Colin Firth is the star of Arsenal’s Christmas advert for 2026, a film called ‘Twas the Season that walks through the streets of Islington and retells the story of May’s Premier League title win, with Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori and Alessia Russo making cameos.
The club launched the campaign on Thursday. The film is on Arsenal‘s digital and social channels and the club app, and it kicks off a festive programme of football, storytelling and community work across November and December.
It is set around the Emirates Stadium and draws on the scenes in May, when supporters around the world celebrated the club’s first league title in 22 years, along with the first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
What happens in the Arsenal Christmas advert?
It starts like a familiar Christmas story. Firth, an Academy Award winner and an Arsenal supporter, talks about a journey full of anticipation and togetherness, the sort of thing most viewers will link with Christmas at first.
As he leads the way through Islington, though, the streets fill up with people from across the Arsenal community, and it becomes clear he is really telling the story of the historic 2025/26 season, which ended with the celebrations outside the club’s N5 home.
The film finishes outside The Armoury, the club shop, with a crowd of supporters of all ages, staff and community figures connected to the club. Firth even swaps a few words with Gabriel in Portuguese along the way.
Gabriel, Calafiori and Russo get their moment
The three players are the familiar faces among the supporters, two from the men’s side and one from the women’s. Calafiori has had his own headlines this autumn, with Real Madrid reportedly seeing him as Mourinho’s ‘dream’ left-back, but here he is just another Gooner in the crowd. Russo’s part is a reminder that May was a big month for the women’s team too, with the first FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
Not Firth’s first Arsenal role
This isn’t the first time Firth has played a Gooner on screen. He was the lead in the film of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, which follows the 1988-89 season, when Arsenal won the league title.
That gives the advert a nice symmetry. The man who played a fan living through that 1988-89 title race is now the one walking supporters back through the first title in 22 years.
What the club said
Jodie Sayer, Arsenal’s head of brand and marketing, explained the thinking behind it.
Sayer said: “Our ambition is always to create work that puts our supporters at its heart and that people want to talk about. After such an unforgettable year for our club, we wanted to capture the unprecedented joy and belonging our supporters felt during the celebrations in May. We set out to bring that magic into Christmas with a concept that could stand alongside the biggest festive campaigns while feeling uniquely Arsenal.”
Sayer added: “‘Twas the season brings together the people, stories and spirit that defines Arsenal, and showcases the best of our community.”
Hospital visits, a Christmas card and a Christmas Day lunch
The campaign is about more than the film. Arsenal’s festive plans include visits to local north London hospitals, a lunch for care leavers on Christmas Day, and ongoing matchday mental health drop-in support as part of the Premier League’s Together Against Suicide campaign.
There is also a special Christmas card, sold at The Armoury and online at Arsenal Direct, with the money going to The Arsenal Foundation’s work in local and global communities. The online Christmas shop has opened too, including the special edition Champions range from last season and the Bruised Banana Christmas jumper Firth wears in the film.
A Christmas advert to match the season
Football clubs have been making Christmas adverts for a while, but most feel like an afterthought. This one has a proper story to tell, and casting the actor from Fever Pitch to tell it is a clever touch that older Gooners will love.
It also lands at a good moment. Arteta’s side are top of the league after ending their 14-year wait for a league win at Anfield, and beating Hull City on Saturday would keep the title defence rolling into the international break. If the players can give the fans more of what the film celebrates, nobody will mind seeing it on repeat until Christmas.
