Arsenal Football Club, 2003/04 — The Invincibles

Thirty-eight matches. None lost. The unbeaten Premier League campaign, mapped at Highbury.

A trophy edition commemorating the only thirty-eight-match unbeaten Premier League season in the modern era. The map is centred on Highbury — the home ground throughout the campaign — and the streets are renamed for the players who appeared in those matches, with road length proportional to minutes played.

75 of 75 — pre-orders open Edition of 75

A season that earned its own proper noun.

The 2003/04 season is one of the small handful of football seasons that earn their own proper noun. Arsenal's Premier League campaign that year ran thirty-eight matches without defeat — a record that has not been matched in the modern era — and the season has been known by a single word ever since. The Invincibles.

The edition records that specific run. Not the season as a whole; not the totality of Arsenal's history at Highbury. Only the players who appeared in those thirty-eight league fixtures are named on the map. Road length is proportional to minutes played in the unbeaten campaign. Henry, Vieira, Pirès, and Bergkamp run across the longest streets. Edu, Reyes, and Clichy occupy shorter ones. The cartouche is dated to the 15th of May 2004, the final day of the league season.

"Highbury, the venue where the title was clinched, sits at the centre of the map."

The choice of venue is editorial. The Emirates was still under construction during the Invincibles season; Highbury was the only home ground these players ever knew together. Mapping the Emirates would have been historically incorrect. Mapping the Invincibles' Highbury, in the year the title was won, is the right cartographic record of what actually happened.

The piece is a one-off in the Stadium Heritage catalogue. There is no plan to produce a 2004/05 Arsenal edition, or a "Greatest Arsenal Sides" series, or any sequel. The Invincibles deserve a single piece — and this is it.

Every player who played, every minute they played.

The methodology is consistent across every Stadium Heritage edition: the streets surrounding the venue are renamed for the players, with road length proportional to competitive appearances. For trophy editions, "competitive appearances" means appearances in the trophy-winning campaign specifically — not career totals.

For the Invincibles edition, that means thirty-eight Premier League fixtures between 16th August 2003 and 15th May 2004. Every player who took the field in that span is named. The longest street belongs to Jens Lehmann, who played every minute of every league match. Cup fixtures, friendlies, and fixtures from prior or subsequent seasons are excluded.

The 3D model is Highbury Stadium as it stood in 2003/04 — the East Stand, the Clock End, the North Bank, and the West Stand — placed in the building's true geographic footprint. The cartouche records the dates of the campaign and the final result.

Map source: Ordnance Survey MasterMap, licensed.
Scale: 1:1250 (large) or 1:2500 (standard).
Players named: All who appeared in the 2003/04 Premier League season.
Road weighting: Proportional to minutes played, league only.
Venue: Highbury Stadium, in its 2003/04 form.
Revision date: 15th May 2004 — the final day of the unbeaten league season.
Paper: Giclée on Ilford Cotton Textured.
Frame: Box frame, 45mm depth (model formats).
Edition: 75 copies, signed and numbered.

Every piece, every owner, recorded.

Edition Number

__ of 75

Hand-numbered in ink by the cartographer. Each number is unique to one piece. The edition is closed when the seventy-fifth piece is sold.

Certificate of Authenticity

A5 folded card

Signed and dated in ink. Carries the methodology, the edition number, and the studio's full attribution. Stays with the piece.

Inheritance Record

For the owners

The back of the certificate carries four ruled lines for successive owners. The piece is intended to be passed on, and the record travels with it.

Reserved by you, made for you.

Reserve your edition

Choose a format and submit your request. Pre-orders are recorded in the order they arrive.

The studio confirms

Within forty-eight hours, the studio confirms your edition number and arranges payment.

Production begins

The print is produced, framed, and the 3D model fitted. Delivery in four to six weeks.

Signed before despatch

The cartographer signs and numbers the certificate by hand. The piece ships, fully insured.