We’ve been asked a number of times for a list of Arsenal’s captains. The club has Mikel Arteta as the 46th permanent captain. However, we have 60 and the list is not 100% complete. During the season prior to professsionalism and the season after it was embraced by the club the captain was set on a monthly basis so there were as many as six captains in a season! The local press regularly made jokes about being unable to keep up with who was the chosen captain at any given point.

Our list shows the players that we can verify were captain and what season’s they captained the team. There are also notes where the captain changed during the season (1955-56 being particularly dynamic).

Season Captain Notes 1886-87 David Danskin 1887-88 David Danskin 1888-89 David Danskin / Arthur Brown 1889-90 Morris Bates 1890-91 Morris Bates / William Stewart / Humphrey Barbour / Peter Connolly / John McBean / Bill Julian 1891-92 Bill Julian / David Howat / Robert Buist / William Stewart / Tom Graham / Sandy Robertson 1892-93 Charles Booth 1893-94 Joe Powell 1894-95 David Howat 1895-96 Caesar Jenkyns 1896-97 Gavin Crawford 1897-98 Gavin Crawford 1898-99 John Anderson 1899-1900 Joe Murphy 1900-01 Duncan McNichol 1901-02 Jimmy Jackson 1902-03 Jimmy Jackson 1903-04 Jimmy Jackson 1904-05 Jimmy Jackson 1905-06 John Dick 1906-07 Percy Sands 1907-08 Percy Sands 1908-09 Percy Sands 1909-10 Percy Sands 1910-11 Percy Sands 1911-12 Percy Sands 1912-13 Percy Sands 1913-14 Percy Sands 1914-15 Percy Sands 1915-16 Probably Percy Sands 1916-17 Probably Percy Sands 1917-18 Probably Percy Sands 1918-19 Probably Percy Sands 1919-20 Joe Shaw 1920-21 Frank Bradshaw 1921-22 Frank Bradshaw 1922-23 Alec Graham 1923-24 Billy Blyth 1924-25 Alf Baker 1925-26 Charlie Buchan 1926-27 Charlie Buchan 1927-28 Charlie Buchan 1928-29 Billy Blyth 1929-30 Tom Parker 1930-31 Tom Parker 1931-32 Tom Parker 1932-33 Charlie Jones Until 24 February 1933 1932-33 Alex James From 24 February 1933 1933-34 Alex James 1934-35 Alex James 1935-36 Alex James 1936-37 Alex James 1937-38 Eddie Hapgood 1938-39 Eddie Hapgood 1939-40 Eddie Hapgood 1940-41 Eddie Hapgood 1941-42 Eddie Hapgood 1942-43 Eddie Hapgood 1943-44 Eddie Hapgood 1944-45 Eddie Hapgood 1945-46 Eddie Hapgood 1945-46 George Male 1946-47 George Male 1947-48 Joe Mercer 1948-49 Joe Mercer 1949-50 Joe Mercer 1950-51 Joe Mercer 1951-52 Joe Mercer 1952-53 Joe Mercer 1953-54 Joe Mercer 1954-55 Jimmy Logie Until 10 November 1954 1954-55 Walley Barnes From 10 November 1954 1955-56 Walley Barnes Until 17 September 1955 1955-56 Don Roper 18 September to 8 January 1956 1955-56 Cliff Holton From 8 January 1956 1956-57 Peter Goring 1956-57 Cliff Holton 1957-58 Dennis Evans Until 4 January 1958 1957-58 Dave Bowen From 4 January 1958 1958-59 Dave Bowen 1959-60 Vic Groves 1960-61 Vic Groves 1961-62 Vic Groves 1962-63 Terry Neill 1963-64 George Eastham 1964-65 George Eastham 1965-66 George Eastham 1966-67 Don Howe 1967-68 Frank McLintock 1968-69 Frank McLintock 1969-70 Frank McLintock 1970-71 Frank McLintock 1971-72 Frank McLintock 1972-73 Frank McLintock 1973-74 Bob McNab 1974-75 Alan Ball 1975-76 Eddie Kelly / Terry Mancini Kelly was team captain, Mancini was club captain 1975-76 Alan Ball 1976-77 Alan Ball 1976-77 Pat Rice 1977-78 Pat Rice 1978-79 Pat Rice 1979-80 Pat Rice 1980-81 David O’Leary 1981-82 David O’Leary 1982-83 David O’Leary 1983-84 Graham Rix 1984-85 Graham Rix 1985-86 Graham Rix 1986-87 Kenny Sansom 1987-88 Kenny Sansom Until 6 March 1988 1987-88 Tony Adams From 6 March 1988 1988-89 Tony Adams 1989-90 Tony Adams 1990-91 Tony Adams 1991-92 Tony Adams 1992-93 Tony Adams 1993-94 Tony Adams 1994-95 Tony Adams 1995-96 Tony Adams 1996-97 Tony Adams 1997-98 Tony Adams 1998-99 Tony Adams 1999-2000 Tony Adams 2000-01 Tony Adams 2001-02 Tony Adams 2002-03 Patrick Vieira 2003-04 Patrick Vieira 2004-05 Patrick Vieira 2005-06 Thierry Henry 2006-07 Thierry Henry 2007-08 William Gallas 2008-09 William Gallas Until 24 November 2008 2008-09 Cesc Fabregas From 24 November 2008 2009-10 Cesc Fabregas 2010-11 Cesc Fabregas 2011-12 Robin van Persie 2012-13 Thomas Vermaelen 2013-14 Thomas Vermaelen 2014-15 Mikel Arteta 2015-16 Mikel Arteta 2016-17 Per Mertesacker 2017-18 Per Mertesacker 2018-19 Laurent Koscielny 2019-20 Granit Xhaka Appointed on 27 September 2019 although had captained the team until then.

Until 5 November 2019 2019-20 Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang From 5 November 2019

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