Arsenal FC 2011/12 Nike Polo (Womens Large)

Arsenal celebrated 125 years of the club in 2011/12 and the anniversary produced an unexpectedly perfect piece of history. On 9 December 2011, statues of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams and Thierry Henry were unveiled outside the Emirates, honouring three figures from very different Arsenal eras. 

Henry was supposedly part of Arsenal’s past by then. He had left for Barcelona in 2007 and was playing for New York Red Bulls, but within weeks of the statue ceremony he agreed to return on a two-month loan, providing cover while Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh were away at the Africa Cup of Nations. 

His comeback could hardly have been scripted better. Exactly one month after the statue unveiling, Arsenal faced Leeds in the FA Cup with the game stuck at 0-0. Henry came off the bench and, with only his fifth touch, finished an Alex Song pass in trademark fashion to score the only goal of the match. 

The season also belonged to Robin van Persie, who scored 30 Premier League goals and won the Golden Boot, helping Arsenal recover from a difficult start to finish third. But Henry’s brief return gave Arsenal’s 125th year its most nostalgic moment: a club legend went from having a statue unveiled to scoring for Arsenal again exactly one month later.