Arsenal Football Club, an association football club based in Islington, 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. The club's name, which shortly changed to Woolwich Arsenal, was shortened to Arsenal in 1914, a year after the club moved 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 and hold the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the top flight. The club's first team has competed in numerous nationally and internationally organised competitions, and all players who have played in 100 or more such matches are listed below.

David O'Leary holds the record for the greatest number of appearances for Arsenal. Between 1975 and 1993 the Irish defender played 722 times for the club. As of 2024, only eight players have made more than 500 appearances for Arsenal, including four of the so-called "famous five" defenders of the 1990s, Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, David Seaman and Nigel Winterburn. The club's goalscoring record is held by Thierry Henry, who scored 228 goals in all competitions between 1999 and 2007 and during a loan spell with the club in 2012. He surpassed the previous record of 185 goals, held by Ian Wright, in 2005, and became the first player to score 200 goals for Arsenal the following year.

In 2013, Arsenal launched the "100 Club" to formally recognise retired players with over 100 league appearances. As of September 2016, 75 living players have been inducted with a further 26 automatically enrolled once they end their careers.

As of 15 September 2026, a total of 932 players have played at least one official match for Arsenal throughout history. Alongside the British Isles, players from 65 different nationalities have played for Arsenal. Outside of the British Isles, France are the most represented with 29 players throughout history, followed by Spain with 19 players, and then Brazil with 16 players.

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. + Positions keyPre-1960s1960s–GKGoalkeeperFBFull-backDFDefenderHBHalf-backMFMidfielderFWForward

Players

Players highlighted in bold are still actively playing at Arsenal.

Statistics are correct up to and including the match played on 19 September 2026

+ List of Arsenal F.C. players with 100 or more appearancesPlayerNationalityPosClub careerStartsSubsTotalGoalsAppearancesFW138013818HB1893–1899150015010HB1896–1903153015311HB1898–1912284028413FB1899–190311201121FB1899–190520402041FB1900–191014901490GK1900–190830303030FW1901–1905133013334FW1901–1905106010648FW1902–1908196019684HB1902–191534603460HB1902–1919350035012FB1904–191220002000FW1904–1912168016832FW1904–1910141014148HB1905–1912188018821FB1905–190811601165GK1906 1908–19101912–191310301030FW1907–1920220022034FB1907–192332603260FW1908–1921170017013HB1908–192221702174FW1910–1917121012128HB1911–1924179017920FW1913–1923<br/ >1923–1926232023227HB1914–1929343034351FB1914–1923142014214HB1914–193029602968FB1919–192310801081FW1919–1923109010945FW1919–192610001006GK1919–192311301130HB1919–1931351035126FB1921–192611801181HB1921–192712401243GK1921–192510101010HB1922–1937470047013FB1922–192812901290FW1924–19312320232139FW1924–1929117011718GK1924–193116701670FW1925–1928120012056FW1926–19373740374125FW1926–19331610161109FB1926–1932294029417HB1926–193733503355FB1927–193944004402HB1928–19342080208124FW1928–193419501958FW1929–19473960396178HB1929–1937261026127HB1930–195027302736FB1930–194831803180GK1931–193616101611FW1933–1937138013848HB1934–193918901890HB1934–1939187018717FW1934–19391840184139FW1935–1939101010145FW1935–19531760176118GK1936–195329702970FB1946–1955294029412HB1946–1955328032876FW1946–1951163016321HB1946–195427502752FB1946–195112601260HB1947–195010801081FW1947–1956321032195HB1948–1956240024020FW1948–19552440244137FB1948–195418101810FW1949–1959240024053GK1949–196235203520FW1950–1958217021788HB1951–195916201622FB1951–1960207020712HB1953–196020702071FB1953–196120902094FW1954–1960227022756FW1954–1962225022527FW1954–1961122012226HB1954–1958132013268FB1955–195811001103HB1955–1964203020337FW1955–19611800180107HB1957–1964151015124FW1958–1961111011129DF1958–196626802685DF1959–196513101310FW1960–1966223022341DF1960–1970272327510MF1960–1966153115454FW1960–1964137013777DF1961–196310901092MF1961–1964112011228MF1962–19776071462168FW1962–19661560156100MF1962–19701941020418GK1963–196816701670MF1963–1971266427052DF1963–196920202022GK1963–197430803080DF1964–1973401240332FW1964–19764756481149DF1964–19784581947715DF1965–1977494750117FW1966–19722961230877DF1966–197536233656DF1967–1980521752813FW1969–19751572217949MF1969–19752111122219FW1969–1974206621271DF1969–19813251433912MF1971–1976217021752MF1973–19802951230759MF1973–19811651117619GK1974–197714601460DF1973–19936814172214FW1975–19812973300108DF1976–198310831110FW1976–1979107110857GK1977–198432703270MF1977–19884471746451FW1977–1983278328192DF1977–1981236123719MF1979–1983163917213MF1979–19853111632749MF1980–19944163144737DF1980–198839403946MF1981–1986185118621DF1981–198510851138FW1982–1986164516968DF1983–2002663666948MF1983–1987753010523FW1983–1987176818454DF1984–1987150015015MF1984–198811921215GK1984–19901996–200129802980MF1985–1990924013234MF1985–19922601727734DF1985–19861993–2004408414498MF1986–19921208320328FW1986–19973814442599FW1987–199531829347115MF1987–1990111111228MF1987–19911872120830DF1988–19993482437222FW1988–19951666222859DF1988–20025982161928DF1987–20005721258412MF1990–1996113301432MF1990–1994962011620DF1990–1996135211568GK1990–200356405640FW1991–19982799288185MF1992–199613081381MF1992–20043907646632FW1995–200634578423120MF1995–1998773110815MF1996–20053961040633DF1997–2002128421706MF1997–20001271514241MF1997–2000114411811MF1998–20072854332872DF1999–2006218102289FW1999–2007201233740377228FW1999–20041049419844DF1999–200391191100FW2000–20041245117549MF2000–20062384628484LaurenDF2000–2006227142419DF2001–20062010208321112EduMF2001–2005765112715MF2002–20082133124424DF2002–20092953132614GK2003–2008201119912000MF2003–20112663730357DF2003–2011230342642DF2004–2009105121174GK2004–201117321750FW2004–2006892111023FW2004–201221167278132MF2004–20082013–20161747224613DF2004–2012123211441DF2005–20111595521410MF2005–20081092113010FW2005–2014838817147MF2005–20121792520410MF2006–20151364418019FW2006–20091142814262MF2006–20161588824628FW2006–2018252145397108DF2006–2010142014217MF2006–20111203315310DF2007–2014272122845DF2007–2017183472306MF2008–201926110836964MF2008–20111101512527MF2008–20181504719714MF2008–2017115451600MF2009–2013974714431DF2009–20141361415015GK2009–201518101810DF2010–20193421135327MF2011–20171158319820DF2011–2018215622110MF2011–20161311915016FW2012–201816984253105MF2012–20181661418029DF2013–20192232825110MF2013–20202371725444DF2013–2021220192399FW2014–20181531316680DF2014–202287351225FW2014–2019784812632MF2014–202188441323GK2015–201913901390MF2015–20191034614915MF2016–2024108531616DF2016–2023132301625MF2016–20232791829723DF2016–202014291519DF2017–202294241185FW2017–20221505620671FW2017–2024709816838FW2018–20211422116392GK2018–202212411250MF2018–2024635211518FW2018–2724731984FW2019–2022674511227FW2019–20261869227862DF2019–202595491446DF2020–2551426924MF2020–2025132351679MF2021–2024024246DF2021–168281967FW2022–2026705312332DF2022–18041848FW2023–20261056917436FW2023–912711839MF2023–1511416521GK2023–15401540

Captains 64 players have captained Arsenal since it was founded as Dial Square F.C. in 1886, the first being club founder David Danskin, who captained the team until he was forced to retire due to injury in 1889. The club's longest-serving captain is Tony Adams, who captained the club for 14 years between 1988 and 2002, and is frequently known as "Mr. Arsenal" for this achievement. The current captain is Martin Ødegaard.

Dates Captain 1886–1889 David Danskin 1889 Arthur Brown 1889–1890 Morris Bates 1890–1891 Bill Julian 1891–1892 Sandy Robertson Robert Buist David Howat Tom Graham William Stewart 1892–1893 Charles Booth 1893–1894 Joe Powell 1894–1895 David Howat 1895–1896 Caesar Jenkyns 1896–1898 Gavin Crawford 1898–1899 John Anderson 1899–1900 Joe Murphy 1900–1901 Duncan McNichol 1901–1905 Jimmy Jackson 1905–1906 John Dick 1906–1919 Percy Sands 1919–1920 Joe Shaw 1920–1922 Frank Bradshaw 1922–1923 Alex Graham 1923–1924 Billy Blyth 1924–1925 Alf Baker 1925–1928 Charlie Buchan 1928–1929 Billy Blyth 1929–1932 Tom Parker 1932–1933 Charlie Jones 1933–1937 Alex James 1937–1944 Eddie Hapgood 1944–1947 George Male 1947–1954 Joe Mercer 1954 Jimmy Logie 1954–1955 Walley Barnes 1955–1956 Don Roper 1956 Cliff Holton 1956–1957 Peter Goring 1957 Cliff Holton 1957–1958 Dennis Evans 1958–1959 Dave Bowen 1959–1962 Vic Groves 1962–1963 Terry Neill 1963–1966 George Eastham 1966–1967 Don Howe 1967–1973 Frank McLintock 1973–1974 Bob McNab 1974–1975 Alan Ball 1975 Eddie Kelly 1975–1976 Alan Ball 1976–1980 Pat Rice 1980–1983 David O'Leary 1983–1986 Graham Rix 1986–1988 Kenny Sansom 1988–2002 Tony Adams 2002–2005 Patrick Vieira 2005–2007 Thierry Henry 2007–2008 William Gallas 2008–2011 Cesc Fabregas 2011–2012 Robin van Persie 2012–2014 Thomas Vermaelen 2014–2016 Mikel Arteta 2016–2018 Per Mertesacker 2018–2019 Laurent Koscielny 2019 Granit Xhaka 2019–2021 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 2021–2022 Alexandre Lacazette2022–present Martin Ødegaard

Notes

References General

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