Ray Parlour says Arsenal’s Invincibles side of 2003/04 still keep in touch with one another while reflecting on the “iconic” campaign 20 years on.
Today marks 20 years to the day since the Gunners ensured they went an entire Premier League season unbeaten, coming from behind against Leicester City to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.
Parlour was a big part of the squad that season and reflecting on the campaign, says he is unsure whether it can be done again.
“It was amazing to be involved in that and whether or not it happens again, we’ll have to see. I don’t know, it could happen,” he told NetBet Sports Betting.
“There’s a real feel good factor. Everyone still keeps in touch with each other, the Invincibles, we’ve all got a group chat with all the boys.
“It was an iconic year for the club. We weren’t planning to go unbeaten. We were just planning to win the league first and I’ve said many times, those last four games were the hardest.
“We got battered against Portsmouth. How we got a 1-1 draw, I’ll never know. I think we could have lost 6-1 that day.
“The spirit of the team, we never knew when we were beat and that is a massive attribute to have if you’re a footballer and we had some bench to change it as well if we had to. We had some great strikers.
“If you look at the current team now, that’s where they’re lacking. We had four great strikers – Wiltord, Kanu, Henry, Bergkamp.
“If it is beaten, you’ve just got to shake people’s hands and say well done because we know hard it was to do it and all you can say is we did it first! That’s what I’ve always said, that’s the hard bit, doing it first.”
Parlour, however, admits he has been surprised that it was Arsenal’s last league title.
“If someone said you’re not going to win the league again for 20 years, I’d have said no, I’m sure they’re going to win the league once or twice again,” he said.
“It just shows you how other clubs have got stronger. Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool as well.”
