They’ve changed their name three times and their stadium just as many. They notched up an unbeaten run unequalled in domestic football, that had to be ended by a 16 year old Wayne Rooney during his short lived stay at Everton, with his first ever Premiership goal. Their style of play through two managers (one of whom subsequently went to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur) earned them the soubriquet "boring": and the chant that went with it – "boring, boring Arsenal". They are the Gunners, ex-Highbury, ex-Dial Square, now just failing to win their first Premiership title since moving in to the multi-million pound Emirates Stadium. And their fans, who moved without fuss from the Auld Triangle pub in Finsbury Park to the plasticky hospitality of a stadium built by an airline, don’t care.

The Gooner is the beagle of the football fan world: loyal without question. When Highbury was pulled down from the inside, leaving only a shell-like fronting to be turned into flats (which are all being bought by Emirates season ticket holders), the Gunners rushed to buy bits of turf, seats, even lumps of concrete. So when it comes to real souvenirs – Arsenal signed shirts, Arsenal signed memorabilia in general – they just go crazy.

Arsenal signed memorabilia, to give its due, is of course emblematic of an illustrious footballing history – one of the most illustrious, in fact, in the whole of the English league. Arsenal is one of the few clubs to have stayed in top flight football for long enough that no-one can remember when they weren’t. Arsenal signed memorabilia, and Arsenal signed shirts in particular, aren’t just bits of kit – they’re artefacts, solid pieces marking a long and proud reign. And if a Gooner will buy a plastic seat for a thousand pounds, he or she is certainly going to spend a few bob on genuine Arsenal clobber. Arsenal signed shirts remind the fans of a club whose football life has been studded with special nights, of each and every one of those legendary moments.

For a fan, buying Arsenal signed memorabilia can also be a speculation. Example: buy Arsenal signed shirts for the 2009-2010 season. Who knows what the outcome of the Premiership will be? Or the Champion’s League? Fans who’ve bought Arsenal signed shirts could be holding onto the "next" piece of history – the bits of Arsenal signed memorabilia that mark the newest chapter in the club’s story. And with fans as unquestioningly loyal as these, that chance is one they are only too happy to take.

Remember the late 90s? When Tottenham were almost good, England almost won the European Championships and Arsenal, with Dennis Bergkamp at the heart of things, were almost unstoppable? Gooners certainly do. Every one of them who bought bits of Arsenal signed memorabilia know that they invested in history as it was about to happen and are now reaping the dividends on their living room walls. Especially if they bought Arsenal signed shirts – how much pride must now be invested in the old red and white kit, with Bergkamp’s actual signature scrawled across it?

That’s what all signed memorabilia is really about. A chance to buy a piece of it before it becomes history. With Arsenal signed memorabilia awaiting the end of the 2009-2010 season, now is the final time that this unwritten history can be bought, before it’s too late.

Arsenal signed memorabilia, particularly Arsenal signed shirts, play a key part in the fan’s experience of the club’s history.