Why are Arsenal wearing black armbands in their Premier League game against Chelsea?

Arsenal take on Chelsea at the Emirates in a crucial match at the top of the Premier League table on Tuesday, with the title race between The Gunners, Liverpool and Manchester City set to go down to the wire. In their match against The Blues, Mikel Arteta’s side opted to wear black armbands in tribute to former chairman Sir Chips Keswick, who recently died.

Gunners’ first home game since passing of ex-chairman

The fixture was Arsenal’s first at home since the passing of Keswick, whose full name was Sir John Chippendale Lindley Keswick. He died at the age of 84 last Wednesday.

London-born Keswick was a lifelong fan of the club, joining the board of directors in 2005 before taking over from Peter Hill-Wood as chairman in 2013. He remained in his role until May 2020, at which point he retired at the age of 80.

Arsenal’s honours under chairman Keswick

During his time as chairman, Arsenal won the FA Cup in 2017 and 2020, and were regular participants in the Champions League up until 2016/17.

Keswick also had to oversee the transition away from Arsène Wenger, who managed the club for 22 years between 1996 and 2018, towards Unai Emery and now Arteta.

Their last Premier League title victory came 20 years ago in 2023/24, but a win over Chelsea on Tuesday moves them three points clear at the top of the table, although Liverpool and Manchester City do have one and two games in hand respectively.