Arsenal have been crowned Premier League champions for the first time since 2004, ending a 22-year wait that has defined a generation of supporters. The title was confirmed on Tuesday evening when Manchester City — Arsenal's closest rivals — could only draw 1-1 with Bournemouth, a south-coast club playing their home fixture far from London's celebrations. The draw left Arsenal with an unassailable four-point lead at the top of the table, meaning the trophy is theirs with one game still to play.
Thousands of Arsenal fans flooded the streets outside Emirates Stadium — the club's home in Holloway Road, north London — waving scarves, setting off flares and fireworks, and chanting deep into the night. Players and coaching staff, who had gathered at the club's training ground to watch events unfold, broke into dancing and chanting "Campioni, campioni, olé olé olé!" the moment the final whistle blew in Bournemouth. Captain Declan Rice, who had defiantly declared "It's not over" after a defeat to City last month, posted a photo of the celebration with a simple reply: "It's over."
The triumph arrives in manager Mikel Arteta's seventh season in charge, and is the culmination of a painstaking rebuild. Arsenal had finished as runners-up for three consecutive years: pipped twice by Pep Guardiola's City, who chased down Arsenal's leads in the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons, and then edged out by Liverpool last year. Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson captured the mood of many observers when he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "The best gift you can give a good manager is time. When you give a good manager time, this is what happens." Guardiola himself was gracious in defeat, stating: "On behalf of everyone at Manchester City, we congratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans. They deserve it."
The last time Arsenal lifted the league title was the legendary 2003–04 "Invincibles" season, when Arsène Wenger's side completed an entire Premier League campaign without a single defeat — a feat that remains unmatched in the modern era. Founded in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal munitions factory in Woolwich, south-east London, the club has won the English top-flight title 14 times in total. Tuesday's triumph is only their fourth in the Premier League era, which began in 1992.
Congratulations poured in from beyond football. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a self-declared Arsenal supporter, wrote on X: "22 long years Arsenal. But we're finally back where we belong: champions." London Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed them as "the first London club to win the league in nearly a decade." Formula 1 seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also posted his celebration online. For many fans, however, the reaction was more personal — one supporter reflected that since Arsenal last won the league, he had married, had a child now in their teens, and divorced. With a Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain still to come on 31 May, some supporters are already daring to dream of a historic double.