The Invincibles (football)
| The most used Arsenal players in the 2003–04 season, positioned in a 4–4–1–1 formation. |
In English football, "The Invincibles" has been used to refer to the Preston North End team of the 1880s managed by William Sudell, and the Arsenal team of the 2003–04 season managed by Arsène Wenger. Preston earned the nickname after completing an entire season undefeated in league and cup competition, while Arsenal were undefeated in the league.
Preston North End became football's first "Invincibles" when they won the inaugural Football League competition, completing the season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup, which also made them the first team ever to achieve the "Double". Preston's league record was 18 wins, 4 draws and 0 losses, out of 22 games played, while their cup record was 5 wins out of 5 rounds played. Preston also won the Cup without conceding a goal.
Preston's unbeaten run stretched to one game the following season, their first league defeat came away to Aston Villa in the second game, losing 5–3.
Of the seven teams to have completed the Double in England, Preston remain the only one to have done so unbeaten.
In 2008, Preston opened a new 5,000 seater stand at their Deepdale stadium, named the Invincibles Pavilion in honour of the unbeaten 1880s team that had also played their home matches at the same site.
The team that won the 1889 FA Cup Final at the Kennington Oval, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–0, was as follows:
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