Arsenal Celebrate 125th Anniversary, Unveil Statues of Thierry Henry, Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams

London’s greatest celebrated their landmark 125th anniversary yesterday, highlighted by the unveiling of statues of three of Arsenal’s most significant contributors.

Herbert Chapman, Arsenal’s legendary coach of the 20s and 30s, was the beginning of the club’s rise to power. Born in 1878, Chapman ironically played the majority of his playing career at Tottenham, but was a popular figure when employed as manager and this was justified through his big name signings, his unique tactics and bringing two league championships and an FA Cup to the club during his tenure. Chapman led Arsenal to their first major trophy and first League title.

Chapman was well known for implementing the WM formation which formed the backbone to his success at Arsenal.

Tragically, Chapman died of pneumonia in 1934 whilst still in charge of Arsenal. His 5 year plan he started in 1925 was beginning to take shape, only to be sadly cut down before he could achieve all he set out to.

In 2007/08 Arsenal introduced a pure white alternate kit in celebration of their great manager.

Chapman’s statue is located between Emirates Stadium and the Fiszman Bridge, watching over the stadium and the team in his famous managerial pose.

Tony Adams is widely regarded as Arsenal’s greatest ever captain and defender. Born in 1966 and standing at a towering 6’3, Adams was the cornerstone of a dominant Arsenal defensive line, ‘the famous four’, that saw Arsenal win 4 Premierships, 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 3 Community Shields and a UEFA Cup Winners Cup over his time with the team.

Adams signed with Arsenal as a schoolboy and notched up 669 career appearances for the North Londoners, second only to David O’Leary. He was the complete clubman, having only ever played for the red of Arsenal. He was given the captaincy in 1988 at the tender age of 21 and remained captain until his retirement 14 yeas later.

However, his on field success were somewhat overshadowed by his off field indiscretions, battling with alcoholism and constantly finding himself in the papers for public drunkenness and fighting. His lowest point came when he crashed his car into a wall near his house and was found to be 27 times over the legal limit, and as such was sentenced to a four month period in prison. That did not help his addiction, as he continued to be troubled by alcohol as he played a match drunk, fell down stairs incurring 29 stitches to his head and letting off flares in a disabled toilet because of taunting from a rival club’s fans.

Arsene Wenger was brought in as manager in 1996 and immediately set out to take control of the club and it’s legendary captain. Wenger implemented a series of very strict rules over the dietary and recreational responsibilities of each player, which greatly helped Adams and Arsenal as they achieved two Premiership and FA Cup doubles over the next 4 years.

The man known as ‘Mr Arsenal’ has his statue located immediately outside the main entrance to Emirates Stadium.

Thierry Henry is regarded by many as not only Arsenal’s greatest ever player, but also the greatest player in the history of English domestic football. I am finding it difficult to write an accurate and appropriate description of this man because he means so much to me, I want to ensure I do him justice.

Henry was signed from Juventus in 1999 to be reunited with his former manager Arsene Wenger. Henry was a skinny, lanky winger who was somewhat failing to live up to his potential in Italy and sought a new beginning in England with Arsenal. Fans raised eye brows at his reported 11 million pound transfer fee, but Wenger had no doubts over what he was doing. Henry started very slowly, failing to score in his first 8 games for Arsenal. I daresay that was the longest period of his career with the club he went without scoring. I think that’s a safe assumption.

Henry was a part of the greatest forward partnership in the history of modern football, striking a legendary combination with Dennis Bergkamp. Henry holds 6 major goal scoring records at Arsenal, including the all time record of 226 goals from just 380 total appearances. He was voted as Arsenal’s greatest ever player, ahead of Bergkamp and Adams.

Henry won two Premierships and two FA Cups in his time at the club, and was one of the key figures in Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’.

I say without hesitation he is the best player I have ever seen, my favourite all time player and the very reason I began following Arsenal. I was 8 years old playing FIFA99 in my friends house in Sydney, Australia, when I was introduced to a player that played for France named Thierry Henry who was faster than lightning. I discovered he played for Arsenal and that was that. He means more to me than any other athlete in my 20 years of living and unconscionable obsession with sport.

Located at the entrance to the Fiszman Bridge, overlooking Emirates Stadium and also looking in the exact direction of Highbury is Henry’s statue. He led Arsenal from Highbury and into the Emirates. He was the King of Highbury and his name will be forever associated with it and the Emirates. That is why he overlooks both.

For the very few of you that will not understand the significance of Henry’s pose in his statue, here is why it is so:

Thierry Henry.