Arsenal could be legally banned from calling themselves ‘The Invincibles’ after the tag was copyrighted by a former player.
Jens Lehmann, who played every minute of the Gunners’ unbeaten 2003/04 Premier League season, has bought the legal rights to the name for £30,000. The 54-year-old began the process back in 2020 after noticing that teams from around the world were branding themselves ‘Invincibles’ after achieving similar feats.
Arsenal were blissfully unaware of Lehmann’s exploits, and now that the former goalkeeper owns the branding there could be legal ramifications if the club uses the tag without his permission. Though given Lehmann’s positive, longstanding relationship with his former side, it’s pretty unlikely.
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Not least because he’s planning to set up a company, with the help of legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, to further establish the ‘Arsenal Invincibles’ brand.
“I had the idea [to copyright the name] because the name Invincibles becomes more and more popular approaching the 20th anniversary,” Lehmann told the Daily Mail. “And nobody had it so I was looking into it. I was ready to get the branding rights for our group, so everybody who’s using it is violating our brand”.
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“Sometimes you have guys from across Europe or Africa or Asia who were using that. They could have done that without permission and named themselves the ‘Invincibles whatever’. And they can’t do it anymore.
“They [Arsenal] were probably a little surprised because nobody thought about having the brand name registered. At least they know it’s now being controlled,” he added.
Lehmann, who played 200 times for Arsenal, says he wants to expand into Invincibles memorabilia and events – including staging an exhibition match between the 2003/04 side and the Manchester United team, who were their bitter rivals, from the same season.
(Image: GETTY)
“We have 28 players and 12 staff members, which includes the boss [Wenger]. The company has not been set up yet because we’re preparing, Lehmann explained. “There will be one or two events here very soon, where we give something back to the people. Everybody will be a shareholder of the company.
“It’s easier to get all the members of our group in one company, because you have costs that you have created and you don’t distribute that to 30 people. If we have income we are going to do something for a charity (related to Arsenal).”
(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal achieved invincibility in Lehmann’s first season at the club, with the ex-Dortmund man replacing the outgoing David Seaman in the summer of 2003. He stayed with the Gunners until 2008, at which point he joined Stuttgart.
He returned to the Emirates briefly in the 2010/11 season, but only made one appearance (his 200th) before hanging up his gloves at the end of the campaign.