5 Arsenal Nicknames That You Didn’t Know

Arsenal Football Club are one of the most recognised teams on the planet. They are one of the “top 6” clubs in the Premier League based in North London, are rivals with Tottenham Hotspur and have had some of the most exciting players to play for them throughout their decorated history.

They’ve not suffered a relegation for over a century, having the longest streak in England for the most consecutive top flight seasons.

Although their formal name is Arsenal F.C., the club has a number of nicknames associated with itself, and this is what we’re going to cover today. In this article, we discuss 5 Arsenal nicknames, including ‘The Gunners’, ‘The Invincibles’ and more. Read on to learn all about the red half of North London.

Why Is Arsenal Called ‘The Gunners’?

Arsenal were given the nickname ‘The Gunners’ because the football club was born out of a factory in London that produced military weapons, including guns.

Why Is Arsenal FC Called ‘Arsenal’?

In 1886, many football clubs were starting out from factory labour forces in England. On the south bank of the River Thames, a club was born out of the Royal Arsenal Armaments Factory in Woolwich.

The factory site in Woolwich was home to many different buildings, and the football club originally took on the name ‘Dial Square’ after one of them. Dial Square played their first competitive match in December 1886, but the name didn’t last long, with the club rebranding to ‘Royal Arsenal’ before the end of 1886.

In 1893 a civil war broke out at the factory, leading to the birth of two different football teams:

• Woolwich Arsenal F.C. – a “professional” football team
• Royal Ordnance Factories F.C. – an “amateur” football team.

Royal Ordnance Factories collapsed within a few seasons, however Woolwich Arsenal (a PLC) were the first southern club to join the football league. They were instated into the second division.

Fast-forward 20 years to 1913 and property developer Henry Norris came along to fund Woolwich Arsenal’s move to Highbury in North London. By 1914 they became ‘The Arsenal’ and by 1919 they were simply known as ‘Arsenal’ which is what they are still referred to, to this day.

How Many Arsenal Nicknames Are There?

The 5 main nicknames associated with Arsenal Football Club are:

1. The Gunners
2. The Arsenal
3. The North Londoners
4. The Invincibles
5. The Entertainers

1. The Gunners

The most iconic Arsenal nickname associated with the club is ‘The Gunners’, and it might be the most famous football nickname there’s ever been. This nickname originates from the factory that the club was founded in, the Royal Arsenal Armaments Factory.

The factory produced a wide range of military equipment, including guns, tanks, ammunition, shells and other explosive materials. So the reason why Arsenal are called “The Gunners” is because the factory the club originated from used to produce guns.

This Arsenal nickname has stuck with the club for over a century, and an image of a large military gun has been a permanent fixture on their club badge throughout this time.

2. The Arsenal

The second Arsenal nickname on our list is ‘The Arsenal’. This might seem incredibly basic, but there is a reasonable justification behind it. The football club had changed names 4 times before it landed on ‘The Arsenal’ in 1914 after a group of investors including Henry Norris bought the football club and relocated it to Highbury in North London.

3. The North Londoners

This next Arsenal nickname is pretty self-explanatory. The club is often referred to as ‘The North Londoners’ and this is because of its geographical location on the map. Although the club originally started south of the River Thames, it relocated to North London during its infancy years and has been based there for over a century.

Arsenal fans will proudly adopt this nickname to try and frustrate rival Tottenham Hotspur fans, who are also based in North London. By using this nickname and trying to claim it as their own, Arsenal fans are trying to claim North London for themselves. This will make any “North London Derby” extra feisty.

4. The Invincibles

You may have heard a commentator or fan refer to Arsenal as “The Invincibles” at some point during your football-supporting reign, but you might not understand why. Well, during the 2003/04 Premier League season, Arsenal achieved something incredible – they went unbeaten for 38 league matches. This was their record that season:

	Club	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Arsenal	38	26	12	0	73	26	47	90

Following this achievement, the nickname “The Invincibles” was given to the club by journalists, fans and pundits to reflect the fact that they hadn’t been beaten that season. This feat hasn’t been achieved since that season in England, so Arsenal are still worthy holders of the nickname.

During Arsenal’s invincible season, they had an incredible squad filled with superstars including Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and Freddie Ljungberg. Legendary manager Arsène Wenger was at the helm for it, too, which became one of his greatest achievements.

5. The Entertainers

Another Arsenal nickname which was born out of the most impressive Arsène Wenger era at the club was “The Entertainers”. This nickname was gifted to the club by the media due to the fact that they were playing attractive, free-flowing football, which was deemed as entertaining by onlookers.

Arsenal Fans Nickname

The main nickname associated with fans of Arsenal F.C. is “The Gooners”.

The Gooners

Why are Arsenal fans called “Gooners”? Well, there are a couple of explanations for this. The first being that during the 1970s, when hooliganism was rife in England, one of Arsenal’s firms nicknamed themselves ‘The Goons’. This, over time, was combined with their main nickname “The Gunners” to create “The Gooners”.

The other rumour is that it simply comes down to a pronunciation mix-up, whereby instead of saying “gunners”, fans and rival fans have said “gooners”, instead.

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