Arsenal Football Club, an association football club based in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London, was founded in 1886 as Dial Square. They became the first southern member admitted into the Football League in 1893, having spent their first four seasons solely participating in cup tournaments and

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. The club's name, which shortly changed to Woolwich Arsenal, was shortened to Arsenal in 1914, a year after moving to Highbury. Despite finishing fifth in the Second Division in 1914–15, Arsenal rejoined the First Division at the expense of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when football resumed after the First World War. Since that time, they have not fallen below the first tier of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight. The club's first team have competed in numerous national and continental organised competitions, and all players who have played between 1 and 24 such matches are listed below. Since Arsenal's first competitive match, more than 500 players have failed to reach 25 appearances for the club. Many of these players have spent only a short period of their career at Arsenal before seeking opportunities in other teams; some players had their careers cut short by injury, while others left for other reasons. John Kosmina, who joined from Adelaide City in 1978, only made four appearances for Arsenal, before returning to his native Australia where his goalscoring record was prolific. Vladimir Petrović featured 22 times as an Arsenal first-teamer, and later forged a managerial career, coaching Red Star Belgrade and the Serbia national team.

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...

, who played one league match as a youngster for Arsenal, moved to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

where he won the Premier League Golden Boot in 1993–94, and enjoyed further success at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the mid-to-late 1990s. David Bentley and

Rohan Ricketts Rohan Anthony Ricketts (born 22 December 1982) is an English professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for Master's Futbol of League1 Ontario. Club career Arsenal Ricketts started out with Arsenal, with whom ...

left Arsenal in pursuit of first-team football, and both went on to play for Tottenham Hotspur at certain stages of their careers. Several players spent brief periods with Arsenal on loan from other clubs. Michal Papadopulos made one appearance in the 2003–04 season and later earned full international caps with the Czech Republic. Midfielder Kim Källström joined on a six-month spell and was part of the club's 2014 FA Cup-winning squad.

Key

*The list is ordered first by date of debut, and then if necessary in alphabetical order. *Appearances as a substitute are included. This feature of the game was introduced in the Football League at the start of the 1965–66 season.

Players

Players highlighted in bold are still actively playing at Arsenal. ''Statistics correct as of match played 12 March 2024''

Footnotes

References

General * * * * * * * * Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Arsenal F.C. players (1-24 appearances)

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Players Players may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Players'' (1979 film), a film starring Ali MacGraw * ''Players'' (2012 film), a Bollywood film * ''Players'' (Dicks novel), a novel by Terrance Dicks, based on the television series ''Doc ...

Association football player non-biographical articles