When Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal, some 18 years ago, he inherited a 3-5-2 system from Bruce Rioch. Keown, Adams and Bould formed a triumvirate at centre half with Lee Dixon and Nigel Winterburn deployed as nominal wing backs. Considering all five of those defenders were either in or on the cusp of their 30s at the time, it obviously was not a sustainable system in the long term given the energy and pace required to make the formation work. That Wenger has never returned to it since switching to a kind of 4-4-2 / 4-3-1-2 in the summer of 1997 suggests the manager is not a fan.

When I was asked to review The Arsenal Shirt, I was a little tentative. I am something of a retro shirt hound and a small time collector. Had I the disposable income, I don’t doubt I would be a revered collector like those profiled at the apex of this book. I thought it would be a book for fanatics of a niche subject and, being one of the very people it would surely be aimed at, I wondered if it would be possible to view it subjectively.