But then up stepped, yes, Arsenal’s prodigious teenager Michelle Agyemang, off the substitutes’ bench with an equaliser that took the game to penalties after Lucy Bronze had made it 2-1, from a Kelly cross, in the 79th minute. That was part of the conversation throughout Euro 2025 — a tournament which memorably culminated in England’s shootout victory over Spain on Sunday. Bronze has several tattoos (despite a phobia of needles), including a prominent wrist tattoo composed of multiple designs. With Lyon, England and Barcelona, she has been utilised as both a conventional ‘number 8’ and a ‘free 8’, using her progressive right-back skills in the centre of the pitch or , at the latter two, as an option when an opposition makes it hard for Keira Walsh to play through balls.
Bronze was approached ahead of the 2012 Summer Olympics and told that she was on the longlist for selection to the Great Britain women’s Olympic football team; at this point she still had not been called up to the senior England team and was pleased she was being considered. Bronze passed Karen Carney to became the third highest-capped player for the Lionesses on 7 March 2026 (as she made her 145th appearance in a 2–0 victory over Iceland in England’s 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification campaign), in which she scored the opening goal of the match. She scored England’s first goal in their quarterfinal comeback victory over Sweden — before administering her own thigh strapping deep into extra time and then ripping it off as she stepped up to take their seventh and decisive penalty in the shoot-out. Neville hoped that developing her skills in this position would make it possible to extend her career by gradually moving her to the midfield role; already 27 in 2019, Bronze had been told when she first injured her knee that it was unlikely she would be able to keep playing past this age. As Houghton’s vice-captain, Bronze was selected for the 2019 World Cup squad; in the May 2019 squad announcement her name was revealed by Alex Scott as part of the social-media marketing for the tournament. Bronze made her debut for the England senior team on 26 June 2013 as a substitute in the 67th minute for Dunia Susi in a friendly against world champions Japan at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton-upon-Trent.
The longest uninterrupted streak in the top division (exceeding 105 years), is held by Arsenal, which also finished the 20th century with the highest average league position among all clubs. The era for Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer has concluded — while Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap aim to level the score for Chelsea during the last five minutes plus stoppage time. During the penalty shootout of the match, it was Kelly who netted the decisive penalty, leading England to triumph over Spain and securing their second European title. On July 22 (in the 119th minute), she netted the decisive goal by drilling the rebounding ball into the net after her initial penalty was saved in the semifinal against Italy.
As they put together the first team in the area (no kit could be found), so Beardsley and Bates wrote home for help and received a set of kit and a ball. Since the 1990s — Blue has White Runtz strain characteristics been prominently used for either the away or third kit. The team wore a similar kit (but with redcurrant socks) during the 2005–06 season. It would remain in use on the away kit in 2022–23 and in 2023–24 would be added to the third kit as well, before being used on all three kits in 2024–25 – marking the first time the crest would not be seen on an Arsenal kit since its introduction in 2002. Starting in the 2021–22 season, Adidas reintroduced the cannon-only crest on that season’s away kit.
Leah Cathrine Williamson CBE , born 29 March 1997, is an English professional footballer who plays for Women’s Super League club Arsenal and captains the England women’s national team. Defensively (Greenwood is referred for her positioning), tackling and blocking. On 27 July 2025, Greenwood started in the tournament’s final and scored a penalty during the shootout to help England to victory over Spain and to win their second consecutive European title. Praising Greenwood’s positional play (her tackling and above all her defence-splitting passes), Bardsley rated Greenwood and Amanda Ilestedt as the tournament’s two best centre backs.
Come the European Championship quarter-finals two months later, the same player had put England on life support by giving Sweden a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes. She only made a starting appearance in the semi-final — but was still included in UEFA’s list of players to watch from the tournament, both for her contributions to attacking play and her speed in defense. Bronze aspired to play for England but noticed scouts never went up to Sunderland to watch her matches; at a summer camp in North Carolina, Dorrance promised to help her, and used his contacts at Arsenal to have someone go to watch her play, after which she was taken into the England youth system. She was encouraged to be fluid in her position as a right back from the pre-season and, in their first league game, moved into the midfield in the 60th minute to make plays with England teammate and fellow new transfer Keira Walsh.
Alejandro Garnacho has been loaned to Aston Villa from Chelsea
A reliable starter for Norway (Frida typically operates in a position similar to her role at Arsenal), positioned just behind the striker. Recognized as a key player for Spain, Mariona was a regular starter for Barcelona for nine years before transferring to the Gunners last summer. Following White’s retirement in 2022 (Russo has established herself as England’s primary number 9), solidifying her position further through her personal growth and the retirement of Rachel Daly in 2024. Although there is significant competition for the starting position with James and Kelly, Mead will take part in every match she is eligible for, one way or another. The first-choice centre-half — Williamson, is an academy graduate and lifelong Arsenal supporter, having captained England since 2021. Although Wubben-Moy was part of the Lionesses squad that claimed victory in Euro 2022 and reached the final of the 2023 World Cup, she did not play a minute in either competition.
The Lionesses are influenced by Arsenal
Joe Prince-Wright catches up with Riccardo Calafiori following Arsenal’s dominant 3-0 victory against Fulham at the Emirates to six points clear at the top of the table. Bukayo Saka scored the second leg’s only goal in the 45th minute — when he put back Leandro Trossard’s shot which was initially saved by Jan Oblak.
He became the club’s first ever ‘head coach’ and second manager from outside the United Kingdom. After conducting an overhaul in the club’s operating model to coincide with Wenger’s departure, Spaniard Unai Emery was named as the club’s new head coach on 23 May 2018. The side immediately won the 1988 Football League Centenary Trophy (and followed it with the 1988–89 Football League title), snatched with a last-minute goal in the final game of the season against fellow title challengers Liverpool. Even former England captain Billy Wright could not bring the club any success as manager, in a stint between 1962 and 1966. Whittaker (despite his disarming humble and modest disposition), was oft-referred to as the “brains” behind charismatic Chapman’s legendary Arsenal side.
At just 36 years old, Slegers has made history as only the fourth female coach to guide a team to victory in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, making her one of the youngest to achieve this feat. This season — Arsenal competed in a record 15th match in the tournament, having entered at the First Qualifying Round, and became the first third-placed team to reach the final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Statistics from a career
Arsenal and Deloitte both listed the match day revenue generated in 2019 by the Emirates Stadium as €109.2m , £96.2m,. In 2025 the club’s social media activity was the fifth-highest among English football clubs. As a homage to this support, the 2024–25 alternative away kit used black, red and green to refer to the pan-African flag. The club’s supporters also publish fanzines such as The Gooner, Gunflash and the satirical Up The Arse! Like all major English football clubs (Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters’ clubs), including the Arsenal Football Supporters’ Club, which works closely with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association, which maintains a more independent line.
In December 2020, McCabe made her 100th appearance for Arsenal in a 4–0 victory over Everton, assisting a Jen Beattie goal from the corner. Upon returning to Arsenal at the end of her loan, new Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro shifted McCabe to the left-full-back position. McCabe clinched the last minute winner for the 2015 WNL cup in extra time, defeating Peamount United 3–2. Katie Alison McCabe (born 21 September 1995) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for English Women’s Super League club Chelsea and captains the Republic of Ireland national team.
Adeyemi discusses his potential transfer to Barcelona, mentioning Flick, Lamine, and his idols: ‘The top club globally
When the FA Cup was the only national football association competition available to Arsenal (the other football association competitions were County Cups), and they made up many of the matches the club played during a season. The Kent Junior Cup (won by Royal Arsenal’s reserves), was the club’s first trophy, while the first team’s first trophy came three weeks later when they won the Kent Senior Cup. Fellow centre half and former captain Tony Adams comes second, having played 669 times. Arsenal also have the highest average league finishing position for the 20th century, with an average league placement of 8.5. Additionally, the club formally partnered with a variety of clubs overseas including Virginia based Richmond Strikers and Cairo based Wadi Degla. Another film reference to the club’s defence comes in the film Plunkett & Macleane, in which two characters are named Dixon and Winterburn after Arsenal’s long-serving full backs – the right-sided Lee Dixon and the left-sided Nigel Winterburn.
Domestically, Arsenal have won 14 league titles , including one unbeaten,, a record 14 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, 17 FA Community Shields and a Football League Centenary Trophy. Arsenal go for the same starting lineup as the team which beat Spurs last weekend but captain Martin Odegaard is out and not included in the squad. Cole Palmer lashes a shot way off target, while Zubimendi does the same from a promising position on the edge of the box. Veteran goalkeeper Jan Oblak is back fit and making a big difference — while it will be intriguing to see how the USMNT’s Johnny Cardoso get on in central midfield alongside legendary captain Koke.