Players from Arsenal’s Invincibles squad that won the Premier League in 2004 reunited for dinner on Tuesday night. Among those in attendance included Patrick Vieira, Ian Wright, Thierry Henry amongst others.
Arsene Wenger – who has recently been inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame – led the club to the title winning 26 and drawing 12 going without defeat in all 38 league games.
Lovely dinner with the lads 🫶🏾♥️ #OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/3ln9aB4kZt
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) March 28, 2023
Ian Wright shared the images of the club legends on social media. The picture included the icons in Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg, Jens Lehmann, Martin Keown, Lee Dixon, Ray Parlour, Gael Clichy and Jeremie Aliadiere.
But, 19 years on from their triumph, what are the Arsenal Invincibles doing now?
Where Are The Arsenal Invincibles Now?
Thierry Henry
Henry was instrumental in Arsenal’s incredibly successful campaign. He ensured the Gunners would be the first team in over a century to go through an entire domestic league without tasting defeat.
The French forward was named as the PFA Players’ Player of the Year as well as the FWA Footballer of the Year as he scored 39 goals in all competitions. This campaign was one of the reasons he’ll forever be an Arsenal great.
What’s he doing now? Much like many footballers, once they retire they’re never too far away from the game. That’s exactly the case with Henry, he’s enjoyed a few years of managerial experience, both at club and international level. He’s been the Belgium assistant manager on two occasions, and has also managed both Monaco in France and Montreal Impact in Canada.
On the side of this, Henry has also been a regular face in punditry, both on Sky Sports and CBS Sports, amongst others.
This interaction between Thierry Henry and @_OlivierGiroud_. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/D8iOvh2Gzb
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 8, 2023
Robert Pires
Similarly to Henry, Pires was a pivotal part of Arsenal’s squad when they won the league back in 2004, and he and his French compatriot were one of the deadliest duo’s in Premier League history.
Between them, they scored 57 goals in all competitions, with Pires getting 14 goals and seven assists in the league. He was Arsenal’s top scorer behind Henry, and had the same amount of assists as Dennis Bergkamp.
Upon retirement, Pires ventured into broadcasting and punditry, and has worked for beIN and other international media outlets. Away from his media duties, Pires has also coached at multiple clubs, including Arsenal and Spanish lower-league side Pena Deportiva, who are based in Ibiza.
Pires has also done his fair share of ambassadorial work, and has worked with Swiss watch manufacturers Tag Heuer, as well as being an ambassador for Arsenal.
Patrick Vieira
Patrick Vieira was Arsenal’s captain when they lifted the Premier League trophy 19 years ago, and was a monster among men in the midfield. He did endure a tough start to the season and picked up an injury keeping him out for a number of weeks. However, he kicked on and ensured Arsenal would become the first team in 115 years to go a whole season without losing.
He scored brilliantly in the Gunners’ final game of the season against Leicester City, picking up a pinpoint pass from Bergkamp, and rounding the goalkeeper to score into an open net.
Since he retired from football, Vieira has worked in management. He’s been manager of New York City in America, Nice in France, and most recently manager of Crystal Palace in England. Unfortunately, Vieira was recently sacked by Palace, and is now without a job.
He’s also done his fair share of punditry in European football.
Was Patrick Vieira Arsène Wenger’s best ever signing? 🤔🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/HGuG5zZGX3
— TroopzTV (@TheRealTroopzTV) March 29, 2023
Freddie Ljungberg
Freddie Ljungberg featured heavily in Arsenal’s Invincibles campaign, and scored a vital winning goal against fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury. His nine year stay at Arsenal set him up to be in and around the team later down the line in his career.
Ljungberg has managed at Arsenal since, and was the U15 coach between 2016/17, he then progressed to become the U23’s coach in 2018, where he managed for a year. In 2019, he was Arsenal’s first team interim coach for six games, and his first and only win came against West Ham United.
The Swedish winger has done his fair share of modelling too, and worked for Calvin Klein where he led a world wide campaign which was one of the company’s most successful ever.
Jens Lehmann
In just his first season at Highbury, Lehmann had fairly big boots to fill after the departure of the legendary David Seaman. Well, he lived up to expectations of Arsenal fans, and was dominant between the sticks for a good few years to come.
The Gunners conceded just 26 goals during the Invincibles season, with Lehmann keeping 19 clean sheets in 38 games played.
Lehmann has had a fairly interesting post-retirement life, and has been assistant manager at multiple clubs. In the 2017/18 season, Lehmann returned to Arsenal as assistant coach, but only lasted a season due to Unai Emery’s coaching staff changes. In 2019, he was appointed as Augsburg’s assistant coach, again only lasting one campaign.
Most Bizarrely of all, Lehmann has had a stint in acting, and appeared in a German/South African production called Themba.
Jens Lehmann holds the record for the longest unbeaten start to a Premier League career, not losing any of his first 47 games in the competition.@jenslehmann @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/utC29oo17b
— The N5 History (@TheN5News) March 22, 2023
Martin Keown
Martin Keown is an Arsenal legend, and in his final season he was part of the Invincibles squad. It was a fitting way to go out in his second spell at the club, which lasted 11 years.
He played 10 games in the league that year, and infamously was involved with a bust up with Ruud van Nistelrooy, resulting in Keown hitting the Dutchman on the back of the head. The melee then went beyond full-time, as tensions flared on the pitch and in the tunnel. Keown was given a £20,000 fine and was suspended for three games.
Since retiring, Keown has been heavily involved in the broadcast world as a pundit in the UK and Europe. He’s co-commentated on Premier League and Europa League games amongst other major tournaments. Keown is a regular face on talkSPORT’s radio show.
He has also coached in an Arsenal set-up after retiring in 2005, and was a key mastermind behind Arsenal’s “new look” defence which ended up setting a record for the most minutes played without conceding in the Champions League.
Martin Keown to Saka: “Don’t get injured playing for England – I’ll be on the phone to Gareth!” @martinkeown5 is all of us. 😂❤️ pic.twitter.com/9d3GbsiO5F
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) March 21, 2023
Ray Parlour
Ray Parlour, otherwise known as “The Romford Pele” played his final season at Arsenal during their Invincibles season. He didn’t feature as much as he got older during that campaign, but he was still a Gunners legend after spending 15 seasons at the club.
Since retiring from football, Parlour has been busy in the media, and appears on BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT regularly. He’s also appeared on ITV as a pundit.
More work with ITV came when he featured in TV series ‘Harry’s Heroes” which saw former manager Harry Redknapp take a number of ex-professionals on a journey to get fit and lose weight, preparing for a game against ex-Germany internationals.
Gael Clichy
Many forget that Gael Clichy was part of that Arsenal Invincibles side, but it’s worth remembering that when Arsenal lifted the trophy, the Frenchman became the youngest player ever to get a Premier League medal.
He was used as a back-up to first-choice left back Ashley Cole, but still had his fair share of minutes on the field.
Clichy is still actually playing football, and plays for Swiss Super League club Servette. He’s played over 70 times since joining back in 2020.
Gael Clichy is still playing professional football ….. for Swiss side Servette FC! pic.twitter.com/Tgjr7o2SBE
— The Arsenal Therapy Show™ 🟥⬜️ (@ARSENAL_THERAP) January 6, 2022
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