Arsenal Women

1987–2009: Founding and early success

Arsenal Football Club had explored the idea of a women's team from as early as the 1960s, when local teams asked for financial support in an attempt to turn semi-professional; the Ladies of Islington notably sought support from the club, but were turned down by the Arsenal hierarchy in 1965. Following The Football Association's (FA) decision to rescind the ban on women's football in England in 1969, the game's popularity increased following the creation of official league matches and knock-out competition organised by the Women's Football Association (WFA). The Millwall Lionesses became the first women's team to affiliate with a prominent men's team, the Rotherhithe-based side was founded in 1971 and pioneered a successful youth community scheme for young women with support from their parent club. Arsenal looked to replicate Millwall's success and founded their own women's team and youth programs for girls by amalgamating with local team Aylesbury Ladies. Arsenal Ladies Football Club was formed in 1987 by long-term Arsenal men's kit manager Vic Akers, he was appointed as the amateur side's initial manager. With the support of then vice chairman David Dein, Akers' plea for resources such as playing boots, the men's team coach and the use of training facilities were often answered in a period where financial support for the women's game was scarce; Arsenal thus dominated the women's game in England during the 1990s and 2000s.

They won their first major honour, the Women's League Cup, in the 1991–92 season. Also in 1992, they won promotion to the FA Women's Premier League from the FA Women's National League South, and a season later, won the top division title at the first time of asking.

This began a period of sustained dominance for the club, who soon permanently moved into Meadow Park in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, in a groundshare agreement with non-league side Boreham Wood. Following the storied successes of the men's team, Arsenal made a conscious effort to brand women's football as equitable. Over the next twenty years, Arsenal approached all facets of the game, such as training, tactics, scouting, and finance, with the goal to maximize the growth of the club and attain trophies. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Arsenal lavished atop the Premier League for many seasons, boasting academy graduates like Marieanne Spacey and Faye White, as well as utilizing the club's income on stars like Emma Byrne, to allow the club to win a slew of trophies. Akers stepped down as manager of Arsenal's Women's team during the summer of 1997 to become kit manager for the men's team. Terry Howard took charge of the team for the 1997–98 season but Akers returned in 1998–99 following Howard's departure. In 2002 the club became semi-professional.

Under Akers' stewardship, Arsenal enjoyed unilateral domestic success, as the club claimed 11 league titles, nine FA Women's Cup titles, ten FA Women's Premier League Cup titles, and five FA Women's Community Shield wins. This included seven straight league wins from the 2003–04 season to 2009–10 season, as well as six unbeaten campaigns. Moreover, Akers lead the team to the most successful club season in English women's football in the 2006–07 season, as the team won every single competition available to them, including the ever elusive UEFA Women's Cup. The win marked Arsenal's only trophy won from European competition, and the first time an English club won the competition. This unique sextuple was recognized with The Committee Award by the Sports Journalists' Association in the 2007 Sports Journalists' Awards.

Akers also led the team to a number of English women's football records, including a six-year league unbeaten run from October 2003 to March 2009, marking 108 games without defeat. During that spell, Arsenal won a record 51 league games in a row, between November 2005 and April 2008. Akers retired from management following a domestic treble in the 2008–09 season.

2009–present: Post-Akers and the WSL

Akers was succeeded by Tony Gervaise, who resigned in February 2010 after only eight months in charge, suggesting his position had been undermined by outside interference. In an unusual development, reserve coach Laura Harvey became first-team manager and Gervaise became reserve coach. This appointment marked the club's first female coach in any capacity.

After a year break in play in preparation for a reformatted league, Arsenal were named as founder members of the FA Women's Super League, which commenced in the spring of 2011. Arsenal won the inaugural season, marking their eighth consecutive English title, and secured another domestic double by also winning the FA Cup. After a two-year period without a league triumph, Shelley Kerr was announced as Harvey's successor in 2013. Under her management, the club won two FA Women's Cups, including a win in 2014 two weeks after the men's team won the 2014 FA Cup, completing a rare FA Cup double for the club. But after a poor run of form which saw Arsenal gain only one point from the opening four league matches of the 2014 season, including exits from the Champions League to minnows Birmingham and a shock loss to Reading, Kerr resigned. She was replaced by Pedro Losa. Losa led the team to the 2015 FA WSL Cup and the 2016 FA Women's Cup. Moreover, he helped to rebuild the squad, notably recruiting younger stars like Daniëlle van de Donk, Kim Little, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema. Losa also brought through youngsters like Leah Williamson. However, Losa left following a poor start to the 2017-18 season and was replaced by Joe Montemurro.

In July 2017, the club rebranded as Arsenal Women Football Club, in a move described by Arsenal as "clear signal of togetherness and unity", and to retain the progressive ethos of the club. Utilizing the core Losa helped build, Montemurro led Arsenal to the 2018–19 Women's Super League title with a game to spare. The win marked their first title in seven years, and marked the club's return to the Champions League for the first time in five years. Montemurro left the club at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Following the resignation of Montemurro, the club appointed Jonas Eidevall as head coach of Arsenal. On 24 September 2022, the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium recorded an attendance figure of 47,367, the highest ever for a WSL match. Arsenal won the match 4–0. On 5 March 2023, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 3–1 in the Women's League Cup final to win their first trophy since 2019.