ARSENE WENGER’S reign at Arsenal has come to a close, ending a spell of nearly 22 years as the club’s manager.
After a host of ups and downs, Wenger has finally opted to walk away, half way through his two-year contract, signed last year.
FOLLOW all the latest developments on Arsene Wenger’s departure on talkSPORT
When his Arsenal were on form they were unstoppable – just think Invincibles…
But when it rained it really did seem to pour for Mr Wenger.
Now, with Wenger set to leave, take a look back at every, single Arsenal season under the French boss.
1996-97
Announced as Bruce Rioch’s successor in late September, the ex-Monaco and Grampus Eight coach went on to help sign a young Patrick Vieira and Nicolas Anelka.
Wenger guided the team to third with their hopes of a title challenge ended by a poor run in February.
Arsenal missed out on a place in the Champions League on goal difference.
1997-98
After strengthening his team with Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit, Wenger guided Arsenal to their first title in seven years.
The Gunners had trailed Manchester United by 12 points at the end of February.
Arsenal then beat Newcastle in the FA Cup final to record the north London club’s first double since 1971.
1998-99
Arsenal would be second best to Manchester United in this season, losing the title by a single point.
They also ended up losing the FA Cup semi-final in extra-time to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Treble-winning side courtesy of Ryan Giggs’ iconic goal.
1999-00
Anelka was sold to Real Madrid, but the arrival of Thierry Henry from Juventus began a new era at Highbury.
There were also major changes at the back, with Steve Bould retiring and Nigel Winterburn dropping down the pecking order – the end of the old guard.
Their replacements were only good for the runners-up spot again.
2000-01
Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord were among the summer arrivals, but Overmars and Petit left for Barcelona.
Without them Arsenal had to settle for second again, also losing the FA Cup final to Liverpool.
2001-02
Sol Campbell arrived on a shock free transfer from local rivals Tottenham, and Wenger unearthed the little known Kolo Toure.
The pair helped Arsenal reclaim the title and do the double again, memorably beating United at Old Trafford to win the league before seeing off Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
2002-03
With Tony Adams retired to be replaced by Pascal Cygan, Vieira was elevated to captain and Gilberto Silva arrived to strengthen the midfield.
However, Arsenal could not defend their league crown as they finished second, consoling themselves with an FA Cup final victory over Southampton.
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2003-04
The Invincibles season will forever stand out on Wenger’s resume.
Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was the only significant arrival in a quiet summer, (discounting a little-known youngster called Cesc Fabregas, initially bound for the academy) as Arsenal’s funds were taken up by the new stadium.
But it worked a treat as the Gunners became the first team since Preston North End more than a century before to complete a campaign unbeaten.
Wenger had splashed the cash in the winter, signing Jose Antonio Reyes, and at the end of the season he agreed a deal to sign Robin van Persie for £3million.
2004-05
Arsenal’s unbeaten run ended at 49 in the infamous “Battle of the Buffet” at Old Trafford, and it signalled another momentum swing as United regained the title.
However, they did beat Ferguson’s side on penalties in the FA Cup final, which would prove to be the last major trophy Wenger won for almost a decade.
2005-06
Vieira’s departure to Juventus preceded a rapid fall in Arsenal’s league fortunes as they only managed fourth place, their worst finish thus far under Wenger.
However, there seemed no reason to panic as they reached the final of the Champions League, where they were edged out 2-1 by Barcelona after the controversial dismissal of Lehmann.
2006-07
A major end-of-season clearout saw the likes of Pires, Cygan, Campbell, Reyes and Ashley Cole transferred while Dennis Bergkamp retired.
Without them Arsenal – celebrating a first season in their new 60,000-seater home in Ashburton Grove – again laboured to fourth, with little comfort to fall back on in the cup.
2007-08
The exodus continued a summer later with Henry leaving for Barcelona, while Freddie Ljungberg and Reyes also departed.
Arsenal topped the table for much of the season regardless, but faded to finish third, while losing to rivals Tottenham in the semi-finals of the League Cup.
2008-09
Wenger signed Samir Nasri and Mikael Silvestre in a bid to get back in the title frame.
But Arsenal could do no better than fourth, while losing in both the FA Cup and Champions League semi-finals.
2009-10
Although Fabregas had now emerged as a truly outstanding player, scoring 19 goals from midfield, Arsenal were still off the pace in the league, finishing third.
They also lost to Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
2010-11
Wenger spent big on Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci to try to fix Arsenal’s defence, but it was a now familiar story in the league as they came in fourth.
They had faded badly at the end of the season, something many attributed to their stunning League Cup final loss to Birmingham, who scored an 89th-minute winner.
2011-12
Big money deals for Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mikel Arteta did little to placate fans after the departure of Fabregas.
And their fears were borne out by a stunning 8-2 defeat to Manchester United.
The season ended with another third-place finish and cup campaigns that fizzled out early.
2012-13
Another tough summer saw Van Persie join United and Alex Song move to Barcelona.
Wenger’s new-look side found themselves in a tough battle with rivals Tottenham for the final Champions League place.
Fourth spot – secured only on the final day of the season – was deemed a success.
But unrest grew over the following summer until the club-record £42.5m signing of Mesut Ozil signalled new ambitions heading into 2014.
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2013-14
Again the Gunners failed to deliver a sustained title bid, eventually finishing an all-too-familiar fourth.
Arsenal also went out of the Champions League once more to Bayern Munich, not to mention Wenger losing his 1,000th match in charge 6-0 at Chelsea.
But the long wait for some silverware to put in the Emirates Stadium cabinet was ended by an energy-sapping extra-time FA Cup final win over Hull, having trailed 2-0 inside the opening eight minutes.
The following day, an estimated 250,000 Gunners fans turned out to watch an open-top bus parade through Islington – which many probably thought would never come.
2014-15
Chile forward Alexis Sanchez arrived in a £30m summer move from Barcelona, while England forward Danny Welbeck followed from Man United on deadline day.
However, old inconsistencies continued as Arsenal would finish third in the table and suffer a hugely disappointing Champions League exit at the hands of Wenger’s old club Monaco.
The FA Cup, though, brought more success – and this time with far less hassle as Aston Villa were thumped 4-0 at Wembley before the Gunners’ got back on their bus.
2015-16
The free transfer of Chelsea veteran Petr Cech was supposed to provide the missing piece in Arsenal’s title jigsaw.
Key defeats, though, in crucial matches, notably 4-0 at Southampton on Boxing Day, while also failing to see off below-par Chelsea and United teams meant the Gunners were unable to eat into Leicester’s ten -point lead.
The club took some solace from finishing above Spurs once again on the final day, though.
Another exit in Europe at the last-16 stage came against Barcelona, while hopes of an FA Cup treble were ended by an unexpected home defeat to Watford in the quarter-finals.
2016-17
After a failed summer move for Jamie Vardy, Wenger completed late deals for Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez to add to the earlier addition of midfielder Granit Xhaka.
An opening weekend defeat to Liverpool was followed by an unbeaten run that had Arsenal in the mix in the Premier League title race until February.
But back-to-back defeats to Watford and eventual winners Chelsea saw them fall away.
Again the last-16 stage of the Champions League would be as far as Arsenal went, with Bayern Munich prevailing once more.
2017-18
A run to the Carabao Cup final before losing comprehensively to Manchester City was not enough for Wenger to remain.
The club broke their transfer record twice in six months to sign Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan came in too.
The likes of Kieran Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud were all moved on, with Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi appointed to major backroom roles as some power was wrestled from Wenger.
Arsenal had reached the Europa League semi-finals when Wenger made his announcement.
The club’s FA Cup ended at Nottingham Forest in the third round and they were sixth in the Premier League with five games to play.
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