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Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal,[2][3] is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arsenal were founded in 1987 following an initiative by Vic Akers, who became the club's first, longest-serving, and most successful manager. He guided Arsenal to continued success until his departure in 2009, winning the most top-flight matches in English football history. The club have sustained this record,[4] and have won the most doubles and trebles in English football history. Arsenal have also completed a record seven unbeaten league seasons, setting a number of English records for longest top-flight unbeaten run, for goals scored, and points won.[5][6]
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| Full name | Arsenal Women Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Gunners | |||
| Founded | 1987 as Arsenal Ladies | |||
| Ground | Emirates Stadium (from 2024–25 season) Meadow Park (other home games) | |||
| Capacity | 60,704 (all seated) Emirates Stadium[1] 4,500 (1,700 seated) Meadow Park | |||
| Owner | Kroenke Sports & Entertainment | |||
| Manager | Renée Slegers (interim) | |||
| League | Women's Super League | |||
| 2023–24 | WSL, 3rd of 12 | |||
| Website | https://www.arsenal.com/women | |||
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Arsenal are statistically the most successful club in English women's football, holding the records for most titles won in each domestic competition they have played. The club have won 15 league titles, 14 Women's FA Cups, 7 Women's League Cups, 10 Women's National League Cups, 5 Women's FA Community Shields, and are the only English club to win the UEFA Women's Champions League. They are also the only English club to win the continental treble while going undefeated in all competitions played that same season. In the 2006–07 season, the club became the first in the history of women's football to achieve the continental European sextuple.[7]
Arsenal play their home games primarily at the Emirates Stadium, and others at Meadow Park in Borehamwood. In the 2023–24 season, Arsenal sold out the 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium three times against Chelsea, Manchester United, and North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur; and broke the WSL record attendance three times in total during the season. Current plans for the club are for all matches to be played at the Emirates Stadium,[8] beginning with all league matches, and then qualifying rounds of the champions league, with domestic cup games to follow.[9]
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1987–2009: Founding and early success
Arsenal Football Club had explored the idea of a women's team from as early as the 1960s, when local teams asked for financial support in an attempt to turn semi-professional; the Ladies of Islington notably sought support from the club, but were turned down by the Arsenal hierarchy in 1965.[10] Following The Football Association's (FA) decision to rescind the ban on women's football in England in 1969, the game's popularity increased following the creation of official league matches and knock-out competition organised by the Women's Football Association (WFA).[11]
Millwall Lionesses had become the first women's team to affiliate with a prominent men's team. The Rotherhithe-based side was founded in 1971 and pioneered a successful youth community scheme for young women with support from their parent club.[12] Arsenal looked to replicate Millwall's success and founded their own women's team and youth programmes for girls by amalgamating with local team Aylesbury Ladies.[13] Arsenal Ladies Football Club was formed in 1987 by long-term Arsenal men's kit manager Vic Akers, and he was appointed as the amateur side's initial manager.[14] With the support of then vice chairman David Dein, Akers' plea for resources such as playing boots, the men's team coach and the use of training facilities were often answered in a period where financial support for the women's game was scarce; Arsenal thus dominated the women's game in England during the 1990s and 2000s.[14]
They won their first major honour, the Women's League Cup, in the 1991–92 season and won promotion to the FA Women's Premier League from the FA Women's National League South in the same year. A season later, they won the top division title at the first time of asking.[15]
This began a period of sustained dominance for the club, who soon permanently moved into Meadow Park in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, in a groundshare agreement with non-league side Boreham Wood. Following the successes of the men's team, Arsenal made a conscious effort to brand women's football as equitable. Over the next 20 years, Arsenal approached all facets of the game, such as training, tactics, scouting, and finance, with the goal of growing the club and winning trophies. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Arsenal topped the Premier League for many seasons, boasting academy graduates like Marieanne Spacey and Faye White, as well as spending the club's income on stars like Emma Byrne, enabling the club to win a slew of trophies.[16] Akers stepped down as manager of Arsenal's Women's team during the summer of 1997 to become kit manager for the men's team. Terry Howard took charge of the team for the 1997–98 season[17] but Akers returned in 1998–99 following Howard's departure. The club became semi-professional in 2002.[18][19]
Under Akers' stewardship, Arsenal enjoyed unilateral domestic success, as the club claimed 11 league titles, nine FA Women's Cup titles, ten FA Women's Premier League Cup titles, and five FA Women's Community Shield wins. This included seven straight league wins from the 2003–04 season to 2009–10 season, as well as six unbeaten campaigns.[20][21] Akers led the team to the most successful club season in English women's football in the 2006–07 season as the team won every competition available to them, including the UEFA Women's Cup. The win marked Arsenal's only European trophy and was the first time an English club had won the competition.[22] This unique sextuple was recognized with The Committee Award by the Sports Journalists' Association in the 2007 Sports Journalists' Awards.[23]
Akers also led the team to a number of English women's football records, including a six-year league unbeaten run from October 2003[24] to March 2009, marking 108 games without defeat. During that spell, Arsenal won a record 51 league games in a row, between November 2005 and April 2008.[14] Akers retired from management following a domestic treble in the 2008–09 season.
2009–present: Post-Akers and the WSL
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Akers was succeeded by Tony Gervaise,[25] who resigned in February 2010 after only eight months in charge, suggesting his position had been undermined by outside interference.[25] In an unusual development, reserve coach Laura Harvey became first-team manager and Gervaise became reserve coach.[26] This appointment marked the club's first female coach in any capacity.
After a year break in play in preparation for a reformatted league, Arsenal were named as founder members of the FA Women's Super League, which commenced in the spring of 2011.[27] Arsenal won the inaugural season, marking their eighth consecutive English title, and secured another domestic double by also winning the FA Cup.[28] After a two-year period without a league triumph, Shelley Kerr was announced as Harvey's successor in 2013. Under her management, the club won two FA Women's Cups, including a win in 2014 two weeks after the men's team won the 2014 FA Cup, completing a rare FA Cup double for the club. But after a poor run of form which saw Arsenal gain only one point from the opening four league matches of the 2014 season, including exits from the Champions League to minnows Birmingham and a shock loss to Reading, Kerr resigned.[29] She was replaced by Pedro Losa.[30] Losa led the team to the 2015 FA WSL Cup[31] and the 2016 FA Women's Cup.[32] Moreover, he helped to rebuild the squad, notably recruiting younger stars like Daniëlle van de Donk, Kim Little, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema. Losa also brought through youngsters like Leah Williamson. However, Losa left following a poor start to the 2017-18 season[33] and was replaced by Joe Montemurro.
In July 2017, the club rebranded as Arsenal Women Football Club,[3][15] in a move described by Arsenal as "clear signal of togetherness and unity", and to retain the progressive ethos of the club.[2] Utilizing the core Losa helped build, Montemurro led Arsenal to the 2018–19 Women's Super League title with a game to spare. The win marked their first title in seven years, and the club's return to the Champions League for the first time in five years. Montemurro left the club at the end of the 2020–21 season.[34]
Following the resignation of Montemurro, the club appointed Jonas Eidevall as head coach of Arsenal.[34] On 24 September 2022, the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium recorded an attendance figure of 47,367, the highest ever for a WSL match. Arsenal won the match 4–0.[35][36] On 5 March 2023, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 3–1 in the Women's League Cup final to win their first trophy since 2019.[37] Arsenal repeated the feat the following year, defeating Chelsea 1–0 after extra time to win their ninth Women's League Cup title.[38]
In the 2023–24 season, the WSL record attendance was broken three times at the Emirates; against Liverpool in September with 54,115,[39] Chelsea in December with 59,042,[40] followed by Manchester United in February with 60,160.[41] In March, the Emirates again sold out for the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur with 60,050 in attendance, becoming the second biggest crowd in WSL history.[42]
On 15 October 2024, during the 2024-25 season, Jonas Eidevall resigned as manager of Arsenal following a string of poor results and fan scrutiny.[43] On the same day, it was announced that the ex-Dutch national player Renée Slegers was promoted from assistant coach to interim head coach of the first team.
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Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
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Arsenal played the majority of their home matches at Meadow Park, home of National League side Boreham Wood FC, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The ground has a capacity of 4,500.
In the 2022–23 season, the club had the highest home attendance of all clubs in the WSL, with an average of 15,046 fans in attendance per match.[48] The average was taken from matches hosted at both Meadow Park and Emirates Stadium across the season. For the 2023–24 season, Arsenal played five of their matches at the Emirates Stadium, and the remainder at Meadow Park,[49] averaging 30,017 attendance per march.[50]
As of the 2024–25 season, Emirates Stadium is the main home of Arsenal.[51] The team will play 8–11 WSL matches and Champions League 2024–25 matches at the Emirates, with the remainder of matches and one WCL Group Stage match (which was caused as a result of a fixture clash with Arsenal Men competing in the ELF Cup on 18 December) played at Meadow Park.[52][53]
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First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Academy
Arsenal also operate a reserve team, which is mainly formed from Academy players. The reserves have won four FA Women's Premier Reserve League titles and five FA Women's Premier Reserve League Cups in their history.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Former players
For notable current and former players, see Category:Arsenal W.F.C. players.
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Current staff
- As of 15 October 2024[citation needed]
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Director of Women's Football | Clare Wheatley |
| Technical Services Manager | Jodie Taylor[54] |
| Manager | Renée Slegers (interim)[55] |
| Assistant coaches | Aaron D'Antino |
| Kelly Smith | |
| Chris Bradley | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Sebastian Barton |
| Lead strength and conditioning coach | Padraig Roche |
| Head of sports medicine and sports science | Gary Lewin |
| Doctor | Matthew Ogunsanya |
| Lead physiotherapist | Rose Glendinning |
| Sports psychologist | Matt Domville |
| Analyst | Jonny Dixon |
| Melissa Phillips | |
| Head of Women's Football Operations | Holly Skinner |
| Academy manager | James Honeyman |
Managerial history
| Dates | Name |
|---|---|
| 1987–1997 |  Vic Akers |
| 1997–1998 | Terry Howard |
| 1998–2009 | Vic Akers |
| 2009–2010 |  Tony Gervaise |
| 2010–2013 | Laura Harvey |
| 2013–2014 | Shelley Kerr |
| 2014–2017 |  Pedro Martínez Losa |
| 2017–2021 |  Joe Montemurro |
| 2021–2024 |  Jonas Eidevall |
| 2024– |  Renée Slegers (interim) |
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| Type | Competition | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regional | London County FA Women's Cup | 10 | 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 |
| National | English Football Championship[note 1] | 15 | 1992–93, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011, 2012, 2018–19 |
| FA Women's Premier League South[note 2] | 1 | 1991–92 | |
| Women's FA Cup | 14 | 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 | |
| FA Women's League Cup | 7 | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017–18, 2022–23, 2023–24 | |
| FA Women's National League Cup | 10 | 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09 | |
| Women's FA Community Shield | 5 | 2000,[note 3] 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008 | |
| Continental | UEFA Women's Champions League | 1 | 2006–07 |
- Including the WFA National League Premier Division (1991–1994), FA Premier League National Division (1995–2010), and the Women's Super League (since 2011)
- Arsenal played in the competition when it was a part of the country's joint second division, in conjunction with the northern section. Today the competition is a part of the country's third division and is called the FA Women's National League South.[citation needed]
- The 2000 FA Women's Charity Shield was shared with Charlton Athletic
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