Ray Parlour says Arsenal players never cared or planned to go unbeaten in 2003/2004

Arsenal finished the 2003/04 season as Premier League winners without losing a single match throughout the campaign.

It was a remarkable achievement and remains the only time an English team has completed a Premier League season unbeaten in the modern era. Several clubs have come close, but none have managed to go through an entire campaign without defeat since then.

Arsenal’s Invincibles

That Arsenal team became known as the Invincibles, a name that has remained associated with the squad because of their unprecedented achievement. However, former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has revealed that the players themselves were not particularly focused on completing an unbeaten season.

According to Parlour, the media and supporters became increasingly interested in the possibility as the campaign progressed, but the players remained focused on their main objective, which was winning the Premier League title.

The squad wanted to maintain their concentration and ensure they achieved their primary goal before the final match of the season. Going unbeaten was not something they had specifically targeted when the campaign began.

Invincibles (Getty Images)

Parlour explains the players’ mindset

Parlour said to Talk Sport:

“I think the press really ramped [the idea of going Invincible] up with eight games to go, that’s when they realised that they haven’t been beaten yet.

“The players were only interested in winning the league, to go unbeaten was just a bonus – we didn’t get anything extra from doing it.”

Once they completed the season without defeat, however, the achievement became a defining part of Arsenal’s history. The Invincibles remain the only English team to complete a modern-era Premier League campaign unbeaten, ensuring that the 2003/04 season continues to stand apart.

Parlour’s recollection also shows that the players approached the campaign with a focus on winning rather than pursuing an unbeaten record from the beginning.

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