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Arsenal were founded as Dial Square in 1886 by employees of the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, but were soon renamed Royal Arsenal. Five years later they turned professional, and renamed themselves again – this time to Woolwich Arsenal. The club joined the Football League in 1893, starting out in the Second Division, and won promotion to the First Division in 1904.

The club was difficult to reach for both supporters and opposition clubs, meaning it didn’t take as much revenue as it needed to – by 1910 it was effectively bankrupt, when they were taken over by Henry Norris. Norris wanted to move the club to beat its financial issues, and in 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury, North London. Seeing as they were nowhere near the place, they dropped Woolwich from their name, and became the Arsenal. Arsenal only finished in fifth place in 1919, but were elected to enter the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with some argument over whether or not the election was fair.

In 1925, Arsenal appointed Herbert Chapman as manager. This was to become the first golden period in Arsenal’s history, as behind Chapman the Gunners won their first major silverware. His tactics and training, unheard of at the time, along with the signings of star players such as Alex James and Cliff Bastin, laid the foundations of the club's domination of English football in the 1930s. Under his control the Gunners won an FA Cup in 1930 and two League Championships, in 1931 and 1933. Chapman was also 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. Chapman unexpectedly died of pneumonia in early 1934, ironically as the final whistle of an Arsenal game blew. He was a man admired through the English game for his passion in the sport, and was missed by many.

He left Joe Shaw and George Allison to carry on his project, and with them Arsenal won three more titles: in 1934, 1935 and 1938, as well as an FA Cup in 1936. As key players began to retire Arsenal started to fade, and then World War II meant competitive professional football in England was stopped until the war should end. After the war, under Allison's successor Tom Whittaker, Arsenal enjoyed another successful period, winning the league in 1948 and 1953, and the FA Cup in 1950. After that though, they declined. The club was simply unable to bring players of the same quality as 1930s had yielded, and the club spent most of the 50s and 60s outrageously average. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club success as manager between 1962 and 1966.

Arsenal began winning silverware again with the unexpected appointment of club physiotherapist Bertie Mee as manager in 1966. They lost two League Cup finals, but then won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, their first European trophy, in 1970. This was followed by an great and unexpected victory: their first League and FA Cup double in 1971. This marked a premature high point of the decade; the Double-winning side was soon broken up and the following decade involved missing out closely on too much silverware to be considered even remotely funny. Arsenal finished as First Division runners-up in 1972–73, lost three FA Cup finals: ‘72, ‘78 and ‘80) and lost the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was an FA Cup win in 1978–79, with a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United embedded in the memory of any Gunners who watched it (including my Dad).

The return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of silverware. The Gunners claimed the League Cup in1987, Graham's first campaign at the helm. This was followed by a League title win in 1989, won with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool (“It’s Thomas!...”). Graham's Gooners won another title in 1991, losing only one match, the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993 and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1994. This success was, unfortunately, not to last – Graham was sacked after allegedly taking pay offs from a player agent Rune Hague in certain deals, and left the club in 1995. His replacement Bruce Rioch only lasted one season, though one of his actions lasted for a decade longer… the signing of one Dennis Bergkamp from Inter Milan.

Rioch was replaced by Mr. Arsène Wenger in 1996. The manager was truly unexpected – “Arsene Who?” said the newspapers. But Wenger brought new tactics, a new training regime and several foreign players who complemented the existing English talent to the club, and the sparkling era the Gunners have enjoyed since the tail end of the nineties had begun. Arsenal won a second league and cup double in 1998 and a third in 2002. The club also reached the final of the 2000 UEFA Cup (losing on penalties to Galatasaray), was victorious in the 2003 and 2005 FA Cups, and won the Premier League in 2004 without losing a single match, which earned the side the nickname "The Invincibles". That side, all in all, went 49 league matches unbeaten, a national record, before being beaten 2-0 by Manchester United.

Arsenal have finished in either first or second place in the league in eight of Wenger's eleven seasons at the club. They are one of only four teams to have won the Premier League since its formation in 1992, though they have never won back to back Premier League titles. Arsenal had never progressed beyond the Champions League quarter-finals until 2005–06, in which they reached the final, the first club from London to do so in the competition's fifty-year history, where they were beaten 2–1 by FC Barcelona. In July 2006, they moved into their current stadium, the Emirates Stadium, after 93 years at Highbury.