Football · 2004 · London, England
The Invincibles
Arsenal play 38 Premier League games and lose none of them, which one English top-flight side had managed before, in 1888/89, and nobody has managed since.
26 wins, 12 draws, 0 losses
Record
49 games (2003-2004)
Unbeaten league run
Preston North End, 1888/89
Previous unbeaten champions
Arsène Wenger's Arsenal won the 2003/04 Premier League title with three games still to play, but the shape of the campaign mattered more than the trophy: 26 wins, 12 draws, and not a single defeat across all 38 league fixtures. The title was confirmed at White Hart Lane, of all places, with a 2-2 draw away at bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur that put them beyond reach.
The side was built around Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pirès, and the run did not stop in May: it reached 49 unbeaten league games by the end of the following season, a top-flight record stretched across two campaigns before it was finally broken. The nickname arrived almost immediately, borrowed from Preston North End's title-winning side of 1888/89, the only other champions in English top-flight history to finish a season with no losses at all.
The Premier League had a gold replica of its own trophy made specifically to mark the achievement, presented to Arsenal that August and now on permanent display at Emirates Stadium. Governing bodies do not generally commission bespoke silverware for one team's one season.
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Also Worth Reading
We Are The Arsenal traces the club's full history, from an 1886 works team through to the Invincibles and the present day.
