12th October 1996: Wenger’s first game in charge

Arsene Wenger recently celebrated 16 years in charge at Arsenal at the start of October and today marks the 16th anniversary of Wenger’s first game in charge of the club.

The Frenchman was appointed manager of the club on September 30th 1996 and assumed the position on the following day. Wenger was unknown in England having managed in France with Nancy and Monaco before heading to Japan to coach Nagoya Grampus Eight. The fact he was such an unknown lead to a famous headline in the Evening Standard that read ‘Arsene Who?’ following his appointment.

His appointment wasn’t well met by either the fans or the club captain either. “I remember when Rioch was sacked, one of the papers had three or four names,” Arsenal fan and author Nick Hornby told the Guardian. “It was [Terry] Venables, [Johan] Cruyff and then at the end Arsene Wenger. I remember thinking as a fan, I bet it’s f*****g Arsene Wenger, because I haven’t heard of him and I’ve heard of the other two. Trust Arsenal to appoint the boring one that you haven’t heard of.”

Tony Adams, who was Wenger’s captain at Arsenal from 1996 until 2002 when he retired from the game said the following: “At first, I thought: What does this Frenchman know about football? He wears glasses and looks more like a schoolteacher. He’s not going to be as good as George [Graham]. Does he even speak English properly?”.

Wenger was always in the running for the job as he had become friends with David Dein in 1988 when he visited Highbury for the first time. In fact, it is fair to say that he was the favourite for the job, he was the man the board really wanted.

Before Wenger had even been formally announced as manager, he had already influenced decisions at the club. After Rioch’s sacking, he recommended two signings to the club. They were two Frenchman. One was Remi Garde, an experienced and versatile player who was bought for cover in defence and midfield from Strasbourg. The other was Patrick Vieira, a youngster signed from AC Milan’s reserve team and turned out to be one of his best signings, a future captain and a global superstar. The press had guessed that the double French signing meant it would be Wenger taking charge of the club and that it was a sign of things to come and a lot of change at Arsenal.

Wenger wanted Vieira at Arsenal before he arrived.

Wenger finished his contract in Japan before arriving, but he had also had some input in Arsenal’s UEFA Cup game against Borussia Monchengladbach in September 1996, suggesting one or two players for the side that played that day. After his contract expired, he was free to take charge at Arsenal. His first game was a trip to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn, who had won the Premier League title two seasons before in 1994/95.

Arsenal’s line-up that day was the following:

David Seaman

Lee Dixon

Martin Keown

Steve Bould

Tony Adams (c)

Nigel Winterburn

David Platt

Patrick Vieira

Paul Merson

Ian Wright

John Hartson

One player in this team was not British, which was Wenger’s signing Vieira. John Hartson was the only other player that wasn’t English in the starting 11. As the years went on, more and more foreigners joined Arsenal and most of them played a big part in his success at the club. Of course a lot of people forget that it was Bruce Rioch who signed Dennis Bergkamp for Arsenal, one of the finest players in the club’s history and a big player in Wenger’s success over the years. So Bruce certainly gets credit for that one, even if he didn’t play in Wenger’s first game.

Arsenal won the game against a struggling Blackburn side 2-0. Blackburn at that point hadn’t registered a win in the 1996/97 campaign. With Bergkamp not in the side that day, predictably it was Ian Wright that scored both the goals that day to give Wenger a winning start to his spell at the club. Wright was approaching 33 when Wenger arrived, so it wasn’t a surprise that two years later, Wright would leave the club. As you see with the current set of players, Wenger likes to develop a star and have youngsters in his side.

Ian Wright scored twice in Wenger’s first game in charge.

Wright still had goals in him for another couple of years though. He netted 23 times in the league in 1996/97, finishing second in the running for the golden boot to Newcastle’s Alan Shearer. He continued his impressive partnership with Dennis Bergkamp from the season before and helped Arsenal to qualify for the UEFA Cup after Arsenal finished 3rd in 1996/97. The following season was Wright’s last season at the club, but he made sure it was a season to remember.He broke Cliff Bastin’s club goalscoring record in September 1997 after scoring a hat-trick against Bolton.

At the end of the 1997/98 campaign Wright moved to West Ham. Arsenal had Nicolas Anelka and Christopher Wreh emerge in Wright’s absence during the Double winning campaign of 1997/98. A year later, Anelka left Highbury for Real Madrid and Wenger bought a certain Thierry Henry from Juventus to replace him. Henry went on to break Wright’s goalscoring record in October 2005 against Sparta Prague.

Wenger’s transformation of Arsenal has been spectacular. From the strict diet and exercise changes to the introduction of more and more foreigners to the English game. Whilst it may not help the national team, it has certainly helped the league become the most exciting one to watch in the world and without your Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Arsenal wouldn’t have gone unbeaten in 2003/04 or do the Double in 02. Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit and Anelka all apply for 1997/98.