When is Invincibles Day?

The Gunners Achieved The Impossible:

In the 2003/04 season of the Premier League, Arsenal did something that no team in the modern era has ever achieved. Along with winning the Premier League title, the squad went unbeaten for the entire season. 26 Wins, 12 Draws, and 0 Losses. Quite incredible - a feat that is almost impossible, and likely will never be achieved again.

It was without question our greatest moment as a club. We were the champions, and undefeatable. The team of that era came to be known as "The Invincibles". To commemorate the victory, the Premier League commissioned a gold trophy (rather than silver) to honor the achivement.

As a season it had its ups and downs. We had some big wins: 5-0 against Leeds United and 4-0 against Middlesbrough. There were some cagey 0-0 draws against teams like Fulham and Newcastle. And there was more than one near miss, notably against our biggest rivals at the time: who else but Man United. Van Nistelrooy missed a penalty which would have cost us the match and our invincibles campaign - and only six matches into the season.

The team above is etched into every Gooner's memory of that time. Henry's magnificent finishing, Berkamp's link up play, Pires's creativity, Viera's strength, the fact that Lehmann played every minute of every game. It's really quite something! But there were many players who also made this invincibles side: Cygan, Keown, Parlour, Edu, Wiltord, Kanu, and Reyes to name but a few. In fact, the famous first team line-up only started a handful of games due to form and injury.

But that's not all - Arsenal didn't just go 38 matches unbeaten, we actually went a total of 49. This was well into the next season, and still an unbeaten record to this day. At the time this run of form sparked wild ideas that perhaps we could do it twice! Unfortunately, our old nemesis Manchester United put an end to that historic run, and beat us 2-0. The game was heated and intense, and led to the so-called "Pizza-gate" incident; where an Arsenal player (that may or may not have been a young Cesc Fàbregas), threw a slice of pizza at United manager Alex Ferguson.

So What Is Invincibles Day?:

Invincibles Day is the day in each Premier League season when it becomes mathematically impossible for any team to match Arsenal’s unbeaten record from 2003/04. In other words, when every team (except Arsenal) has lost one match or more. It’s not an official event per se; but it’s a celebration of a record that has stood untouched for over 20 years. And given the modern game and how fiercely competitive it is, it's not unreasonable to assume it might never happen again.

In recent years our title winning form is back, and this season (25/26) we are looking better than ever. But Invincibles Day is a reminder that even in seasons when Arsenal weren't playing so well, we hold a piece of history no one else has managed to equal.

(Ok fine, techically Preston North End achieved an 'Invincibles' season in 1889/90, but this was 130 years ago when football was amateur - and offside traps were a rumour and the half-time snack was probably a pint of porter. Our one counts for more no question!)

The Gunners celebrate winning the 03/04 title and claiming the Invincibles name. (Source: Arsenal.com)

How It Works:

The predicted date for Invincibles Day on this website is calculated by predicting the results of upcoming matches for this premier league season. When a team is predicted to lose, our super-fancy algorithm marks that date and brings us one team closer to Invincibility again. The date that the last team is predicted to lose their first match determines the Invincibles Day date. We will predict the result (win/draw/loss) for every gameweek up until all the record has been secured, with some degree of success.

When the actual results come in, things are set in stone. Teams are moved from the Unbeaten to Beaten sections above and marked down as having lost. When the last team loses, then we have our Invincibles Day! Being football, upsets can happen all the time, so this prediction can be uncertain. Either way, when the date happens we shall celebrate Arsenal's monumental achievement for another year!

There's More:

Since you've made it this far, you're clearly interested in the finer workings of this (admittedly, rather geeky) fan website. Feel free to check out our sister site When Is St. Totteringham's Day? where we predict the day that Arsenal will finish above Spurs this season. This site tends to wrap up early season, and St. Totteringhams Day gets exciting towards the end of the season.

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