If you look up the list of the clubs with the most FA WSL titles in history, you’d get the impression that Chelsea are the greatest team of all time in women’s English football, as they’ve won eight FA WSL titles to Arsenal’s three.
But when you expand to all English women’s leagues under any name, Arsenal are the ones who come out clear winners with 15 titles to their credit. And if there were any doubts that Arsenal are the greatest side in women’s football in England, they put that all to rest by being the first English team to win the Champions League since they themselves last did it in 2007. So yes, they are the only women’s team in England to have won the Champions League.
So naturally, Arsenal have a rich history of great players, and to honor that, I want to give you, in no particular order (since that’s way too difficult), the 10 greatest players in the history of Arsenal Women.
I have to disclose that I’ve watched more women’s football since 2015 than before 2015, and that I also have a bias towards ranking more recent players (within the last 15 years) higher since the overall profile of women’s European football has increased in competition over the years, meaning that I feel the players in the modern game are, naturally, superior to their predecessors.
Yet it is still important to honor some of the players who starred in the previous eras to lay the foundation of Arsenal’s success today.
Kim Little
To me, Kim Little is the greatest Arsenal Women’s player of all time and the first player who comes to my mind when I think about this team. Little was the epitome of a leader in the middle of the park, defending ruggedly and contributing well to attacks as a goal-scorer from range and the table-setter, so to speak, with her initial passes.
Little could read the game as well as anybody, and her prime years pretty much spanned more than a decade. The No. 10 has had two successful stints with Arsenal from 2008 to 2013 and 2017 onward, and it is only fitting that she was the captain of the side that won the Champions League title over Barcelona in 2025.
Therefore, Little has bridged one era of Arsenal winning the Champions League – arriving the year after they did – to another, and she has not only bridged that era, but she has also defined it.
Little is one of the best midfield generals and passers of the ball the women’s game has ever seen, and with a season of 22 goals in the English top flight, her positional sense and tactical awareness certainly extended further up the pitch, too.
Vivianne Miedema
If I were making a list of the greatest strikers of all time, Vivianne Miedema would surely be on that one and featured prominently, too, and if Kim Little is the greatest Arsenal Women’s player of all time, then Miedema would be my bet for the most talented.
Look, Miedema was born to score goals. From watching her shine for the Dutch national team and becoming their record scorer in record time, it was obvious that Miedema’s athleticism, smooth movements off the ball, goal-scoring instincts, and almost innate ability to finish (especially with her first touch) were special. It’s as if she were touched by Johan Cruyff or God. Or both.
Miedema’s transfer away from Arsenal to Manchester City in 2024 didn’t end up shaking the FA WSL as much as we thought it would, but it was certainly earth-shattering in perception, which speaks volumes to what she achieved at Arsenal. I mean, the move wouldn’t have held half the impact if Miedema weren’t such a legend for the Gunners in the first place.
With a jaw-dropping 80 goals in 106 games and a list of individual accomplishments far too numerous to count, the free-scoring Miedema will always be synonymous with Arsenal FC.
Jordan Nobbs
As talented and admired as Miedema was for Arsenal, the greatest legends in the club’s history will always be the ones who fit the shared DNA of toughness, fitting the team, and transcending accomplishments beyond their talent level.
To the average fan, Jordan Nobbs is far less known than Miedema or even Little, but the diehard Arsenal supporters appreciate Nobbs’s attitude, versatility, and consistency to the nth degree.
Nobbs spent more than a decade in North London from 2010 to 2023, often saving her best displays for the biggest games in the FA WSL and Champions League. She was PFA Player of the Year in 2016 and a two-time Team of the Year member, winning three league titles in total with Arsenal.
Although she still plays today and bosses the midfield for Newcastle, the peak of her career undoubtedy spanned the 2010s at Arsenal, where Nobbs was tough in the tackle and oh so clutch in the final third.
Katie McCabe
The same rugged toughness also defined Katie McCabe, who just might be the toughest player in the history of the FA WSL. Any time there is a scrum on the pitch, you could bet that McCabe was a part of it at some point, and she takes no prisoners in the tackle while taking no nonsense from the opposition – or the referees.
McCabe has been with Arsenal since 2015 and is such a fixture for the Gunners that she is essentially synonymous with the club at this point. The Irish international is, without a doubt, one of the greatest left backs in the history of the FA WSL, defining the two-way nature of the role in the modern game perfectly with her tireless running on both ends of the pitch.
One of the most intense players on this planet, McCabe is now a Champions League winner, in addition to a former FA WSL and Champions League Team of the Year player.
Beth Mead
Alongside Megan Rapinoe as the greatest pure crosser of the football in the history of the women’s game, Beth Mead may have had the greatest peak year of any Aresnal player of all time, and there have been several Ballon d’Or contenders in the history of this proud club – McCabe included.
Meado came the closest, though, finishing as the runner-up for the 2021/22 season in both the Ballon d’Or and UEFA Player of the Year. Who did she lose to? Alexia Putellas. You know, only the greatest player of all time.
Of course, Mead got the last laugh in the end, dethroning Barcelona as one of the major stars of the Arsenal squad in their 2025 Champions League triumph, adding the most prestigious club trophy in European football to the most prestigious international trophy, having been a star for England in that Ballon d’Or seaosn as a European Champion. And oh yeah, she won the European Championship again along with the Champions League this year.
With a team and individual trophycase beyond belief, Mead is one of the greatest wingers ever – not just one of the best Arsenal players ever. At a technical level, few can match Mead both as a goal-scorer and assist provider.
Frida Maanum
It’s not all about the goals, though. Frida Maanum has been as important as any player on Arsenal over the years for her industrious work rate in midfield, her intelligent midfield covering, and her ability to maintain possession without ever losing the ball.
Seriously, Maanum is such a nightmare for opposition midfielders, because it’s just about impossible to dispossess her. She’s too strong, too intelligent tactically, and too good technically with the ball at her feet to yield an inch.
Maanum has been a foundational piece for Arsenal in their latest era of competing for Champions Leagues year after year, and there’s a reason why she won Player of the Year honors in 2023 a a midfielder.
Rachel Yankey
OK, now we are going further back to Arsenal Women legends of the past, and goal-scoring winger Rachel Yankey is 100 percent someone every FA WSL fan needs to know.
Her legacy spans multiple decades, including at Arsenal alone. She played for the Gunners from 1996 to 2000, bounced around a few more historic clubs in England, and then came back in 2005 to spend more than another decade in North London.
In total, Yankey scored 51 goals from the wings for Arsenal, winning eight league titles and nine FA Cups for Arsenal, playing a vital role in setting up the Gunners as the most successful team in English women’s footballing history.
Yankey was a model of consistency for Arsenal for years, and she is both one of the most unselfish and hard-working footballers both Arsenal and the FA WSL as a whole have ever seen.
Alex Scott
Arsenal have boasted one of the greatest left backs in English footballing history in current star Katie McCabe, but past star Alex Scott is one of the greatest right backs.
Scott played for Arsenal from 2002 to 2004, spent a season at Birmingham City, came back to Arsenal until 2009, left to the NWSL for the Boston Breakers for a couple of season, and then returned again from 2012 to 2018 to end her career with about 150 league caps for the Gunners.
She won six league titles and five cups, playing a vital role in Arsenal winning the 2006/07 Champions League crown, too. Scott was an exceptional athlete, a brilliant crosser of the ball, and one of the most consistent players in the league during her time at Arsenal.
Jen Beattie
A right-footed center back and defensive midfielder, it didn’t matter where you played Jen Beattie; she was going to defend and do so with the heart of a lion. One of the greatest leaders and pure defenders in the air and in the tackle, Beattie was a great equalizer for Arsenal defensively.
Not afraid of any challenge and never backing down from a fight, Beattie was also great at using her aerial skills and football IQ to dispatch goals despite being a defensive player, scoring 14 league goals in total during her Arsenal career and several more with other notable English clubs.
Beattie won four league titles during her Arsenal career, and everyone covering the English top flight during her two stints with the club acknowledged her as one of the best and most reliable defenders in the division.
Leah Williamson
Yet the best center back in Arsenal history and arguably the greatest defender in the history of women’s football in England is Leah Williamson, whose ability on the ball and willingness to even carry the football with her up the pitch have made her the blueprint and the benchmark for the position in the modern game.
A natural-born leader, Williamson’s candor and positive demeanor have been a breath of fresh air and have also made her one of the most beloved figures in the history of both Arsenal Women and in women’s football as a whole.
Williamson has a trophycase of English league and cup honors that is vast, and she was also a key figure in the 2024/25 Champions League triumph. Her ability to break lines with her passing rivals that of the best deep-lying playmakers in world football history, as she is the most unique attacking weapon from the center back position with such dominance compared to others that she essentially defies comparison.
A three-time FA WSL Team of the Year player, Williamson’s name is equivalent to greatness, and she, like Mead, was a crucial player in both European Championship victories. She is a living legend.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.