Farewells
Merci Arsène
After twenty-two years, the longest reign in Arsenal history came to an end in the spring of 2018. The Puma home shirt was the last one he managed in.
2017–18 · The Emirates Age · 6 minute read
The announcement
On 20 April 2018 Arsène Wenger announced that he would leave Arsenal at the end of the season. He had been manager since October 1996. In that time he had won three league titles, including the unbeaten Invincibles season, and seven FA Cups, more than any other manager in the competition's history. He had moved the club from Highbury to the Emirates. For most supporters under thirty, he was the only Arsenal manager they had ever known.
A complicated goodbye
The final years had been difficult. Results had slipped, and the stadium had split into those who wanted change and those who wanted loyalty. The announcement dissolved much of that argument almost overnight. Suddenly the conversation was not about tactics or transfers, but about gratitude. The 2017–18 shirt, an otherwise ordinary Puma home design, became the shirt of a farewell tour.
Burnley at home
Wenger's final home game was against Burnley on 6 May 2018. Arsenal won 5–0. Supporters held up red and white cards and banners reading Merci Arsène. After the match he spoke to the crowd, and the stadium, which had at times been an uncomfortable place for him, became warm. Many people who were there remember it less as a football match than as a family occasion.
Huddersfield, the last word
His very last match came a week later, away at Huddersfield Town on 13 May. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal. It was a modest end to a monumental career, and perhaps that suited a man who always said the next match mattered more than the last trophy.
A shirt that tells you the date
The 2017–18 home shirt is not remembered for its design. It is remembered for what happened in it. That is a good reminder for collectors that history, not just looks, gives a shirt its value. A shirt worn or signed during the farewell matches, with clear proof, is the kind of thing that becomes more meaningful with every passing year.