Arsenal’s Top 100 Players of all time: 100-80.

This extended break from all social activity and particularly football is driving most of us up the wall. With nothing better to do I have complied the best I can Arsenal’s top 100 players of all-time list. When making this lengthy list I considered a few things: The players’ ability, statistics, appearances and general impact on Arsenal Football Club. Being only 23 myself however, the wartime heroes were pretty tough to rank…

 

100: Bernd Leno
Kicking off the list is the Gunners’ current number 1. The goalkeeper joined from Leverkusen during the summer of 2018 for £22.5 million and it is proving to be a shrewd investment. The then manager Unai Emery kept faith with Petr Cech in between the sticks for a while but once Leno made his first appearance, he hasn’t looked back. Ability wise he is one of the best we have ever had and is already one of the top goalkeepers in the league and there is much more to come from him.

99: John Jensen
Signed after he scored the winning goal for Denmark at the Euro’s, strangely Jensen took forever to score his first Gunners goal. John Jensen’s lack of goals made him something of an ironic cult figure. However, he was also an intelligent, disciplined midfielder. His work rate and precise passing made him a key component of the Arsenal sides of the early 1990s.

98: Mathieu Flamini
The Frenchman spent a combined total of 7 years at Arsenal over two very different spells. When he joined in 2004 from Marseille, he was an instant hit. His tough tackling, work rate and rugged style of play was very much needed and before his departure to Milan in 2008, he was one of the first names on Arsene Wenger’s team sheet. His loss was felt considerably but he was never the same player after that. Wenger bought him back on a free in 2013 and he became a figure of ridicule amongst many fans but his love for the club could never be doubted.

97: Wojcech Szczesny
Szczesny was a much-criticised figure during his 8 years with the club but at times, he proved what a top class goalkeeper he was and could be. He left in 2017 to join Juventus and he is now one of the best goalkeepers on the planet. His reflexes and agility were never in question but he at times was extremely error prone. His biggest achievement for the club came in the 2013-14 season where he won the Premier League Golden Glove for the most clean sheets in a season with 16.

96: Davor Suker
While the Croatian only made 22 appearences for the club, his name alone being associated with Arsenal is something in itself. In 1998 he won the World Cup Golden Boot and came third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was a prodigious talent and for some reason or another, it never fully clicked in North London. Despite his early departure to West Ham, he scored a fair few braces for the club and nearly every goal was a cracker.

 

95. Henry White
Henry White was a prolific striker who finished his Arsenal career with a record 45 goals in 109 games. He enjoyed his best season in 1919/20, when he finished as the club’s top goalscorer.

 

 

94: Andrey Arshavin
Much like Flamini in the sense that he had varying periods at the club. Arshavin joined on deadline day from Zenit for a then club record fee and big things were expected. He had had a brilliant Euro’s campaign with Russia and many clubs were after the winger’s signature. Wenger snapped him up and in his first season he produced many memorable moments. The two that stick out during his time with the club would be the 4 goals at Anfield and the winner at the Emirates against Pep’s Barcelona. Two moments that will cement his name in Gunners folklore forever.

 

 

93. Bob John
Between 1922 and 1937, Bob John made an incredible 470 appearances for Arsenal’s first team, more than any other pre-war player. John was known as a prodigious ball-winner and an intelligent passer from his customary left-back position.

 

92: Jack Kelsey
Kelsey was Arsenal’s shot stopper for 14 years and made a remarkable 327 appearances for the gunners. It speaks volumes when you are the number one goalkeeper at a club like Arsenal for such a lengthy period and Kelsey was one of the best in the business. Unfortunately, for him he played for a side that was not very successful and in their run to the FA Cup Final in 1951-52, he didn’t feature due to bad form.

91: David Herd
Herd spent 7 years with Arsenal in the 50’s and is one of the most prolific marksmen in the club’s history. His total of 97 goals in 166 appearances is impressive and he was the club’s top goalscorer for four seasons straight. In 1960-61 his total of 29 goals is one of the most by an Arsenal player ever and he is the club’s 15th highest goal scorer currently of all time.

 

90: Steve Williams
Arsenal was Williams’ boyhood club and he got his dream move in the early 80’s where he became a key component for George Graham’s side. Initially being deployed on the right hand side of midfield he helped the Gunners’ reach the League Cup final where they beat Liverpool to earn Williams’ first piece of Arsenal silverware. There was a period where when Williams played well, Arsenal did and his technical ability was superb. In 1988 however he lost his place in the side to Michael Thomas and eventually moved to Luton Town.

89: Cliff Holton
Having spent three years in the club’s reserves side Holton was initially a right full back. He was converted into a striker however and made his full debut for the club in 1950 against Stoke City. He established himself as a first team regular very quickly and his 19 goals in the league helped Arsenal to a First Division title in 1952-53. He finished his Arsenal career with a total of 88 goals in 217 appearances.

 

88: Alexandre Lacazette
Lacazette has been a big name in the footballing world for many years now and during his time at French club Lyon, he was one of the most sought after Strikers in world football. There was supposedly a verbal agreement reached between Lyon and Atletico Madrid for the Frenchman’s signature but it fell through and he joined the Gunners for a club record £53 million fee. He made the dream start to his Gunners’ career, scoring after 94 seconds in the opening game of the season against Leicester. Despite Arsenal’s poor League finish, Lacazette’s first season was a success and his partnership with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang blossomed.

87: Hector Bellerin
Hector is Arsenal through and through and his rapport with the fans is what makes him so loved around the club. He is current vice-captain and is one of the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet every week. He has spent 7 years with Arsenal and has gone from strength to strength despite recurring injury problems. In the 2014-15 season, he was selected in the Premier League’s team of the season and he remains one of the top right backs in the division.

86: Mikel Arteta
The current Arsenal head coach was a surprise appointment but it speaks volumes of how highly the club rate the Spaniard. An ever present for Wenger’s Arsenal after he arrived from Everton on deadline day in 2011. He was the most professional player in the dressing room and his mild mannered approach and focus is partly what landed him the manager’s job. His passing statistics were always up there at the top in the division and he made the central midfield role his own. He was voted the club’s Player of the Season in 12-13, and won two FA Cups with the Gunners. He captained the side from 2014 up until his exit in 2016.

85: Jack Wilshere
Wilshere is a story of what could have been. Along with Abou Diaby his career was ruined by injuries and a lack of game time. The talent that Wilshere had was incredible and had he steered clear of injury he could have gone on to be one of the best midfielders on the planet. He was the star of Arsenal’s youth teams until he joined the first team in the 08/09 season. His first full season for the Gunners came in 2010-11, which is to this day the only season he has stayed fit throughout. He was an ever present in Wenger’s midfield and won the PFA young player of the season award. He was compared to the likes of Liam Brady with his wand of a left foot but an ankle injury at the beginning of the following season ruined him and he was never the same player.

84: Perry Groves
‘Tin-Tin’ was George Graham’s first signing for Arsenal in 1986 and it was looked upon with some confusion at the time. However, Graham saw Groves’ work rate as something to be admired and he took a gamble, which in the long run paid off. He started the majority of Arsenal games in the 1987-88 season and was a key part of the side that won the League Title the following campaign. He made a total of 155 appearances for the club and won 2 First Division Title’s and the League cup where he got an assist in the Final.

83: Thomas Vermaelen
Vermaelen was brought in in 2009 to replace Kolo Toure and he made an instant impact at the club. He was the club’s Player of the Month twice in a row and was building up a reputation as a real goal-scoring defender. His 25-yard screamer against Blackburn Rovers being a highlight. He was named in the team of the season after a brilliant first campaign, which he never really replicated. He was one serious talent though and a fully fit Vermaelen is one of the best defenders the club has ever had.

82: Perry Sands
Sands is one of Arsenal’s longest serving players of all time. He spent a grand total of 17 years with the club from 1902-1919 and made 327 appearances. He stuck with the club through some testing periods and was nicknamed ‘Mr Reliable’. First class Football was stopped when the First World War was declared and after peace broke out, he joined Southend and retired not long afterwards.

 

 

81: Malcolm Macdonald
Macdonald left Newcastle for Arsenal in 1976, for an unusual fee of £333,333.34. He was the club’s top scorer for two consecutive seasons and won the golden boot in 1977. ‘Super Mac’ as he was known spent a relatively short period with the Gunners and was better known for his time at Newcastle but his consistency and goal record earns him a place in this list.

 

 

80: John Lukic
Lukic was very much a two club man. He had two different spells at both Arsenal and Leeds United during his career. His first period with the Gunners came in 1983 where he joined from Elland Road and spent 7 years playing for the club. He was seen as a long-term replacement for the departing Pat Jennings and was Arsenal’s first choice for a number of seasons. His career highlight would come in the 1989 season where Arsenal won the League at Anfield in stoppage time; he played the full 90 minutes. The club then signed David Seaman who was Lukic’s understudy at Leeds, which outraged some Arsenal fans at the time, eventually replaced him.