Arsenal first announced their intention to stage a pre-season competition at their home ground, the
Emirates Stadium, in March 2007. Managing director
Keith Edelman revealed plans were at an exploratory stage, and added: "It would be in pre-season, around late July, and tickets would be reasonably priced. We feel it could be a really exciting event." Details of the tournament were formally announced on 1 May 2007, with Italian champions Inter Milan, French side Paris Saint-Germain and German outfit Hamburg confirmed as participants. Hamburg's qualification into the
UEFA Intertoto Cup meant they withdrew from the competition; the club was replaced by Spain's Valencia. The
inaugural Emirates Cup took place on 28 July and 29 July 2007 and was well attended, with over 110,000 people filling the stadium across the two-day tournament. Each club played two sides; Valencia and Arsenal did not face each other, and Inter did not play against Paris Saint-Germain. The
following year Hamburg made an appearance alongside
Real Madrid and
Juventus, and won the tournament as they finished two points clear of second-place Real. In
2009, Arsenal welcomed
Atlético Madrid,
Rangers , and Paris Saint-Germain to the Emirates Cup. The hosts regained the trophy winning both of their matches and scoring five goals; midfielder
Jack Wilshere was twice named
man of the match for his performances against Atlético Madrid and Rangers. The tournament did not take place in 2012 due to the ongoing
Summer Olympics in London; it was believed that the capital's infrastructure was not able to cater for the extra 100,000 supporters that usually attend the two-day event. When the Emirates Cup resumed in
2013, Turkish side
Galatasaray earned nine points to finish top of the group, and a
year later Valencia became the first Spanish winners of the tournament as the hosts lost their decisive game against
Monaco. Arsenal claimed their fourth Emirates Cup in
2015; the competition was held on the final weekend of July. The hosts scored seven goals in the tournament – six against
Lyon, who later became the first team in the competition's history not to score a goal in either of their matches. Due to the extended schedule of
UEFA Euro 2016 and essential pitch reconstruction works at the Emirates Stadium, the Emirates Cup did not take place in the pre-season period of the
2016–17 season. Two years later, stadium building work meant that once again the tournament did not take place; Arsenal instead played pre-season matches in the
International Champions Cup. The competition returned in 2019 with
Arsenal Women featuring for the first time in the pre-season tournament, where they faced
Bayern Munich. In the men's tournament, Lyon defeated Arsenal 2–1 to win their first title. The 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. ==Tournaments ==