Arsenal F.C. in European football
Arsenal's European record includes two trophies and a Champions League final.
Arsenal F.C. is an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London, that first played European football in 1963. The club has won two European honours: the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. Arsenal became the first London team to reach a UEFA Champions League final, in 2006, and holds the English record for nineteen successive Champions League qualifications.
Quick Facts
- Continent
- Europe
- Club
- Arsenal
- Cup winners' cup
- 1994 (1)
- Inter-cities fairs cup
- 1970 (1)
- Seasons played
- 41
- Most capped player
- Thierry Henry (86)
- Top scorer
- Thierry Henry (41)
- First entry
- 1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Facts from the source article.
Background
Club competitions between teams from different European countries trace their origins to 1897, when the Challenge Cup was created for clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, established in 1909, was contested between clubs from Italy, Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland and lasted two years. The earliest attempt to create a cup for national champion clubs of Europe was made by Swiss club FC Servette; founded in 1930, the Coupe des Nations featured clubs of ten major European football leagues and was deemed a success, but was abandoned for financial reasons.
In December 1954, French sports magazine L'Equipe published an article by Gabriel Hanot proposing a European club competition; a year later, L'Equipe sent invitations to 18 clubs, and UEFA agreed to administer the competition named the European Champion Clubs' Cup. The European Cup Winners' Cup was founded in 1960. Arsenal, in the First Division, were ineligible for both competitions as they had not won a league championship or domestic cup for almost two decades.
They were invited to participate in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, set up to promote international trade fairs, where qualification was based on cities holding trade fairs rather than league position. The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup is regarded as the predecessor to the UEFA Cup, rebranded as the UEFA Europa League in 2008. Each competition round was staged over a two-legged tie, with the winner determined by aggregate score; the away goals rule is activated if the aggregate score is equal.
History
Arsenal first participated in European football during the 1963–64 season via the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. As London's representative, they were paired with Copenhagen XI in the first round; the first match ended in a 7–1 victory, with Geoff Strong and Joe Baker both scoring hat-tricks. Copenhagen XI won the second match 3–2, but lost 9–4 on aggregate. Arsenal faced RFC Liège in the second round and lost 4–2 on aggregate.
In the 1969–70 season, Arsenal again participated in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. After beating Glentoran, Sporting CP and Rouen, they played Dinamo Bacău in the quarter-finals, winning 1–9 on aggregate. In the semi-finals, Arsenal faced Ajax; they won 3–0 at Highbury and restricted Ajax to a 1–0 win at the Olympisch Stadion to reach the final. Arsenal played Anderlecht in the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final; Anderlecht won the first leg 3–1, with Ray Kennedy scoring a crucial away goal.
Arsenal won the second leg 3–0 to win 4–3 on aggregate, ending a 17-year trophy drought. The following season, Arsenal entered as holders but lost in the semi-finals on away goals to 1. FC Köln. The club won the league championship for the first time in 18 years, ensuring qualification for the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1971–72, where they reached the quarter-finals and lost to holders Ajax.
Records
Arsenal was the first English side to defeat Real Madrid and Juventus away from home, and the first to win against both Internazionale and Milan at the San Siro. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann kept ten consecutive clean sheets in the run-in to the 2006 Champions League final; the defence went 995 minutes without conceding a goal. Against Hamburger SV on 13 September 2006, Arsenal became the first team in the competition's history to field a first eleven of different nationalities.
Thierry Henry holds the club record for most appearances in European competition with 86 and most goals with 41. Arsenal's biggest winning margin in Europe is 7–0, achieved twice: away at Standard Liège in the Cup Winners' Cup and at home against Slavia Prague in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League. The club's biggest defeats include a 4–0 loss to Milan and three 5–1 losses to Bayern Munich. The highest European home attendance is 73,707, against Lens in the UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal hold the European club competition record for the most consecutive clean sheets with ten, set between September 2005 and May 2006.
More in English Football Clubs in International Competitions
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