Arsenal F.C.'s 2017-18 season The 2017-18 Premier League season was Arsenal's 26th and 98th consecutive season in the top tier of English football. The club competed in the Premier League, FA Cup (as the holders), EFL Cup, FA Community Shield, and UEFA Europa League. They finished the season as runners-up to Liverpool. The club was founded on 5 October 1875 by William Chadwick and Henry Bower Atkinson as St George's Football Club. The original site was at Meadow Park, but they later moved to Greenhill Cemetery before moving again in 1886 to Rice Field. In 1890, the club's name was changed to Woolwich Arsenal, after they moved to Plumstead Peninsula. The club played at Woolwich Cricket Ground until 1913, when they moved into the newly built Emirates Stadium. This season was their 100th year in the Premier League. After many years of absence, Arsenal won the FA Cup for the first time in 2004, beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. The team was led by Patrick Vieira, who had been bought from Juventus earlier that year. The club also reached the final of the Champions League that year, but lost to Barcelona at Camp Nou. In 2005, they became the first British club to be penalized by FIFA for excessive spending, with their place in the UEFA Champions League taken away for two seasons.