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This shirt was issued for the Premiere League but never used. No Premiere League badges on sleeves
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The 1999-2000 season was the first Henry’s season at Arsenal F.C. And the first thing was not good as expected. Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to “be re-taught everything about the art of striking.” These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the Premier League behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish club Galatasaray.
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The 2001 FA Cup Final was a football match between Arsenal and Liverpool on 12 May 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 FA Cup, the 119th season of the world’s oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup, and the first in the competition’s history to be staged outside England, due to the ongoing reconstruction of its usual venue, Wembley Stadium. Arsenal appeared in their fourteenth final to Liverpool’s twelfth. Given both teams were in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League, they entered the competition in the third round. Each needed to progress through five rounds to reach the final. Arsenal’s progress was relatively comfortable; after scoring six past Queens Park Rangers, they knocked out holders Chelsea in the fifth round and later came from behind to beat local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final. Liverpool by contrast made hard work of overcoming lower-league opponents Tranmere Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers in the latter rounds of the competition. The final marked the first time that two managers born outside of the British Isles had met in an FA Cup final – French compatriots Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier. The match followed a familiar pattern of Arsenal dictating the pace and creating chances, but failing to breach the Liverpool defence. Arsenal had a penalty appeal turned down in the first half, when defender Stéphane Henchoz handled the ball to deny Thierry Henry a goalscoring opportunity. Henchoz’s partner Sami Hyypiä made a series of goalline clearances during the second half, but was helpless to stop Arsenal taking the lead in the 72nd minute. Liverpool responded by making changes and equalised in the 83rd minute; Arsenal’s failure to deal with a free-kick presented Michael Owen the chance to score. Owen then outpaced Lee Dixon and Tony Adams to score his second and the match winner, two minutes before the end of normal time. Liverpool’s victory marked the second part of their unique treble of the 2000–01 season: they had won the Football League Cup in late February and added the UEFA Cup four days later.
Watch above the F.A. Cup 2001 Highlights
ARSENAL F.C.
2001-2002
Champions League
Match Worn Shirt
Tavlaridis Stathis
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The 2001–02 season was the 104th season of competitive football played by Arsenal. Having ended the previous season as FA Cup finalists and league runners-up to Manchester United, the club went one better in this campaign, by completing the domestic double – their second in four years and third overall. Arsenal won the Premier League by a seven-point margin, were unbeaten away from home and managed the unique feat of scoring in every league game. They lost only three times in the division, all of which at home. At the Millennium Stadium, Arsenal beat Chelsea 2–0 to win the 2002 FA Cup Final. In Europe however, they fared poorly as they were eliminated in the second group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
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Wright joined Arsenal on 5 July 2001 for £2 million. He signed a five-year contract. Manager Arsène Wenger envisaged him as a long-term successor to David Seaman and also as a more experienced competitor for the previous second-choice goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who soon left the club. Wright made his debut against Derby County on 29 September, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win at Pride Park which put his team on the summit of the table. On his UEFA Champions League debut against Panathinaikos he saved an Angelos Basinas penalty to help his side win 2-1. Despite an injury to Seaman which gave him an extended run in the team, he did not capitalise on the opportunity, punching the ball into his own net in a 4–2 home defeat to Charlton Athletic on 4 November when trying to clear from Paul Konchesky. Seventeen days later, he was substituted at half time with injury in a UEFA Champions League match away to Deportivo de La Coruña, being replaced by youth goalkeeper Stuart Taylor in the 2–0 defeat. He slipped to third choice behind Taylor and played mostly FA Cup matches for the remainder of the season, although Seaman replaced him for the final, which Arsenal won 2–0 against Chelsea. He made his last Arsenal appearance on the final day of the 2001–02 season, a 4–3 victory over Everton. He ended the season with 12 league appearances, meaning he was eligible for a winners’ medal.[11] Wright made 22 appearances for Arsenal in total.
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Ray Parlour is most famous for his time at Arsenal, where he played for 14 years. He joined Arsenal as a trainee in 1989 and made his debut for the Gunners against Liverpool on 29 January 1992, where he conceded a penalty in a 2–0 defeat. Parlour continued to be a bit-part player for the next few years, and was more noted for several disciplinary problems (such as a run-in with a Hong Kong taxi driver while on tour). He properly broke through in 1994–95, and played in Arsenal’s European UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final loss to Real Zaragoza that season (having been an unused sub in the Gunners’ 1–0 triumph over Parma the previous season). However, Parlour only fully developed as a player after the arrival of Arsène Wenger as manager in 1996; he became a regular fixture playing on the right-wing or in central midfield for Arsenal; in 1997–98 Arsenal won the Double and Parlour proved instrumental. He was man-of-the-match in the Gunners’ FA Cup Final win over Newcastle United that season; he set up Nicolas Anelka for Arsenal’s second goal in a 2–0 win. However, he missed out on the 1998 World Cup that summer (England coach Glenn Hoddle preferring Spurs’ Darren Anderton instead). Parlour continued to enjoy success with Arsenal for another four years (winning another Double in 2002), but generally received little acclaim in the media compared with many of his more illustrious Arsenal teammates, especially as he was almost constantly living in the shadow of Patrick Vieira for much of his time at the club. He finally claimed his place in the spotlight with a 30-yard strike to open the scoring in the 2002 FA Cup Final against Chelsea, which was famously pre-empted by Soccer AM’s Tim Lovejoy with “Oh, it’s all right, it’s only Ray Parlour”; Arsenal won 2–0, with the second goal from Freddie Ljungberg. In total, with Arsenal, Parlour won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners’ Cup having played 464 games and scoring 32 goals in all competitions. In March 2000, he hit a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win at Werder Bremen in a UEFA Cup quarter final tie. Arsenal went on to reach the final of the competition that year. Parlour was the only Arsenal player successful from the spot in their shoot-out defeat to Galatasaray. Seven months later, he followed it up with another hat-trick in a 5–0 demolition of Newcastle United at Highbury. In April 2001, he struck a spectacular 30-yard winner as Arsenal beat Valencia 2–1 in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final 1st leg tie at Highbury. Another one of Parlour’s finest moments in Arsenal colours came in November 2003, when as stand-in captain, he led Arsenal to a famous 5–1 win against Internazionale at San Siro. These performances over the years have led many Arsenal fans to believe that he is one of the most under-rated players of his generation. As of May 2016, he holds Arsenal’s all-time Premier League appearances record of 333.
ARSENAL F.C.
2003-2004
Champions League
Arsenal vs Internazionale
Match Worn Shirt
Parlour Ray
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During his Arsenal career he was nicknamed “The Romford Pelé”; although the nickname was given with an ironic sense of humour, on account of his solid performance but unglamorous image. He has been described as an “unsung hero” and praised as a “fans’ favourite” for his high-energy performances. He is now a pundit on television, as well as on radio stations BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport. In 2012 Parlour briefly came out of retirement to play for Wembley in the club’s FA Cup fixtures.
BARCELONA F.C.
Champions League Final
May 17th 2006
Barcelona vs Arsenal
Match Used Ball
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This ball was used during the Uefa Champions League Final 2006. The 2006 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between Barcelona of Spain and Arsenal of England at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, France, on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. It was the final match of the 2005–06 season of Europe’s primary cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were appearing in their fifth final, having won the competition once in 1992, and lost the other three finals. Arsenal were appearing in the final for the first time and in doing so became the first club from London to feature in the final. Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Barcelona won their group and progressed to the final after beating Chelsea, Benfica and Milan, respectively. Arsenal won their group to move into the knockout stage, and progressed without conceding a goal against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal, respectively. A crowd of 79,500 watched as Jens Lehmann was sent off early in the game. Despite this setback, Arsenal took the lead through Sol Campbell towards the end of the first half. The game turned with the 61st minute introduction of Henrik Larsson as a Barcelona substitute. Larsson provided two assists, one each for Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti. The 2–1 victory was Barcelona’s second triumph in the competition 14 years after they won the European Cup in 1992.
