Over the years, Arsenal has been a formidable force to play against in not just the Premier League but all competitions. This can be seen from their impressive trophy cabinet. Since the club began, they have managed to win 13 league titles, 14 FA Cups, two League Cups, the European Fairs Cup once, UEFA Cup Winners Cup once, and the Community Shield 16 times.
This totals up to a combined tally of 47 pieces of silverware won and this impressive number of trophies is why Arsenal is regarded as one of the best teams in English football. Comparing this to their London rivals, such as Tottenham Hotspur, who only have 26 total trophies, and Chelsea, who have won 34, shows how hard it is to do what they have done and just how good a side they can be and historically have been.
English Trophies
Out of the 47 trophies the Gunners have won, 45 of them have come from competitions in England. As well as most of their trophies being won domestically, Arsenal is also currently the record holder in terms of FA Cup titles. Their total of 14 is the most any English club has ever won, with Man United next on 12 (before the 2023 competition).
The Gunners are most renowned for their success in England, with their European form and performances often falling below expectations, no matter how well they seem to be doing in their home league and cup games.
The 1930s
Arsenal has had many periods where they have been very dominant in England with some of their most dominant years so far being in the 1930s, where they won 12 trophies in total. During that glorious Gunners decade, Arsenal racked up five league titles including their first ever, two FA Cups, again including the first in their history, and five Community Shields (as the competition is now known), once again this including their first.
This is an impressive haul for this period, especially since this is when Arsenal first started to win trophies. During this time Arsenal had a few different teams competing with them for the league title too with the likes of Everton, Sunderland, and Manchester City all winning the league during this era and boasting very strong sides. However, Arsenal still had many excellent seasons in the years they did not win it and only finished out of the top three, three times during the 1930s.
The 1990s
After this, Arsenal went on to win various trophies and were dominant again during the 1990s and the early noughties. Throughout this time period, Arsenal won 17 trophies and this is arguably the most iconic era of Arsenal’s history for various reasons. During this period Arsenal had their invincible season, they had world-class players, such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira, and they had a revolutionary manager in the shape of Arsène Wenger.
Wenger really changed a lot about the English game, including player preparation, diet and recovery. He also produced teams that played an exciting brand of attacking football. More pertinently here, he did both of those things whilst winning trophies too. Arsenal managed to win four Premier League titles, five FA Cups, one League Cup, a European Cup Winners’ Cup, and five Community Shields between 1990 and 2005. Many supporters of the club view this time as the glory days of the Gunners and aspire to get back to that level of playing and winning trophies.
2003-04 Premier League Title
Arsenal’s most impressive achievement during this time has to be winning the 2003-04 Premier League title, as they managed to win this trophy without losing a league game. This is something no other team in the Premier League has ever done and earned that squad the tag of “the Invincibles”.
In Arsenal’s most recent years, they have struggled to replicate the results they had under Arsene Wenger’s reign, and before that with George Graham. The future certainly looks brighter with Mikel Arteta and maybe the Gunners will return to those heady days sooner rather than later.
2006-2020
As it is, in more recent years, from 2006 to 2020, the club has only managed to win a total of eight trophies. On the face of it that might not sound too bad none of those have been Premier League or European titles. These pieces of silverware are the most prestigious and hardest to win. In addition, half of those eight trophies the Gunners have landed have been Community Shields. Of course, these not easy to win but they are not regarded as particularly meaningful silverware by many clubs and their fans and are not one of the major trophies a club seeks.
European Trophies
Europe has always been an arena where Arsenal has struggled. Even though they have qualified for Europe many times, they very rarely seem to be able to win. Their only European silverware came in 1970 and 1994, with their 1969/70 Fairs Cup not usually included in hauls of major trophies as it was not a UEFA-sanctioned competition.
1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup: Arsenal vs Parma 1-0
Arsenal have been favourites to win European competitions, such as the Champions League and the Europa League on certain occasions but never seem to be able to seal the deal. Their most recent European success came in 1994 when they beat Italian side Parma 1-0 in the final. Arsenal had a very strong side that year with the likes of Ian Wright, David Seaman, and Alan Smith all helping the Gunners to the final, with Smith scoring the winning goal in the showpiece.
Since then, Arsenal have managed to get into a few European finals but have never won them, coming up short against their opposition in all the games. It should be remembered that whilst their record on the continent is poor compared to clubs, such as Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea, they have gone very close on a number of occasions.
Lost Five of Six European Finals
Excluding the Fairs Cup and European Super Cup, they have made six European finals, losing five of them. That includes a Europa League defeat on penalties, plus defeat in the Cup Winners’ Cup on spot-kicks, and a further loss in that same competition thanks to a last-minute wonder-goal from former Spurs player, Nayim (in 1995). Their record would have looked a lot better had they won a couple more of those hard-fought finals. This is certainly something that Arsenal and Arteta will be looking to fix in the future to try and boost the number of European trophies they have won.
Arsenal Trophies Won
In summary then, including Community Shields and their 1970 Fairs Cup triumph, Arsenal have won 47 major trophies, as below:
| Silverware | Total Wins |
|---|---|
| Premier League | 13 |
| FA Cup | 14 |
| EFL Cup | 2 |
| Community Shield | 16 |
| Fairs Cup | 1 |
| European Cup Winners’ Cup | 1 |
NB – where competitions have changed names over the years, we include the current one above but all previous titles.