Arsenal and Wenger secure the all-time semi-final records

By Tony Attwood

Sometimes the media come out with some fairly obscure records and odd statistics, but rarely when Arsenal was involved.

So it was no surprise to find that the record that fell on 9 March 2015 was ignored by all the media, as was the fact that a Arsenal held on to a second record.

By winning the FA Cup sixth round match against Manchester United on that date Arsenal secured their 28th FA Cup semi-final in a record dating back to the days of Woolwich Arsenal who reached the semis in 1906 and 1907.  28th is the highest number of semis any club has achieved.

But more, the win also secured a place in history for Arsene Wenger.  He had already had more semi-finals to his name than any other manager (10) and with this win took his number to 11.  His nearest rivals Sir Alex Ferguson only achieved nine, and of course is no longer managing.

What is interesting is how closely Manchester United and Arsenal have fought with each other over these numbers – while undoubtedly a lot of the time not being aware of the stats.

Before the match on 9 March 2015 both clubs had 27 semi-finals each – it was the defeat of Manchester Utd at Old Trafford that took us ahead and into the lead.  A similar proximity arises when one looks at actual appearances in the final:   Before that game both clubs had won 18 and lost 9 of their semi-finals.

Of the finals competed Arsenal had won 11 and lost 7 – exactly the same as Manchester Utd.

Here’s a list of Arsenal’s semi-finals.

  1. 1906: Newcastle 2 Woolwich Arsenal 1
  2. 1907 The Wednesday 3 Woolwich Arsenal 1
  3. 1927: Arsenal 1 Southampton 0
  4. 1928: Blackburn 1 Arsenal 0
  5. 1930: Arsenal 1 Hull 0 after a 2-2 draw
  6. 1932: Arsenal 1 Man City 0
  7. 1936: Arsenal 1 Grimsby 0
  8. 1950: Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0 after a 2-2 draw
  9. 1952: Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0 after a 1-1 draw
  10. 1971: Arsenal 2 Stoke 0 after 2-2 draw
  11. 1972: Arsenal 2 Stoke 1 after 1-1 draw
  12. 1973: Sunderland 2 Arsenal 1
  13. 1978: Arsenal 3 Orient 0
  14. 1979: Arsenal 2 Wolverhampton 0
  15. 1980: Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0, after three draws – 0-0, 1-1, 1-1.
  16. 1983: Man U 2 Arsenal 1
  17. 1991: Tottenham 3 Arsenal 1
  18. 1993: Arsenal 1 Tottenham 0
  19. 1998: Arsenal 1 Wolverhampton 0
  20. 1999: Manchester Utd 2 Arsenal 1, after 0-0 draw
  21. 2001: Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1
  22. 2002 Arsenal 1 Middlesbrough 0
  23. 2003 Arsenal 1 Sheffield Utd 0
  24. 2004 Manchester U 1 Arsenal 0
  25. 2005 Arsenal 3 Blackburn 0
  26. 2009 Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
  27. 2014 Arsenal 1 Wigan 1 (won on penalties)
  28. 2015:

The Arsenal History Society Blog

2 Replies to “Arsenal and Wenger secure the all-time semi-final records”

  1. Hi Tony,

    First to record my love of Arsenal, Arsene, and your website :-)!

    Not sure you’re aware (or whether it’s the eye operations sabotaging your diligence :-() but you’re not consistent with the FA Cup SF counting across the piece as for Arsenal you count 28 (replays not counted), and for Arsene you count 11 (1998-1999 replay counted). I haven’t gone through SAF’s record to see whether you counted replays for his stated total of 9 SF’s…

    Don’t quite mind bending the truth in our favour once in a while (as it’s most usually NOT in our favour), but you’ve got Arsenal running the story too…

    By winning the FA Cup sixth round match against Manchester United on that date Arsenal secured their 28th FA Cup semi-final in a record dating back to the days of Woolwich Arsenal who reached the semis in 1906 and 1907. 28th is the highest number of semis any club has achieved.

    But more, the win also secured a place in history for Arsene Wenger. He had already had more semi-finals to his name than any other manager (10) and with this win took his number to 11. His nearest rivals Sir Alex Ferguson only achieved nine, and of course is no longer managing.
    – See more at: http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/11822#.dpuf

    Anyway, just to let you know before it pops up some other way (as in we get hit over the head for ‘stretching’)! Sorry if I’ve potentially soured a worthwhile action on your part, – I do really appreciate what you do!!!

    As you were ;-),

    KR,

    Charles

    ARSENE’S FA CUP RECORD

    19 participations
    5 wins and counting…
    6 finals and counting…
    10 semifinals
    11 quarters (6thR)
    15 eights (5thR)
    19 sixteenths (4thR)

    1996-1997: 4thR (0-1 Leeds)
    1997-1998: W (2-0 vs NCL)
    1998-1999: SF (ManU 2-1) R*
    1999-2000: 4thR (P @ Leicester) R*
    2000-2001: F (Liverpool 2-1)
    2001-2002: W (2-0 vs Chelsea)
    2002-2003: W (1-0 vs Southampton)
    2003-2004: SF (ManU 1-0)
    2004-2005: W (P vs ManU)
    2005-2006: 4thR (0-1 Leeds)
    2006-2007: 5thR (Blackburn 1-0) R*
    2007-2008: 5thR (ManU 4-0)
    2008-2009: SF (1-2 Chelsea)
    2009-2010: 4thR (Stoke 3-1)
    2010-2011: QF (ManU 2-0)
    2011-2012: 5thR (Sunderland 2-0)
    2012-2013: 5thR (0-1 Blackburn)
    2013-2014: W (3-2 vs Hull)
    2014-2015: SF…

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