When I was growing up and enjoying football in the 2000s everyone was secretly an Arsenal fan. The Gunners were impossible to resist (and impossible to beat, at least in 2003/04!) with an absolutely loaded team across all areas of the pitch. The focal point of the team was of course the great Thierry Henry, but the mercurial Frenchman was ably backed up by the likes of countrymen Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira, not to mention the talented and often underappreciated Dennis Bergkamp.

Most popular Arsenal shirts

We’ve sifted through the data to find out what the most popular vintage Arsenal namesets are. Do our expectations for popularity line up with what the numbers say, or will an unexpected name sneak into the list? We’re doing these for several major teams, starting with The Gunners.

1. Thierry Henry 

To no one’s surprise the aforementioned Henry tops our list of the most popular Arsenal namesets with 134 sales. There are a tonne of shirts which we could highlight as emblematic of Titi’s legendary career, but we have to start with the Dreamcast/Sega era. Kits like the 2000/02 Arsenal home shirt are relatively unassuming by today’s standards, but the Dreamcast sponsor completely changed things. Don’t underestimate the power of a video game sponsor, especially when paired with a player who regularly put on video game-like performances.

“The Invincibles” home and away shirts will live long in the memory. Arsenal, who had switched to equally iconic sponsor O2, combined a clean, classic home shirt with a much bolder in-your-face yellow and blue away. The yellow looked almost neon at times, and the fact that Henry and many of his teammates often wore long sleeves was icing on the cake.

We can’t move on without mentioning the Total 90 Arsenal kits. As Nike’s Total 90 range completely took over the game Arsenal’s shirts solidified themselves in the collective consciousness. The blue away from 2004 (also used as third in 2005) is one which Henry rocked to great effect on more than a few occasions.

Browse our collection of Thierry Henry football shirts here.

2.  Dennis Bergkamp

Rather appropriately, Henry is backed up by his long-time strike partner Dennis Bergkamp who clocks in at 42 sales. Having arrived in London a few years prior, Bergkamp was fortunate enough to enjoy a particularly exciting period of Arsenal kits. Few designs sum up this era more than the 1995/96 Arsenal away. The standout lightning bolt look from Nike continues to be a reference point for disruptive design, and the shirt looked at its best with the chunky name and number of Bergkamp on the back. 

Browse our collection of Dennis Bergkamp football shirts here.

3.  Ian Wright

Last but by no means least in our top 3 is Ian Wright with 40 sales. One thing the Englishman has over his fellow legends is the fact that he was at Arsenal during the adidas years. The floor of 80s/90s Arsenal x adidas shirts was high, let alone the ceiling, and the 1992/94 Arsenal home shirt is a personal favourite of mine. adidas namesets were as good as the shirts themselves too, with three stripe detailing in the numbers. We could only dream of such a look today.

Browse our collection of Ian Wright football shirts here.

Football shirt index (December 2023)

Football shirt index (December 2023)