Anniversaries
One hundred and twenty-five years
The anniversary shirt of 2011–12 looked back to Woolwich. Then, in January, the club's greatest scorer came home for one more goal.
2011–12 · The Emirates Age · 6 minute read
A birthday to mark
Arsenal's 125th anniversary fell in December 2011, counting from the founding of Dial Square in 1886. The club marked it with a commemorative home shirt carrying a special anniversary crest, and with statues outside the Emirates Stadium of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry. It was a year spent looking backwards, which is unusual for a football club whose whole business is the next match.
Old ideas, new fabric
Anniversary shirts walk a narrow line. Too much nostalgia and they become fancy dress; too little and the occasion disappears. The 2011–12 design kept the familiar red body and white sleeves, and let the crest do the talking. That small change on the chest turned an ordinary season's shirt into a dated object, the sort of thing collectors like because it can only belong to one year.
The statue comes alive
In January 2012 Thierry Henry, by then playing in America, returned to Arsenal on a short loan. On 9 January, in an FA Cup tie against Leeds United at the Emirates, he came off the bench and scored the only goal of the game. A few weeks earlier a bronze statue of him had been unveiled outside the stadium. Now the real thing was celebrating in front of the same supporters, wearing the anniversary shirt. Even in a season of commemorations, nobody could have scripted it better.
A difficult season, a famous finish
The rest of 2011–12 was turbulent. Arsenal lost heavily early on and spent much of the autumn rebuilding. But Robin van Persie scored goals at a remarkable rate, and the team recovered to finish third, clinching Champions League football on the final day. The anniversary shirt therefore holds a mixed season: humiliation, recovery and one perfect night with Henry.
Why collectors want it
Anniversary shirts are self-dating. There is no argument about which year this one belongs to, which makes it popular with people building season-by-season collections. Printed shirts from the Henry loan spell carry a particular charm, because he wore number 12 rather than his famous 14. If someone offers you a 2012 Henry 14, ask questions.