Bergkamp lasted two more seasons at Highbury, Henry moved on to Spain and then the States, and after a brief spell in Italy, Viera saw out his playing days at Manchester City. But what about the less celebrated members of Arsenal’s famous ‘Invincibles’? On the 10th anniversary of that landmark season, we take a look at some of the bit-part players of Arsenal’s 2003-04 squad.

GK: Graham Stack

The Republic of Ireland U-21 international was Arsenal’s sub keeper during their unbeaten season, he didn’t get any game time during the league but did feature in the cup. Stack never managed to break into the Arsenal first team and was loaned out numerous times down through the divisions. Currently player-coach at Barnet, Stack was recently named captain after Edgar Davids decided to retire mid-way through the season.

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Defenders

Lauren

Despite consistently putting in a solid shift in defence for Wenger, Lauren’s Arsenal career will probably be best remembered for his involvement in the melee after Ruud Van Nistelrooy missed a last minute penalty against The Gunners in Old Trafford. The Cameroon international retired in 2010 after unsuccessful stints at Portsmouth and Cordoba. He has since taken his sporting prowess off the pitch and into the boxing ring and has earned a name as an impressive amateur boxer. He also chips in with a bit of punditry on La Liga games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1dfphE6jOs#t=89

Pascal Cygan

Known for his bald head and a rather rude chant Pascal Cygan surprisingly made 18 appearances during the 03/04 season. But it was after that season when he was really found out for some Kamakazi defending that saw him released in 2006. He joined up with Pires with Villareal but failed to establish himself as a first team regular and was released in 2009. Cygan retired in 2011 after a two year stint in the Spanish second division.

He is currently playing with and managing an amateur provincial team in France where he tried, but failed, to sign up Turkish striker Nihat.

Check out Cygan’s defending prowess here:

Efstathios Tavlaridis

This Greek maestro only managed one league game for Arsenal in his career but did play three cup games during the 2003/2004 season before being loaned out during the January transfer window and was never seen again in the red and white.

Still playing in Greece with Atromitis Athens, Tavlaridis helped them to a third place position in the league this season. His aggressive playing style earned him the nickname ‘The Bull’ in Greece but that has not always worked in his favour with the national side as he has only played two matches and publicly fell out with numerous Greek managers.

Justin Hoyte

Son of former British sprinter Wendy Hoyte, Justin failed to earn a regular starting spot in his six years at Arsenal, despite his pace. He did however manage over 100 games for Middlesbrough where he established himself as a Premier League defender and even bagged a couple of goals.

Unfortunately for Hoyte, he fell out with manager Tony Mowbray and moved permanently to Milwall in the January window but he did not feature in a game all season.

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Midfielders

David Bentley

The cheeky chappie made one appearance in the league in 03/04 so he too can count himself as one of the Invincibles. Bentley never made the breakthrough at Arsenal but stood out as a real talent when he transferred to Blackburn in 2005 and will be mostly known for his fantastic hat-trick against Man United.

After a successful stint at Rovers he was signed by Spurs for 15 million pounds but his career completely spiralled out of control after failing to establish himself at White Hart Lane. The England international endured loan stints at Birmingham and West Ham before trying his luck in Russia but he could never settle into any team.

Bentley retired at the end of this season in order to concentrate on his restaurant in Spain, without having ever realised the potential his early years promised.

Edu

Brazilian Edu racked up 100 games for Arsenal in total but the majority of them came from the bench as he had to compete with Vieira and Gilberto Silva for centre midfield spot. He was transferred to Valencia in 2005 as his career petered out and eventually moved back to his old club Corinthians where he is currently the director of football.

Edu will be assisting former Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz with Iran at the World Cup this summer.

Ray Parlour

The only reason Ray Parlour is in this team of ‘Not-So-Invincibles’ is due to the fact that his name rarely comes up in discussions about Arsenal’s greatest team.

In all fairness, when we look back he is probably the most underrated Arsenal players of all time. Played over 300 times but left after they won the 03/04 season and didn’t score a single goal in the rest of his career where he played at Hull and Middlesbrough.

Parlour currently fills his time with punditry on radio and has played many times on the English legends tour. He came out of retirement in 2012 to play with Wembley along with many of the Arsenal retirees for their FA Cup campaign.

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Forwards

Jose Antonio Reyes

Reyes played for three seasons at Arsenal after joining them halfway through their unbeaten campaign. After a rather uninspiring career with the Gunners with only 16 goals over three seasons, despite playing up front, he somehow managed a move the giants Real Madrid but could not become a first team regular there and decided to move to neighbours Atletico where he enjoyed his most successful stint as a player.

He now plays with Sevilla and helped them win the Europa league this season. Has won three Europa Leagues since leaving Arsenal, twice with Atletico.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQTa70quGzI

Sylvain Wiltord

After scoring the winner at Euro 2000 he snapped up a move to Arsenal for what was then a club record fee of 13 million, a figure which was not surpassed for another nine years. He went onto play over 100 games for Arsenal but never quite broke into the first team.

After four seasons he returned to France and retired in 2012 after tasting success with Lyon. He is currently employed by Eurosport France.

Jeremie Aliadiere

Dubbed the new Henry, the Frenchman never quite lived up to his expectations in the Premier League, only managing one premier league goal during his 7 years at Arsenal which included many loan spells, none of which were successful.

After a mediocre spell at Middlesbrough he transferred to Lorient in France and helped them to a top ten finish this season after scoring 19 goals in the previous season. He still claims to be good friends with Arsene Wenger and says that they keep in contact.

Sean O’ Gorman, Pundit Arena.

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