The importance of a captain is often debated, however, generally, people can agree that they should probably be playing most of the time and hosts of great players have worn Arsenal’s captain armband.
3. Thierry Henry – Arsenal captain 2005-06
Henry was only Arsenal’s official skipper for one season in 2005/06. However, he was a leader in prior years without the armband. It feels wrong to leave the teams to record goalscorer off any ‘greatest ever list involving the Gunners.
The striker captained his team to their first Champions League final against Barcelona in 2006, where he not only scored crucial goals such as that fine effort at the Bernabeu, however, also helped to motivate a team which didn’t concede a single goal between the first knockout stages and semi-finals of that year’s tournament.
His influence was so highly regarded by Arsene Wenger that the legendary Arsenal head coach brought his player back to the team in 2011/12 for a loan deal. Frenchman duly helped the Gunners to finish third and qualify for the Champions League – that year, the minimum finish required for Europe’s elite competition.
2. Patrick Vieira – Arsenal captain 2002-2005
He may have depart from the Gunners nearly 15 years ago now, but no one still hasn’t managed to replace the glorious force that was Vieira for Arsenal on and of the court.
Skilful, stylish, however, a physical nightmare to play against, the Frenchman embodied leadership during his career at Arsenal. The France 98 hero won six trophies with the Gunners and captained the club during their Invincibles season of 2003/04.
Vieira also scored the winning penalty in the 2005 FA Cup Final victory against their bitter rivals Manchester United, which turned out to be his final match for the team ahead of a move to Juventus in 2005.
1. Tony Adams Arsenal captain 1988-2002
Tony Adams Fourteen years as the club captain, 10 titles 669 games on his name, he has been crowned as English champion for three times, his nickname is ‘Mr. Arsenal’ he is regarded as one of the greatest-ever players played for the Gunners.
Adams was the ultimate one-club man which is very rare in football he was one of the best defenders of Arsenal. He had formed an ideal defensive partnership with centre-back partner Steve Bould and full-backs Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn. Due to his leadership, it’s hard to think of a more dedicated, more gutsy and more inspirational player in Arsenal’s history.
His time at Highbury saw four League Championships (’89, ’91, ’98, ’02), three FA Cups (’93, ’98, ’02), two League Cups (’87, ’93) and a European Cup Winners’ Cup (’94).
