Title deciders
The night at Old Trafford
In May 2002 Arsenal won the league at the home of the champions. Sylvain Wiltord scored the goal, in the gold SEGA away shirt of the Dreamcast years.
2001–02 · Highbury's Last Act · 6 minute read
Champions in waiting
By the spring of 2002 Arsenal were in a run of form that felt unstoppable. They would end the season unbeaten away from home in the league, and they had already won the FA Cup final against Chelsea in Cardiff, with goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg. The league could be secured with a win at Manchester United on Wednesday 8 May. Old Trafford had been the scene of plenty of Arsenal misery over the years. Winning the title there would be something else entirely.
A tense, physical game
Without Thierry Henry and Tony Adams, both injured, Arsenal were not at full strength. The match was fierce and nervous. Then, early in the second half, Ljungberg's shot was parried by Fabien Barthez and Sylvain Wiltord was there to tuck in the rebound. Arsenal held on for a 1–0 win, and the travelling supporters, packed into one corner of the ground, sang the name of their team in the stadium of their great rival.
The Dreamcast era
The shirt itself belongs to a brief, odd moment in football history: the years when a video game console was the name across Arsenal's chest. Sega's Dreamcast was discontinued while the shirt was still being worn, which means fans were advertising a product that could barely be bought. That irony has only made the shirt more loved. Its Nike design, with darker trim than the shirts before it, framed one of the most exciting teams the club ever had.
Ljungberg's season
If one player defined the run-in, it was Ljungberg. He scored again and again in the final weeks, arriving late into the box from midfield, his dyed red hair matching the shirt. Supporters sang about him all summer. Shirts printed with his name and number 8 from this season are among the most sought-after of the era.
Checking a 2002 shirt
Genuine shirts should carry the Dreamcast or SEGA wording that matches the season, Nike labelling of the period, and, if printed, Premier League lettering in the correct style. The final season of the Dreamcast deal is a common place for mistakes, because later reproductions mix and match details from different years. Compare any shirt with the photos on our kit pages before you buy.