastle joined

On the back of a mighty impressive Euro 2008, Andrey Arshavin joined Arsenal in February 2009. The Russian’s move to the Emirates Stadium was undoubtedly the most dramatic saga of that transfer window. He signed for Arsenal after overcoming obstacles like wage demands, transfer deadlines and even a certain Vladimir Putin. Arsene Wenger was very keen to add Arshavin to his squad and when the £15million deal was eventually confirmed Arsenal fans were justifiably excited. The 27-year-old was a player suited to Wenger’s style of free-flowing possession football: a two-footed technician who could dribble past opposition with ease, create chances with accurate passing and score. He wore the No. 23 shirt, last worn by Sol Campbell. However, during his stint at North

On the 6th of January 2012, Arsenal’s record top goal scorer returned to North London on loan to cover for Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho who were at the African Cup of Nations. Unable to take his old number 14 shirt, occupied by Theo Walcott since his departure, Thierry Henry opted for the number 12 he had won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships with for France. Arguably the greatest player to have ever played in the Premier League, TiTi left Arsenal for brighter pastures at Barcelona, but returned a crowd favourite and self-confessed fan of the club. “When it comes to Arsenal my heart will always do the talking,” he said on his arrival. “I always said I was never

I am sure we all have memories of being at school and having one person being better than everyone else at playing football? Well, at his high school Thierry Henry was that person – always leaps and bound ahead of his peers at the game. There are several things that make the French footballer stand out from the crowd including his skills at taking a penalty, speed at moving the ball and his talents for assisting others to make a goal – all of this helped him secure a place as captain of his school football team. It is players like Henry that have helped to make Arsenal F.C betting at Sportsbet.io such a fun thing to do, because they