The full index of articles so far… is published here
Recent episodes of this series
- 1999/2000: An Arsenal forward line the likes of which we had never seen before.
- 1998/9: Almost but not quite
- 100 seasons in the top division: Wenger triumphant twice 1997/8
By Tony Attwood
In 1997/98, Arsenal won the league by one point from Manchester United, while ending up 13 points above the third-placed team, Liverpool.
In 1998/99 the situation was reversed. Arsenal were second, one point behind Manchester United. This time, Chelsea were third
In 1999/2000 Arsenal were second, for the second year running, but this time the gap was much bigger – 18 points and indeed Manchester United scored 24 more goals than Arsenal.
Thus, after winning the league, Arsenal had come second, two seasons running, and the feeling was surely there could not be second for a third season in a row. Surely this time they would win the league. Mind you, no one thought that such a pattern of second-place finishes could possibly be repeated leading up to 2025, under of course, a totally different manager, but we’ll come to that later!
But for now, we come to 2000/01, when indeed, for the third season running Arsenal came second to Manchester United.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 38 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 79 | 31 | 48 | 80 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 38 | 25 | 70 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 71 | 39 | 32 | 69 |
And although this is not a statement you will often read on this website, we might spare a thought for Liverpool, whose run through the 200s saw them finish 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 5th, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 4th. No matter what they tried, they could not get past the blockade that Arsenal and Manchester United presented.
In fact, Arsenal and Manchester United occupied the top two places in the Premier League from 1997/8 to 200/2001 – the season we consider here and yes, this was the third season in a row that the league ended up with Manchester United in first place and Arsenal in second. And although our main rivals turned out to be different, it was a run that was then repeated in 2022/23 to 2024/5. And just as that three-year run from 2023 to 2025 ended with Arsenal winning the league after three second places, so it happened nearly a quarter of a century before, from 1997/8 to 2000/1. And each time in the fourth season, Arsenal won the league!
But I am of course getting ahead of myself, for first we have to consider 2000/01 – the third season of Manchester United coming top and Arsenal second.
But although there was yet another second-place finish, this time Arsenal did get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, for the first time. That the club then did not progress was a disappointment, but with the view of history, we can at least appreciate the extraordinary journey Wenger had taken the club on. We should not forget Arsenal had finished 12th and 5th in the League in the two seasons before Wenger arrived.
The season however, had started with a misadventure, a 0-1 home defeat to Sunderland of all people, but then Arsenal did not lose another game under December – although this one was against Ipswich! But that was part of an end-of-year run of just three goals in seven games, showing once more that Arsenal had still not found their way out of a “dip” in form. Worse, the year ended with a 0-4 away defeat to Liverpool. Although subsequently six goals against each of QPR and Leicester showed that with weaker opposition, Arsenal were still a long way ahead of the game.
But then came the disaster – a 6-1 away defeat to Manchester United in February, a European defeat to Valencia in the quarter finals and finally an FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool. Together, they showed this was yet another “nearly” season.
Arsenal finished ten points off Manchester United at the top of the table, having being just one point behind in 1999 but 18 points adrift in 2000. It seemed a bit much to expect Liverpool to start slipping, but there was a bit of fun still to be had with the arrival from Tottenham Hotspur of Sol Campbell, on a free transfer.
But the end of the season had brought a real despondency, with the mood among supporters being more akin to having just missed relegation rather than having come second three times in a row.
In fact, among some supporters, it was noted that Arsenal had gained 78 points in 1998, 78 points again in 1999, 73 points in 2000 and 70 points in 2001. It was true of course, that Arsenal had won the league with those 78 points in 1998, and that season had become only the second club to win the Double twice, but what the fans (edged on of course by the media) had demanded was more of the same, but what had been delivered was a set of runners-up finishes.
Indeed, having ourselves just lived through three consecutive runners-up finishes to the season in 2023, 2024, and 2025, we can perhaps appreciate what the mood was like. True, Wenger did not have to suffer the jibes that Arteta had until 2026 of “not being a winner” having won the double in 1998, but memories can be short, especially with Manchester United winning three titles in a row.
But there was that bit of summer time news concerning Campbell, and the fact that in the three seasons Arsenal had been coming second, Tottenham had finished 11th, 10th and 12th, which meant their fans were curiously retrained that summer.
But above all else, after three consecutive second-place finishes, Arsenal desperately needed to win the League again. In footballing terms, having won the league in 1998 was hardly any time ago at all, but in north London terms, it felt like the 19th century.
And yet there was hope. Wenger had introduced this season Robert Pires, Sylvan Wiltord, and Edu, among others. True Edu had only started a couple of games and had three as a substitute, and he never got to be a regular starter, but there was a feeling that it was these back-up players we needed to cover for the inevitable injuries. But Robert Pires did catch the eye – and continued to do so for seasons to come.
However, it was of course Henry that we noticed. In his first two seasons, he had played 26 and 27 games, scoring 17 goals in each campaign. There was a feeling if he could just go one stage further and start knocking in over 20 goals in a campaign, Arsenal could indeed move from second place to top of the league.
