The Best Goalkeepers in Arsenal History

Arsenal have had a chequered but exciting history in top flight football. They were founded in October 1886, and since then have been considered a record-breaking club – 13 league titles, 14 FA Cups, 16 Community Shields among others – the third-most successful club in English football.

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The plaudits for winning matches usually go to the goal scorers – but the keepers have a special part to play too – but judging who the best goalkeepers a team have had can be difficult. Is it the most goals saved? The most clean sheets? The longest serving? Or the most popular with fans?

Let’s have a look at some of the best goalkeepers that Arsenal have had over the last couple of decades and see what makes them special.

Jens Lehmann

This German goalkeeper played for Arsenal between 2003 and 2008, and in that time, he managed to achieve the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League and was part of the team that was known as the ‘Invincibles’ that won the 2003-2004 Premier League season completely unbeaten.

It was in the 2005-2006 season that Lehmann achieved the Champions League record for the most consecutive clean sheets and was recognised as the Champions League Goalkeeper of the year for playing 853 minutes without conceding a goal.

David Seaman

David Seaman might be the most famous and well-recognised of all the Arsenal players – and he played for the team for 13 years, in goal more times than anyone else.

In 1990, Seaman was signed to Arsenal for a record £1.3 million fee, helping the team to regain the league title and only conceded 18 goals in 38 games.

In 1993, Seaman was part of the team that lifted the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the European Cup Winners Cup. When Arsene Wenger tool the reins at Arsenal, he rated Seaman highly as a keeper – and that is why he held his position as long as he did.

In 1998 and 2002, Seaman was part of the team that won both the Premier League and the FA Cup, and one of the last actions that Seaman did was lift the FA Cup at the end of the 2003 season.

Wojciech Szczesny

Szczesny signed to the youth team of Arsenal back in 2006, progressing to the reserve team for the 2008-2009 season.

When he made it to the first team in 2009, he was originally designated as the back up keeper, but played so well that Wenger put him as first choice – even if he didn’t get the number 1 shirt until the 2012-2013 season.

His development might have been slower than some might have thought, but Wenger saw his potential – and so did the FA, when he was jointly awarded the Golden Glove with Petr Cech at Chelsea for the most clean sheets in a season (both keepers responsible for 18 shutouts).

His performance helped Arsenal to lift the FA Cup in 2014, but from 2015 Szczesny was on loan to Roma before he made his way to Juventus.

Petr Cech.

Called in for a fee of £10 million from rivals Chelsea to replace his Golden Glove co-winner, Petr Cech made an instant impact on the performance of Arsenal from his 2015 debut.

Arsenal won the 2015 Community Shield, and went on to win the Premier League 2016-2016, winning both the Golden Glove and the Premier League Goalkeeper of the Season.

Cech heled the team to another FA Cup win in 2016-2017, and celebrated 200 league clean sheets in 2018, before retiring from football to a semi-professional career in ice hockey for the Oxford City Stars in 2019.

Aaron Ramsdale.

This might be a contentious choice for some. Ramsdale might be considered too ‘green’ to be a great goalkeeper, let alone the greatest ever – and when compared to some of the behemoths on this list, you might be right.

Aaron Ramsdale was signed back in 2021 and took the No. 1 shirt for the 2022-2023 season. Over the two seasons he has been with Arsenal, he played 78 games and maintained 26 clean sheets.

Pundits have praised him for his overall performance as well as some outstanding saves – and this young keeper was awarded the Goalkeeper of the Year award at the 2023 London Football Awards.

Arsenal’s 2022-2023 performance has been the best for several years; more reliable and better all round, including shutouts and brilliant saves from Ramsdale – and fans are excited to see what will come when the 2023-2024 season starts.