DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PLAYERS ARSENAL FC HAS SOLD TO FC BARCELONA UNDER ARSENE WENGER'S MANAGEMENT SINCE 2000?

Arsene Wenger

  
At seven, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Gio Van Bronckhorst, Thierry Henry, Aleksandr Hleb, Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song are Arsenal FC players sold to FC Barcelona since 2000 under Arsene Wenger's management.

DO YOU KNOW WHO IS THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE'S HIGHEST SCORING ENGLISHMAN NEVER TO HAVE PLAYED FOR ENGLAND'S THREE LIONS?

Kevin Campbell is the English Premier League (EPL) highest scoring Englishman never to have played for England's Three Lions. He played for Arsenal FC, Nottinham Forest, Everton FC and West Bromwich Albion in the EPL by scoring 82 goals in total.

DO YOU KNOW THE YOUNGEST PLAYER TO HAVE WON AN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (EPL) MEDAL?

French international Gaël Clichy at 18 years and 10 months, became the youngest player to win a English Premier League (EPL) medal for Arsenal FC in the 2003/2004 season where they went undefeated and dubbed The Invisibles.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT PROFESSION MAROUANE CHAMAKH STUDIED FOR WHILE PLAYING FOR BORDEAUX?

 

Under performing Arsenal FC striker Marouane Chamakh is a trained accountant.While pursuing his career as a professional footballer, Chamakh was equally adept off the field earning good grades in school. 

During his early years at Girondins de Bordeaux, the Moroccan international began attending high school. He hoped to earn a Baccalauréat in accounting, which he later accomplished.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT WAS UNIQUE ABOUT ARSENAL FC'S 2012/2013 SEASON DOMESTIC CUP RECORD?

 

Arsenal F.C.

It was the first time ever that this football club from North London was knocked-out of both domestic cup competitions by lower league teams.  

Arsene Wenger's Arsenal F.C. lost in the English League Cup now known as the Capital One Cup to English League 2 side Bradford City. They also lost in the English FA Cup to English Championship clubside Blackburn Rovers.

DO YOU KNOW THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NAMING OF ARSENAL FC FROM THE OLD THE ARSENAL?

Herbert Chapman

 Under Herbert Chapman who was  appointed as manager in 1925, The Arsenal changed their name to simply Arsenal FC in order to appear at the top of the alphabetical list of old English Division One clubs. In addition, Chapman was behind the 1932 renaming of the local London Underground station from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal", making it the only Tube station to be named specifically after a football club. 

Under his guidance Arsenal FC won their first major trophies – victory in the 1930 English FA Cup Final preceded two English Division One League Championships in 1930/1931 and 1932/1933 seasons. 

DID YOU KNOW THE LAST PLAYER TO MOVE FROM ARSENAL FC TO MANCHESTER UNITED BEFORE ROBIN VAN PERSIE DID IN AUGUST 2012?

Viv Anderson in action for Arsenal

Anderson in Man Utd shirt

In 1987, Viv Anderson is the last Arsenal FC player to move to Manchester United before Robin van Persie did in August 2012.  

Anderson was the first ever signing of Sir Alex Ferguson as he consolidate on his new post at Old Trafford in a bitter £250,000 deal which the Gunners bemoaned the deal as then manager George Graham had no obvious replacement for the defender.

DO YOU KNOW THE TWO PLAYERS THAT HAVE WON THE EUROPEAN GOLDEN SHOE AWARD TWICE IN A ROW?

Ally McCoist while still playing with Rangers FC of Scotland and Thierry Henry with Arsenal FC of England, are the only players to win the European Golden Shoe formerly known as European Golden Boot in consecutive years.

McCoist did it in the 1991/1992 and 1992/1993 seasons with 34 goals apiece in the Scottish Premier League (SPL) while Henry achieved his in the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 seasons while playing in the English Premier League (EPL) with 30 and 25 goals respectively.

                                          

DO YOU KNOW THE LAST ARSENAL FC OUTFIELD PLAYER TO PLAY ALL 38 MATCHES IN A ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (EPL) SEASON?

Since the 1996/1997 English Premier League (EPL) season till date, no outfield player with Arsenal FC has played all 38 games of the season apart from Nigel Winterburn who did it then under the managerial guidance of Stewart Houston, Pat Rice and Arsene Wenger who arrived in December 1996.

DO YOU KNOW THE OLDEST OUTFIELD PLAYER TO MAKE HIS DEBUT FOR ENGLAND'S THREE LIONS?

Leslie Compton

In 1950/1951 season, Leslie Compton of Arsenal FC became the oldest post-war and the oldest ever outfield player to make his debut for England's Three Lions when he played against Wales aged 38 years and 2 months on November 15, 1950.

Compton also doubled as a Cricketer for Middlesex, playing as a wicket-keeper from 1938 to 1956, but never played Test Cricket for England unlike his brother Denis Compton. He retired from playing football in the 1952 close season. In total he played 273 matches and scored 6 goals. He stayed on at Arsenal FC for another three years as a coach and scout.

DO YOU KNOW THE ONLY CLUB IN ENGLAND TO HAVE WON THE LEAGUE AND THE FA CUP DOUBLE IN THREE SEPERATE DECADES?

North London giant, Arsenal FC are the only team to have won the English League and the English FA Cup double in 3 separate decades.  

The Gunners first achieved this feat in the 1970/1971 season under Bertie Mee, the 1997/1998 season and the 2001/2002 seasons were under Frenchman Arsene Wenger. 

DO YOU KNOW WHEN ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL FOR ARSENAL FC?

The Ox

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was signed from Southampton for £12 million initial payment which could rise to £15 million with "add-ons" made his Arsenal FC debut on August 28, 2011, in the 8–2 defeat at Manchester United, as a 62nd minute substitute for Francis Coquelin, thus becoming the 150th player to represent Arsenal FC in the English Premier League (EPL). 

On September 20, 2011, Oxlade-Chamberlain scored his first goal for Arsenal FC in the 58th minute of a Carling Cup match against Shrewsbury Town, with a drive from 25 yards. Arsenal FC won 3–1.

When he was younger, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain now of Arsenal FC and the Three Lions of England was offered a trial at rugby club London Irish, but didn't attend as football was his main aim.

DO YOU KNOW THE MOST CAPPED GOALKEEPER TO EVER PLAY FOR THE SELACAO OF BRAZIL?

Cláudio Taffarel is the most capped goalkeeper to have played for the Selecao of Brazil winning 101 caps from 1988 to 1998 with his last against the Les Bleus in the France 1998 FIFA World Cup final in a 0-3 loss. He made his debut for the national team on July 7, 1988 against Australia in a  Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup, playing all four games and conceding two goals in an eventual win. He was also in goal for the following year's Copa América, in another international conquest (during his 10-year career, he appeared in five editions of the tournament).

Claudio Taffarel

He played for clubs like FC Parma of Italy (twice), Internacional of Brazil, Reggiana of Italy, Atlético Mineiro of Brazil and Galatasaray SK of Turkey where he helped win the UEFA Cup in 2000 against Arsenal FC by saving penalties in that final.

 

 

 

DO YOU KNOW THE PLAYER DIEGO FORLAN PIPPED TO WIN THE TWO PICHICHI TROPHY AWARDS FOR THE TOP SCORER WHILE HE WAS IN THE SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA?

Diego Forlan is a two-time winner of the Pichichi Trophy for the top-scorer in the Spanish Primera Liga with two different clubsides. His first Pichichi Trophy was with Villarreal CF 2004–05 season when he scored 25 goals in 38 appearances (averaging a goal every 1.5 games) and helped Villarreal CF to their first ever UEFA Champions League spot. He also jointly won the European Soccer Magazine (ESM) Golden Boot award with Thierry Henry (then of Arsenal FC). Forlan's second Pichichi Trophy came in the 2008-2009 season while at Atletico Madrid and he notched up an impressive 32 goals in 33 matches (essentially a goal per game). Interestingly on both occasion, he came from behind to pip Samuel Eto'o then with FC Barcelona to the prize.

DO YOU KNOW WHO SCORED CHELSEA'S 6000TH GOAL IN ENGLISH LEAGUE FOOTBALL?

Frank Lampard scored Chelsea FC's landmark 6000th goal in English football league when he scored the first goal in Chelsea's 3-5 defeat to Arsenal FC on Saturday October 29th, 2011 at Stamford Bridge and ïs now the 31st club to achieve that feat - and only the third from London following Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs.

DO YOU KNOW THE YOUNGEST ENGLISHMAN TO SCORE A GOAL FOR ARSENAL FC IN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain set a new record with his eighth-minute strike as he became the youngest Englishman in Arsenal FC’s history to score in the UEFA Champions League, beating team-mates Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott in the process, as The Gunners defeated Olympiakos 2-1 in an entertaining evening at The Emirates.

DID YOU KNOW THE PLAYER THAT SCORED THE FASTEST GOAL IN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?

 The fastest UEFA Champions League goal came from the Dutch striker Roy Makaay, who netted for Bayern Munich against Real Madrid in 2007 after 10.2 seconds. He took the record from Gilberto Silva, who scored after 20 seconds for Arsenal FC against PSV Eindhoven in 2002. Third on the list is Alessandro del Piero for Juventus against Manchester United in 1997 and in fourth came from Clarence Seedorf against Schalke 04 in 2005. Alexandre Pato's effort for AC Milan against the reigning champions FC Barcelona on September 13, 2011 came after 23 seconds. Remarkably that only put it fifth among the fastest goals in the competition.

 

DID YOU KNOW THE REAL ZARAGOZA PLAYER THAT DENIED ARSENAL FC DEFENDING THEIR UEFA CUP WINNERS CUP TITLE IN 1995?

In the final minute of extra time (timed at 119:16), Real Zaragoza of Spain played Arsenal FC on May 10, 1995 in the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with the match heading to penalties, a spectacular 40-yard shot from Real Zaragoza's Mohammed Ali Amar aka Nayim cleared Arsenal FC goalkeeper David Seaman, winning the cup for Real Zaragoza and denying the Gunners the defence of their title. Despite Nayim being at least 15 yards inside the Arsenal FC half and not being able to see it on camera, the goal is often incorrectly referred to as a goal from the half-way line.

DID YOU KNOW THE FIRST PLAYER TO BE BOOKED IN THE FINAL OF THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE?

Roberto Boninsegna of Inter Milan was the first person to be yellow carded in a UEFA Champions Cup final on the 31^st May 1972. Boninsegna scored the Azzuris of Italy's only goal (though at the time it was an important equaliser) in the Mexico 1970 FIFA World Cup final against the Selecao of Brazil, which Italy ultimately lost 4–1 to arguably the Greatest Team that ever played soccer. Remarkably, Jens Lehman formerly of Arsenal FC was the first player to be sent off with a red card in the final match against Ronaldinho's FC Barcelona during the 2005 edition in Paris.