2008–09 Arsenal F.c. Season

This season Arsenal participated in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and the UEFA Champions League. This was the first time since 1986 that Arsenal went four consecutive seasons without winning a trophy.

Arsenal

2008–09 season
Chairman	Peter Hill-Wood
Manager	Arsène Wenger
Stadium	Emirates Stadium
Premier League	4th
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Quarter-finals
UEFA Champions League	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Robin van Persie (11) All: Robin van Persie (20)
Highest home attendance	60,109 (vs. West Ham United, 31 January 2009, Premier League)
Lowest home attendance	55,641 (vs. Hull City, 17 March 2009, FA Cup)
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

• 5 May: Midfielder Mathieu Flamini agrees to a four-year contract with Italian club Milan, meaning he will leave Arsenal on a free transfer on 1 July.
• 23 May: Physiotherapist Neal Reynolds agrees to join Arsenal from Norwich City.
• 28 May: Arsenal are granted a work permit for striker Carlos Vela, who spent the 2007–08 season on loan to Osasuna.
• 3 June: Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann joins VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer.
• 4 June: Defender Bacary Sagna signs a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 9 June: Central defender/defensive midfielder Alex Song agrees to a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 9 June: Physiotherapist Gary Lewin agrees to leave Arsenal to become full-time Head of Physiotherapy for England on 1 August.
• 13 June: Midfielder Aaron Ramsey signs for Arsenal from Cardiff City.
• 20 June: Defender Gaël Clichy signs a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 11 July: Attacking midfielder Samir Nasri signs for Arsenal from Marseille.
• 16 July: Attacking midfielder Alexander Hleb signs for Barcelona from Arsenal.
• 17 July: Defensive midfielder Gilberto Silva signs for Panathinaikos from Arsenal.
• 30 July: Arsenal sign midfielder Amaury Bischoff from Werder Bremen.
• 9 August: Arsenal retains their Amsterdam Tournament Title after drawing 1–1 with Sevilla.
• 13 August: Arsenal start their European campaign by defeating Twente in the first leg of their 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Third round qualifying round.
• 16 August: Defender Justin Hoyte signs for Middlesbrough from Arsenal.
• 18 August: Striker Emmanuel Adebayor signs a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 20 August: Arsenal sign Defender Mikaël Silvestre from Manchester United. Silvestre becomes the first Manchester United player to join Arsenal since Brian Kidd in 1974 .
• 23 August: Arsenal suffer their first defeat of the season against Fulham by losing 1–0 from a Brede Hangeland goal.
• 27 August: Arsenal qualify for the group stages of the Champions League by defeating Twente 4–0 at the Emirates Stadium and 6–0 on aggregate.
• 1 September: Defender Kieran Gibbs signs a new contract with Arsenal.
• 22 September: Swiss defender Johan Djourou signs a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 27 September: Arsenal's second defeat at the Emirates Stadium was a 2–1 loss to Hull City who came back from an Arsenal lead early in the second half.
• 21 November: Sky Sports News and the BBC report that William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy following a verbal outburst against other players, however Arsenal FC refuse to comment.
• 24 November: Arsène Wenger announces that Cesc Fàbregas is the new permanent Arsenal captain, thus confirming reports that William Gallas has been stripped of the captaincy.
• 23 December: Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas is ruled out for 4 months with a ligament injury after colliding with fellow Spaniard Xabi Alonso in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool.
• 5 January: Midfielder Jack Wilshere signs a professional contract with Arsenal.
• 3 February: After protracted transfer negotiations, Arsenal announce the signing of Russian international Andrey Arshavin for an undisclosed fee.
• 8 February: 350 days after suffering a broken leg and open dislocation to his ankle, striker Eduardo is named on the substitutes bench in Arsenal's 0–0 draw against rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
• 16 February: Striker Eduardo makes his first start in nearly a year in Arsenal's fourth round replay against Cardiff. He scores twice before being substituted in the 67th minute in a 4–0 win.
• 11 March: Arsenal progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after beating Roma 7–6 on penalties after the tie was level at 1–1 after two legs.
• 14 March: Andrey Arshavin scores his first goal for Arsenal in the club's 4–0 Premier League victory over Blackburn Rovers.
• 18 April: Amid various injuries in defence, Arsenal are knocked out of the FA Cup in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in the semi-finals.
• 21 April: 4 goals from man of the match Andrey Arshavin dents Liverpool's Premier League title hopes. The match at Anfield ends in a 4–4 draw.
• 5 May: Arsenal are knocked out of the UEFA Champions League, losing 4–1 on aggregate to defending champions, Manchester United.
• 8 May: Striker Theo Walcott signs a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.
• 8 May: Striker Nicklas Bendtner is fined for "unacceptable" behaviour following nightclub disrepute after the Manchester United game. Bendtner apologised for his actions shortly afterward.

Squad information

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		Manuel Almunia	32	EU	2004	125	0	undisclosed	£0.5m
3	DF		Bacary Sagna	26	EU	2007	89	1	2014	£7.5m
5	DF		Kolo Touré (VC)	28	Non-EU	2002 (Winter)	326	14	undisclosed	£0.15m
10	DF		William Gallas	31	EU	2006	109	13	undisclosed	Part exchange with A. Cole+£5m
22	DF		Gaël Clichy	23	EU	2003	187	1	2012	£0.25m
15	MF		Denílson Pereira Neves	21	Non-EU	2006	93	5	undisclosed	£3.4m
4	MF		Cesc Fàbregas (captain)	22	EU	2003	231	29	2014	Free
17	DF		Alex Song	21	EU	2005	78	3	undisclosed	£1.0m
8	MF		Samir Nasri	21	EU	2008	44	7	undisclosed	£12m
25	FW		Emmanuel Adebayor	25	Non-EU	2006 (Winter)	142	62	undisclosed	£3m
11	FW		Robin van Persie	25	EU	2004	177	63	2011	£2.75m
26	FW		Nicklas Bendtner	21	EU	2004	93	23	2012	Youth system
27	MF		Emmanuel Eboué	25	Non-EU	2005 (Winter)	147	6	undisclosed	£1.54m
2	MF		Abou Diaby	23	EU	2006 (Winter)	98	10	undisclosed	£2m
14	FW		Theo Walcott	20	EU	2006 (Winter)	106	14	undisclosed	£9.1m
20	DF		Johan Djourou	22	Non-EU	2003	77	0	undisclosed	Youth system
12	FW		Carlos Vela	20	Non-EU	2005	29	6	2010	£0.5m
18	DF		Mikaël Silvestre	31	EU	2008	23	2	2010	£0.75m
16	MF		Aaron Ramsey	18	EU	2008	22	1	undisclosed	£4.8m
40	DF		Kieran Gibbs	19	EU	2007	23	0	undisclosed	Youth system
21	GK		Łukasz Fabiański	24	EU	2007	26	0	undisclosed	£2.0m
23	MF		Andrey Arshavin	27	Non-EU	2009 (Winter)	15	6	2012	£15.0m
19	MF		Jack Wilshere	17	EU	2008	8	1	undisclosed	Youth system
9	FW		Eduardo da Silva	26	Non-EU	2007	35	15	2011	£7.5m
28	MF		Amaury Bischoff	22	EU	2008	4	0	undisclosed	Free
24	GK		Vito Mannone	21	EU	2005	1	0	undisclosed	£0.35m
7	MF		Tomáš Rosický	28	EU	2006	61	13	undisclosed	£6.8m

Transfers

In

#	Position	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Team	Source
16	MF	Aaron Ramsey	Cardiff City	£4,800,000	13 June 2008	First-team
8	MF	Samir Nasri	Marseille	£12,000,000	11 July 2008	First-team
28	MF	Amaury Bischoff	Werder Bremen	Free transfer	30 July 2008	First-team
18	DF	Mikaël Silvestre	Manchester United	£750,000	20 August 2008	First-team
23	MF	Andrey Arshavin	Zenit Saint Petersburg	£15,000,000	3 February 2009	First-team

Total spending:   £32,550,000

Out

#	Position	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
1	GK	Jens Lehmann	VfB Stuttgart	Free transfer (Released)	3 June 2008
16	MF	Mathieu Flamini	Milan	Free transfer (Released)	1 July 2008
13	MF	Alexander Hleb	Barcelona	£11,900,000	16 July 2008
19	MF	Gilberto Silva	Panathinaikos	£1,000,000	17 July 2008
31	DF	Justin Hoyte	Middlesbrough	£3,000,000	16 August 2008

Total income:   £15,900,000

Loan out

Squad #	Position	Player	Loaned to	Date	Loan expires	Source
	DF	Kerrea Gilbert	Leicester City	11 July 2008	End of the season
6	DF	Philippe Senderos	Milan	26 July 2008	End of the season
	MF	Nacer Barazite	Derby County	19 August 2008	End of the season (extended on 31 December 2008)
30	DF	Armand Traoré	Portsmouth	21 August 2008	End of the season
50	FW	Jay Simpson	West Bromwich Albion	31 December 2008	End of the season

Overall transfer activity

Spending

  £32,550,000

Income

  £15,900,000

Net expenditure

  £16,650,000

Squad stats

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Champions League
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ESP	Manuel Almunia	44	0	32	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
2	MF	FRA	Abou Diaby	36	4	16+8	3	4+1	0	0	0	5+2	1
3	DF	FRA	Bacary Sagna	49	0	34+1	0	5	0	0	0	9	0
4	MF	ESP	Cesc Fàbregas	33	3	22	3	1	0	0	0	10	0
5	DF	CIV	Kolo Touré	41	1	26+3	1	3	0	0	0	9	0
7	MF	CZE	Tomáš Rosický	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	FRA	Samir Nasri	44	7	28+1	6	3+2	0	0	0	10	1
9	FW	CRO	Eduardo	4	3	0	0	2	3	0	0	0+2	0
10	DF	FRA	William Gallas	36	6	23	2	4	1	0	0	9	3
11	FW	NED	Robin van Persie	44	20	24+4	11	4+2	4	0	0	10	5
12	FW	MEX	Carlos Vela	29	6	2+12	1	3+1	1	3	4	2+6	0
14	FW	ENG	Theo Walcott	35	6	16+6	2	2+1	1	0	0	9+1	3
15	MF	BRA	Denílson	51	3	36+1	3	2	0	0	0	11+1	0
16	MF	WAL	Aaron Ramsey	22	1	1+8	0	2+2	0	3	0	4+2	1
17	DM	CMR	Alex Song	48	2	23+8	1	4	0	2	0	8+3	1
18	DF	FRA	Mikaël Silvestre	23	2	12+2	2	2	0	1	0	6	0
19	MF	ENG	Jack Wilshere	8	1	0+1	0	0+2	0	3	1	0+2	0
20	DF	SUI	Johan Djourou	29	0	13+2	0	4	0	2	0	6+2	0
21	GK	POL	Łukasz Fabiański	18	0	5+1	0	6	0	3	0	2+1	0
22	DF	FRA	Gaël Clichy	41	1	30+1	1	0	0	0	0	10	0
23	MF	RUS	Andrey Arshavin	15	6	12	6	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
24	GK	ITA	Vito Mannone	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	FW	TOG	Emmanuel Adebayor	37	16	21+5	10	1+1	0	0	0	8+1	6
26	FW	DEN	Nicklas Bendtner	50	15	17+14	9	3+2	2	2	2	5+7	2
27	DF	CIV	Emmanuel Eboué	44	4	17+11	3	4+1	1	0	0	6+5	0
28	MF	POR	Amaury Bischoff	4	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0+2	0	0	0
35	MF	FRA	Francis Coquelin [R]	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
39	FW	POR	Rui Fonte [R]	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
40	DF	ENG	Kieran Gibbs	21	0	6+2	0	5+1	0	3	0	3+1	0
41	DF	ENG	Gavin Hoyte [R]	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
42	MF	ENG	Henri Lansbury [R]	3	0	0	0	0	0	0+3	0	0	0
43	MF	ESP	Fran Mérida [R]	5	0	0+2	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
47	MF	ENG	Mark Randall [R]	6	0	0+1	0	0	0	3	0	0+2	0
49	DF	ENG	Paul Rodgers [R]	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
50	FW	ENG	Jay Simpson [R] [L]	3	2	0	0	0	0	1+2	2	0	0

Source: Arsenal F.C.

Disciplinary record

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name				Notes
11	FW		v. Persie	9	0	1
25	FW		Adebayor	5	1	0
27	MF		Eboué	3	1	0
22	DF		Clichy	9	0	0
17	DF		Song	8	0	0
8	MF		Nasri	8	0	0
4	MF		Fàbregas	8	0	0
2	MF		Diaby	7	0	0
10	DF		Gallas	5	0	0
3	DF		Sagna	5	0	0
15	MF		Denílson	5	0	0
26	FW		Bendtner	4	0	0
5	DF		Touré	4	0	0
40	DF		Gibbs	2	0	0
20	DF		Djourou	2	0	0
16	MF		Ramsey	2	0	0
23	MF		Arshavin	2	0	0
47	MF		Randall	1	0	0
43	MF		Mérida	1	0	0
12	FW		Vela	1	0	0
18	DF		Silvestre	1	0	0

Last updated: 24 May
Source: Match reports in Competitive matches
Only competitive matches
  = Number of bookings;   = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card;   = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Start formations

Coaching staff

 

Position	Staff
Manager	Arsène Wenger
Assistant manager	Pat Rice
First team coach	Boro Primorac
Goalkeeping coach	Gerry Peyton
Physiotherapist	Colin Lewin
Fitness coach	Tony Colbert
Chief scout	Steve Rowley
Kit manager	Vic Akers

Kit

Supplier: Nike / Sponsor: Fly Emirates

Home

Home alt.

Away

Goalkeeper 1

Goalkeeper alt.

Goalkeeper 2

Goalkeeper 3

Goalkeeper alt.

Kit information

The completely new set of Arsenal kit was launched.

• Home: The home kit was rather controversial, as Nike ditched the white sleeves that the club was well known for. The shirt has a white wide stripe on each sleeve, flanked by two dark red, narrower stripes. It has a red V-neck collar which is the same colour as the primary shirt colour. The shirt is complemented by white shorts with a dark-red trim, and white socks with a red horizontal stripe. Red socks with white horizontal stripe were used in some away games avoid clash. Arsenal revealed that the kit would be used for two seasons.
• Away: The away kit harps back to the glory days of the late 1980s which gave the strip a modern touch, where the shirts are yellow with navy sleeves and a red trim. The shorts are navy with red trim and the socks are yellow and blue. It featured red trimmings on the side of the strip.
• Keeper: The three goalkeeper kits, which were all based on Nike's new template, which in turn featured one conspicuous swirl on the kit. The main kit was grey, but the second kit was green/navy and the third kit black was available, should they be required.

Other information

 

Chairman	Peter Hill-Wood
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Emirates Stadium (60,432 / 105x68 meters)

Updated to match played 15 June
Source: Arsenal FC and www.footballgroundguide.com

Overall

Updated to match played 24 May
Source: Competitions

Premier League

Final league table