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Arsenal managers: Arsene Wenger is the all-time best coach

Arsenal have had almost 30 managers, but Arsene Wenger stands out as the all-time most successful coach of the club with the longest-serving years and major trophies. Learn more about this man’s life, as well as other managers of Arsenal along with their honors.
Harry Siuu
By: Harry Siuu

List of Arsenal managers since the club’s inception

Name

Nationality

Periods

Win %

Thomas Mitchell

Scotland

30 March 1897- 10 March 1898

51.11

Unknown

 

11 March 1898- April 1898

66.67

William Elcoat

England

11 April 1898- 16 February 1899

47.73

Arthur Kennedy (caretaker)

England

21 February 1899- 29 April 1899

53.33

Harry Bradshaw

England

30 June 1899- 30 April 1904

50.21

Phil Kelso

Scotland

1 May 1904- 9 February 1908

41.45

George Morrell

Scotland

10 February 1908- 13 April 1915

36.57

James McEwen (caretaker)

England

19 April 1915- 24 May 1919

50.00

Leslie Knighton

England

25 May 1919- 16 May 1925

36.71

Herbert Chapman

England

11 June 1925- 6 January 1934

49.64

Joe Shaw (caretaker)

England

6 January 1934- 28 May 1934

60.87

George Allison

England

28 May 1934- 31 May 1947

46.24

Tom Whittaker

England

2 June 1947- 24 October 1956

47.21

Jack Crayston

England

24 October 1956- 19 May 1958

41.98

George Swindin

England

21 June 1958- 1 May 1962

40.86

Billy Wright

England

1 May 1962

38.46

Bertie Mee

England

20 June 1966- 13 June 1966

44.71

Terry Neill

Northern Ireland

9 July 1976- 16 December 1983

44.95

Don Howe

England

16 December 1983

46.15

Steve Burtenshaw (caretaker)

England

23 March 1986- 14 May 1986

27.27

George Graham

Scotland

14 May 1986- 21 February 1995

48.91

Stewart Houston (caretaker)

Scotland

21 February 1995- 15 June 1995

36.84

Bruce Rioch

Scotland

15 June 1995- 12 August 1996

46.81

Stewart Houston (caretaker)

Scotland

12 August 1996- 13 September 1996

33.33

Pat Rice (caretaker)

Northern Ireland

13 September 1996- 30 September 1996

75.00

Arsène Wenger

France

1 October 1996- 13 May 2018

57.25

Unai Emery

Spain

23 May 2018- 29 November 2019

55.13

Freddie Ljungberg (caretaker)

Sweden

29 November 2019- 21 December 2019

16.67

Mikel Arteta

Spain

22 December 2019- Present

51.19

Herbert Chapman was the manager that brought Arsenal to a new era. Before Herbert, Arsenal didn’t obtain any title under the lead of other coaches. Until 1925, when Herbert Chapman started his manager tenure at Arsenal F.C. until 1934, they got two First Division titles in the 1930-31 and 1932-33 seasons, won one FA Cup in the 1929-30, and three Charity Shield titles in 1930, 1931, and 1933. 

After the good beginning from the era of Herbert, Arsenal kept going on their victory path. Specifically, Joe Shaw and his men got one champion in the 1933-34 First Division; George Allison helped Arsenal bring home two First Division champions in the 1934-35 and 1937-38 seasons, one FA Cup title in 1935-36, and two Charity Shields in 1934 and 1938. 

Tom Whittaker was also one of the top managers of Arsenal by leading the club to two First Division championships in 1947-48 and 1952-53, winning one FA Cup in the 1949-50 season, and two Charity Shield in 1948 and 1953. 

Bertie Mee, who was promoted from a caretaker to the full-time manager of Arsenal, together with his men brought Doubles of First Division and FA Cup in the 1970-71 season. They also won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the previous season. 

Under the coach of George Graham for nine years from 1986 to 1995, Arsenal won two First Division titles in 1988-89 and 1990-91. In the 1992-93 season, they won a double of FA Cup and EFL Cup. The Gunners shared the triumph of the Charity Shield in 1991 and became the winner of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1993-94 season.

Notably, Arsene Wenger led Arsenal to the most trophies during his tenure. They won a total of 17 titles within 22 years under the management of Wenger, including three Premier League titles in 1997-98, 2001-02, and 2003-04, seven FA Cup victories, and seven Community Shields. 

Mikel Arteta, the current manager responsible since 2019, has helped the club reach one FA Cup and Community Shield in 2020. 

Who is the best manager that Arsenal have had?

No surprise that Arsene Wenger is considered the most successful manager in the history of Arsenal. He was not only the longest-serving manager with a record of 22 years from 1996 to 2018 but also supported Arsenal to achieve plenty of titles during his time.

With the longest period of time being as the manager of Arsenal, Wenger was in charge of the most matches (1235) and 57% of the games were wins. Although this French man started his football career quite humbly, by mainly playing in amateur clubs and officially retired as a footballer in 1891, when he got the manager’s diploma. 

Surprisingly, the first time being a manager of a football club was totally unsuccessful. He coached a French club called Nancy and was sadly dismissed from his position in 1897. After that, he managed Monaco but only stopped at a few titles such as the French Division 1 and one Coupe de France, and then only one year spent in Japan to coach Grampus Eight. It seemed Arsenal was the true place to brighten Wenger’s career.

Arsene Wenger

The current manager Mikel Arteta

This Spanish former player used to play and work with many top-flight clubs. In his youth stage, Mikel played for Antiguoko from 1991-1997 and then spent two next years with Barca. In his senior career, he played for Barca, Everton, Real Sociedad, and Arsenal under contract, and on loan in PSG.

Mikel Arteta

Despite the fact that Mikel is a good candidate for Spanish football, he never played for the national football team, but U16 to U21 clubs instead. In 2016, he retired as a footballer and started his managing career by being an assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Man City for three years, and the full-time manager of Arsenal since 2019. 

Learn about Arsenal’s fundamentals

If you’ve never heard about Arsenal, or even if you are a big fan but you might not really understand about this club’s background, this section will help.

History

Arsenal Football Club (Arsenal F.C.) is an English top-notch club based in Islington, London. They are also known as The Gunners which are featured on their logo, and The Invincibles, the proudest nickname they received in the 2003-04 season for being unbeaten within 49 continuous games.  

Their home ground is currently Emirates Stadium after changing among several stadiums since the club’s inception. Emirates Stadium is the fourth-largest ground in England with more than 60,000 seats, after Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

Arsenal- the Invincibles

Achievements

In their career, Arsenal have achieved plenty of titles. They are the most successful club in the FA Cup, with 14 titles, and the most recent season they win the FA Cup is the 2019-20. In addition, The Gunners have won 13 league titles, including one unbeaten title in the 2003-04 season, which resulted in their nickname Invincible, two Carabao Cup, 16 FA Community Shields, the League Centenary Trophy, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. 

Arsenal have won the second-most top-flight games in the history of English football, after Manchester United.  

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_F.C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arsenal_F.C._managers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikel_Arteta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Wenger

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Harry Siuu
Written by: Harry Siuu
a specialized football specialist with over ten years' experience as a football journalist who works for Betimate.com.

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