DATE OF BIRTH: October 22, 1949
NATIONALITY: French

MANAGERIAL CAREER:
1996-present Arsenal (Manager)
1995-96 Grampus Eight, Japan (Head coach)
1987-94 Monaco (Head coach)
1984 Nancy, France (Head coach)
1983 Cannes, France (Assistant coach)
1981 Strasbourg, France (Youth coach)

PLAYING CAREER:
1978-79 Strasbourg, France (professional debut as defender-sweeper)
1969-74 Mutzig, Mulhouse and Vauban (all amateur French clubs)

HONOURS:
Premiership title - 1998; 2002; 2004 (all with Arsenal)
FA Cup - 1998; 2002; 2003 (Arsenal)
Super Cup - 1996 (Grampus Eight)
Emperor's Cup - 1995 (Grampus Eight)
Manager of the year - 1988 (Monaco); 1995 (Grampus Eight)
French Cup - 1991 (Monaco)
French title - 1979 (Strasbourg); 1988 (Monaco)

A self-described football obsessive, the erudite Frenchman's dedication to the game has paid off in a collection of domestic honours since his arrival in 1996 rivalled only by the achievements of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, his nemesis in chief.

Wenger's involvement in football began at an early age in France where his attempts at forging a career as a player were for the most part limited to the amateur ranks of the country's third division though he eventually managed a brief spell at top-flight Strasbourg who captured the French title. However, his participation was limited to a mere three games during the championship season.

The realisation that his skills could not guarantee a career as a footballer led Wenger to enrol at the University of Strasbourg where he completed a masters degree in Economics. Nevertheless he remained involved in the game and in 1981 was appointed the youth coach at Strasbourg. His first spell in charge of a club came at Nancy in France but proved to be less than ideal when the club were relegated.

His first taste of managerial success came with his appointment as coach of Monaco in 1987 where he remained for seven years, a highly successful period for the club that included the French league title, the French Cup and repeated qualification into the latter knockout stages of the European Cup. Monaco's success led to offers including one from Bayern Munich but the Frenchman turned these down only to be sacked by Monaco in 1994.

A stint in Japan in charge of unheralded Grampus Eight resulted in a manager of the year award and ultimately the attentions of Arsenal in 1996. He inherited a club struggling to recapture the success it had enjoyed under George Graham in the 1980s. The addition of foreign players such as Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry cemented his reputation as a shrewd judge of young talent and led to the club's FA Cup and league title Double in 1998. Although the next few years saw the club narrowly miss out on a variety of honours, 2002 saw Arsenal repeat the Double feat. Since then the club embarked on a record-breaking 49-match unbeaten run that came to a crashing end in October 2004 at (where else?) Old Trafford where Sir Alex Ferguson's team came out 2-0 winners of an ill-tempered match.

In spite of the countless accolades, Wenger's attempts to replicate his club's success on the domestic front have fallen short in the European theatre where the team have endured several ignoble exits under his reign. The European Cup remains the one trophy to have eluded the Frenchman's otherwise persuasive grasp. - Robert Galster