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Arsenal Women are the most successful women’s football team in England
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Founded in 1987, they have won 15 league titles
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Read below for more on the club’s history, stadium and iconic figures
Arsenal have been at the forefront as the women’s game has grown in England.
This is a club which has not just been focused on its standing in the Premier League odds, but taken the initiative with investment and promotion of their women’s team.
While some of the best midfielders in Premier League history were lifting trophies at Highbury, Arsenal Women were developing from a project to a professional sports team, a true juggernaut conquering England and beyond in the noughties.
History
Arsenal Women Football Club was formed in 1987 as ‘Arsenal Ladies’. They are the most successful English women’s team of all-time, holding numerous records across various competitions.
Long the dominant force in the women’s game, Arsenal Women is the only team in the history of the English game – male or female – to complete a continental treble while going undefeated for the season.
Vic Akers founded the club back in the 1980s and was appointed as their first manager.
It was not an immediate success with Arsenal Ladies only playing occasional matches through their first few seasons. They didn’t turn professional until after the millennium despite winning their first league title a decade previous.
It didn’t take long after that for the Gunners to establish themselves as one of the best women’s football teams in the world.
As the men’s time enjoyed success, the club made a substantial effort to fund and treat its women’s team equally.
With Akers at the helm, Arsenal had a world-beating setup for scouting and training. Trophies followed as the academy produced stars aplenty.
There was a run of seven consecutive league titles, featuring six unbeaten campaigns. There was no safer bet than backing Arsenal Women under Akers’ stewardship – they even conquered the continent, lifting the UEFA Women’s Cup in 2006/07.
More glory followed in the post-Akers era with the Gunners winning the inaugural Women’s Super League.
Akers had occupied the job for over two decades, and the club entered relative turmoil after with managerial changes becoming common. The silverware continued to accumulate, though, and there was a remarkable influx of talent under Pedro Losa.
In 2017, the club made the significant decision to rebrand as Arsenal Women Football Club.
Stadium
Arsenal Women play at Meadow Park in Hertfordshire. It is also the home to Boreham Wood. The Gunners have used Meadow Park since they were founded.
With Arsenal’s youth teams and Watford reserves also using the stadium, Meadow Park is a busy venue throughout the football season. It has a capacity of 4,500, though only 1,500 are seated.
A redevelopment in 2019 provided a touch of Highbury to Meadow Park. The North Bank Terrace obviously is far from a carbon copy, but it shares the name of a famous stand from the Gunners’ former home.
Best Players
Many of the best female footballers of all-time have pulled on the red and white of Arsenal.
Alex Scott net worth has become a hot topic in recent years following her groundbreaking work as pundit and presenter, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Football Focus host is also one of Arsenal’s best ever players.
A long-time teammate of Scott, Rachel Yankey is also an Arsenal icon. Yankey is the all-time leader in England caps and played an integral role in six league titles.
With pace to burn and mesmeric quick feet, Yankey was as entertaining as she was effective.
Starring alongside Yankey and Scott for club and country, Faye White was a dominating force at the heart of the Arsenal defence through the late-90s all the way to her retirement in 2017.
White won 10 league titles and nine FA Cups with the club – that’s a medal haul few in English football can rival.
Moving onto more recent Arsenal stars, Vivianne Miedema is the all-time leading scorer in the Super League, and at just 25 years old, could yet break numerous records at the club.
Miedema is one of the best players of her generation, pairing sublime technical ability with lethal finishing.
All-action midfielder Jordan Nobbs moved to Arsenal from Sunderland in 2010, winning three Super League titles since then. Nobbs was crowned FA Player of the Year in 2016 and has been an integral cog for club and country.
While the team success hasn’t been as common, the Gunners have continued to compete, with Nobbs as the driving force in the middle third.
Honours
Arsenal Women have won 15 league titles. No other club has more than four.
Their 14 FA Cup wins is six more than second-placed Southampton. Arsenal remain the only English club to win the Champions League, with no other side every reaching the final.
Here’s a complete list of Arsenal Women’s honours:
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League titles – 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
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FA Cup – 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
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League Cup – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017-18
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Champions League – 2006-07
Previous Managers
Arsenal Women have had seven managers in their history. Vic Akers is the one of the most successful football managers of all time with 36 trophies to his name.
The former kitman of the men’s team led the women’s side to 11 of the club’s 15 league titles.
Tony Gervaise succeeded Akers but only lasted for a short period before swapping roles with Laura Harvey.
Harvey made history as the club’s first female coach, and she was followed by Shelley Kerr in 2013. Kerr won more silverware before resigning in 2014, with Pedro Losa taking over.
Losa overhauled the squad with signings and the introduction of young talent. Joe Montemurro took the reins in 2017, winning the Super League in 2018-19, but he departed in 2021 and was replaced by Jonas Eidevall.
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Vic Akers – 1987 to 2009
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Tony Gervaise – 2009 to 2010
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Laura Harvey – 2010 to 2013
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Shelley Kerr – 2013 to 2014
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Pedro Martinez Losa – 2014 to 2017
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Joe Montemurro – 2017 to 2021
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Jonas Eidevall – 2021 to present
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 8th November 2021
