The day Arsenal's champions became Invincibles

There was the title celebration at Tottenham. The notorious clash with Ruud van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford. The stunning solo goal from Thierry Henry against Liverpool.

Arsenal's unbeaten Premier League triumph in 2003/04 was packed with iconic moments.

But the completeness of the achievement demanded the team deliver in every match, regardless of opponent, venue, form, or fitness. For nine months. It wasn’t always glamorous – despite the attacking magnificence the team could produce. And it certainly wasn't always straightforward.

P38 W26 D12 L0. Each of those 12 draws represent matches where this team’s place in history could have been extinguished by one simple error.

This was a record always on the line, always on the verge of slipping away.

It was almost over before it had started.

Arsenal were down to 10 men inside 25 minutes against Everton on the opening weekend. They then fell behind. But they summoned up a response; a recurring trait which would be as crucial to their campaign as Henry’s goals or Dennis Bergkamp’s assists.

Chelsea, who would eventually finish second, took the lead after 27 seconds at Stamford Bridge in February. Arsenal bounced back.

Manchester United and Chelsea knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup and Champions League in back-to-back games at the start of April. They were then trailing at half-time to Liverpool in their next Premier League game. A Henry hat-trick took them to victory.

That steel was a characteristic they needed to call upon on the final day of the season, too. Drama ran through the season and book-ended this tight-rope walk towards immortality.

This time the opponent was an already-relegated Leicester side. Another comeback was needed. The most important one – because it would be the last one. And a place in legend was on the line…

The sun was shining in north London. Supporters in the stands were in party mode. Some were wearing t-shirts commemorating a third title in seven years. Some weren’t wearing shirts at all, basking in the May sunshine and the glow of their pre-match warm-ups in the pubs and bars around the ground.

Many of them had been at White Hart Lane three weeks earlier to see the Premier League title clinched. Now they were here to see the trophy lifted.

But Arsenal’s players were anxious.

Before the celebrations there was the small matter of an historic, undefeated season to complete. Ninety minutes to achieve something no side had done since 1889. The title was won but the pressure was on.

"Near the end we were getting nervous because people kept talking about it,” captain Patrick Vieira later said, reflecting on how the focus on Arsenal’s undefeated streak in the league grew and grew by the week before taking on predominance.

The distraction had been plain to see since the 2-2 at Tottenham secured top spot on April 25.

A goalless draw with mid-table Birmingham the following weekend was hardly the homecoming extravaganza that was expected. Then there was the 1-1 at Portsmouth a few days later, where Arsenal trailed at half-time.

A 1-0 win at Fulham in the penultimate game of the season – coming courtesy of an Edwin van der Sar blunder – underlined the point. This was an Arsenal team that may have laid down fantastic foundations with, at times, wonderful football but they were now edging nervously towards glory.

"You never know you are going to do it until the end," Vieira added, capturing the uncertainty among the squad. 

That apprehension and awareness of what was within their grasp was reflected in Arsenal’s start to the match. There was no rhythm. They didn’t get going.

Midway through the first half Highbury fell silent, except for a corner reserved for away supporters. The Arsenal players’ pre-match fears were playing out.

Former Gunner Paul Dickov met an uncharacteristic Frank Sinclair cross with a firm back-post header to put Leicester in front.

Dickov’s momentum sent him up onto the advertising hoardings and he needed a carefully placed boot on a barrier to prevent himself from tumbling into the stunned Arsenal supporters behind the goal.

But it was Arsenal’s Invincible dream that was now in the balance. Surely they wouldn’t fall at the last?

Arsenal’s response was initially meek. An Henry free-kick was parried away, a Robert Pires drive comfortably fielded by Ian Walker in the Leicester goal. Rather than shake them out of their slumber, Dickov’s goal had only added to the doubt in Arsenal’s game.

The visitors, bound for the newly rebranded Championship, meanwhile, played with a freedom fed by their unexpected lead and their own decided fate. There were ‘oles’ from the away section, as Leicester knocked the ball around with a swagger at the end of the first half.

Arsenal needed the half-time break and the chance to reset.

The on-pitch trophy presentation was picture perfect, with red and white ticker tape shooting up towards the clear blue sky as Vieira lifted the shining silver league trophy above his head. The captain surrounded by team-mates arm-in-arm. Together. As they had been throughout this incredible season.

"I always had that dream and to fulfil it is marvellous," Wenger said of the historic achievement.

After champagne was sprayed and the trophy passed around, Sol Campbell and Henry slumped down in the centre circle. A red and white Arsenal flag fluttered in the Frenchman’s hand as he and Campbell reflected on what had been achieved.

Elsewhere across the pitch, Wenger – joined by his daughter – saluted the crowd. Kolo Toure flipped to the fans' delight. And the instrumental Pires, draped in an ‘unbeaten’ banner, paraded the trophy to all corners of the famous, grand stadium.

The time for celebration in football is often short. There is always another match, trophy or season to look ahead to. And so it was for the Invincibles. On the very day they had become the first team in 115 years to go undefeated in the English top flight, they were discussing how they could improve.

"These players want to get better and I'm confident they want more,” Wenger told the media within a couple of hours of the final whistle. New signing Robin van Persie had been presented to the Arsenal fans before kick-off.

But the landscape was already shifting. That summer, a new era would be born. Arsenal haven't won the league since.

In the weeks and months which followed Arsenal’s celebrations at Highbury, Chelsea – who had finished 11 points behind them in second – were supercharged by Roman Abramovich’s millions.

Although Arsenal would go on to break the league record for matches unbeaten, eventually losing away to United in October 2004 after 49 games without defeat, those two sides, who had dominated English football, were to be pushed to the side.

Chelsea became champions. They would go to another level under Jose Mourinho. Arsenal and Manchester United would be left to fight for the consolation of the FA Cup, which Arsenal grabbed on penalties.

A Champions League final defeat the following season in 2005/06 felt like the end of the era for this team. With money invested in a new stadium, the squad became weaker rather than stronger.

In recent years Manchester City and Liverpool have raised the bar for what it takes to win the Premier League. The Invincibles’ points total has been smashed. Their goals tally dwarfed.

But regardless of what came next and what’s to come, Arsenal’s class of 2003/04 will forever have their place in history.

“I always say someone will do it again and better,” said Henry. “But we were the first.”