Gunnerblog

Highbury’s Last Hurrah

665 comments May 11th, 2006

What a day. Highbury’s last, but surely one of it’s greatest. One of my best days too, which is why I’ve recorded it all right here:

1153 Got to the ground, went into the club shop and purchased our yellow away kit, having discovered we’ll be wearing it in Paris. Immediately went and had “Paris 06” printed on the back. I enjoyed the sheer frivolity of my spending for approximately five minutes, before realising I’m a student who can’t really afford to do things like that.

1232 Having spent about 20 minutes asking every programme vendor when he would be restocked, I wondered back into the club shop where a member of staff said he would give me a programme if I gave him my watch. He claimed to have a “watch fetish“. I told him to “watch” himself. Wanker.

1234 In the club shop, they have television screens. On those television screens, they show Sky Sports News. On Sky Sports News, they had a story claiming that up to ten spurs players were suffering with food poisoning, and their fixture with West Ham was now in doubt. The man in front of me amusingly quipped that Spurs didn’t have any stomach problems, but considering the day’s fixture, were almost certainly shitting themselves.

1300 There was supposed to be an official announcement from the Premier League at this point. There wasn’t. I had pretended to look at things in the club shop up till now, instead just watching Sky Sports. At this point, I left.

1313 My brother rang from Alton Towers to say that Spurs were going ahead with the game. Brilliant.

1333 I finally got hold of a match programme. I’ve never opened it. I would’ve bought more than one, but the man in front of me bought thirty-three, and there was only one left.

1357 Went down to The Gunners Pub to meet up with some of the brilliant guys from the forum over at arseblog.com. Nice to recognise some old faces, and meet some new ones.

1422 Dennis is on the bench. Hope he gets on today.

1430 Time to get into the ground, and take my seat in Row Z of the East Upper alongside my uncle. A wide, open view of the pitch, but little did I know my proxi3mity of the roof would put the fireworks that followed the game clear out of sight.

1455 Kickoff coming up, and my nerves are making my stomach churn so much I should probably be playing for Tottenham. I’ve put on my white “I was there” t-shirt. A lovely gesture, but I would probably have rathered a red one. Still, the fact that I’m complaining is genuinely hilarious.

1508 Pires. It’s in. One nil. Get in.

1509 With celebrations still continuing, the noise coming from the Clock End suddenly rises. West Ham have scored! A 30-yard screamer from Carl Fletcher! If the Spurs players weren’t feeling sick beforehand, they are now. Oh look, we’ve conceded a free-kick. As long as we don’t concede…

1510 We have. Bugger.

1533 Another free-kick to Wigan. No danger though. Unless David Thompson curls the ball inch-perfectly into the near post. Which he won’t. Surely. Probably. He has. Shit.

1535 At this point, Spurs and Arsenal equalise almost simultaneously, with Defoe and Henry the scorers. I was celebrating our goal so much I didn’t even find out they had scored until half-time.

1552 Half-time, and David Seaman is on the pitch. He’s cut his hair off. That’s good. The guy in front of me claims that West Ham had a penalty, and Sheringham missed it. I ring my brother, and find out that his claim is false.

1608 The half-time propechy of Sheringham’s missed penalty comes true. Subsequently, I swear a lot.

1613 David Thompson “does a Gerrard” and give the ball to Henry, who round the keeper to make it 3-2.

1633 Ljungberg’s been pulled to the ground. It’s a penalty, Henry to take. Will he score to complete a hatrick in the final game of Highbury? Of course he will. Come on West Ham!

1637 Benayoun! Yes! 2-1 to West Ham! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!

1650 Full-time at both grounds, and jubilation at Highbury. You couldn’t script this. Just amazing. The players leave, and Highbury is officially closed down with a 90-minute ceremony that, whilst suitably poignant, is calm enough to ensure that our heart-rates return to normal – though mine did skip a beat when Gilles Grimandi made his all too brief appearance.

Going home, I bumped into and spontaneously hugged a West Ham fan. We all ought to be cheering them on in the FA Cup Final – they did us a massive, massive favour.

Now we’re in the Champions League, and the pressure is off for Wedensday’s final with Barcelona.

And a young Gooner, Theo Walcott, has achieved the nigh-miracle of being in the World Cup squad before the Arsenal first team. Full write-up on this soon.

I’m exhausted partly from typing this long post, but mostly from reliving the emotional rollercoaster of last Sunday.

Thanks Highbury: It’s been special.

Goodbye Highbury

711 comments May 7th, 2006

Yesterday morning I woke up, and suddenly thought “Tomorrow is the last game at Highbury”. Now, tomorrow is today. Today is the last game at Highbury.

It’s hard to believe. Because of the haphazard way in which I recieve Arsenal tickets, after every game this season I’ve repeated the mantra: “This could be my last game here”. But there’s no “could” about this one. This is most definitely it.

And it’s fitting that the game is one of real importance. Beating Wigan, and Tottenham failing to win at West Ham, would mean we pinch fourth spot by the skin of our proverbial teeth. A real incentive to make this most special of days that bit more significant.

But there are so many stories, and sub-plots. It’s Wigan’s first ever league game here, for one. What an honour for their travelling fans. Today is also the day we bid the fondest of farewells to the now legendary Dennis Bergkamp. To think that the number 10 shirt will be free next season is almost as disconcerting as the upcoming demolition of Highbury.

And will we see Theo Walcott tread the Higbury turf for the one-and-only time? The £12m teenager missed both the Sunderland and City games with a minor injury but is potentially fit today. Wenger insisted he would see action before the end of the season: will there by a symbolic substitution for Thierry today?

Not if we’re trailing and need to win, I suppose. But it is a funny old day. It’s a massive game, but the occasion seems bigger than that. Things like Bergkamp’s last game might just overshadow the neccessity of victory. Let’s hope that the players’ don’t take their eyes off the ball – if this is going to be a sad day, let it just be for the end of Highbury, not any sort of results-related disaster.

Below is my favourite picture taken at Highbury. It was from Arsenal-Fulham, this season. I don’t know if I can pick out favourite moments, though. It’s all been great, every game, and every goal. I hope Thierry scores tomorrow – he’s created so many special memories there for us fans. And I desperately hope it isn’t the last time he plays in the Premiership. He’s been named Premiership Player of the Year, to add to his Football Writer’s award, and he deserves to pick up these awards year in year out. We really need him to stay.

But tomorrow isn’t about indidividuals. It’s about saying goodbye to a beautiful old stadium. All of us who can get there, savour every moment. And those who can’t, try and watch it on TV. You don’t have to have visited Highbury to love Highbury.

Come on Arsenal.

Two Three-goal Wins Pile Pressure onto Spurs

172 comments May 6th, 2006

It would’ve been nice if I’d been able to write up individual reports of these two matches. It would also be nice if my new house wasn’t in the 1% of UK homes where broadband is genuinely impossible. However, due to the latter, the write-ups never happened. So here they are.

Sunderland was a genuinely appalling game. We really didn’t play particularly well, but it says a lot about Sunderland that we still beat them by three clear goals. The first was an own-goal, the second a clipped finish from Cesc, and the last a brilliant free-kick from Thierry Henry. All three came in the first half. Cesc and Henry, indeed, would prove to be the key players over these two fixtures in quick succession.

The win was marred, however, by an inury to Abou Diaby. Sunderland youngster Daniel Smith landed a truly dreadful tackle, dislocating and fracturing Diaby’s ankle – an area where he suffered with injuries earlier in his career. He could now face a 9-month lay-off, and Arsene is rightfully considering legal action. A poor tackle, and a real shame for Diaby to miss the Champions League Final in his home city, Paris.

So onto Thursday night, and Man City away. I didn’t see most of the game as I was otherwise engaged, but from all accounts it was a solid performance. Ashley Cole played the full 90 minutes, and Sol Campbell managed to fall over a lot less frequently than against Sunderland. We took the lead when Henry slid in Freddie Ljungberg for his first Premiership goal in a year. However, David Sommeil equalised before half-time, and it took the introduction of Fabregas and Reyes to swing the match Arsenal’s way – the latter twice finishing brilliantly after passes from Eboue and later Henry.

So the 6 points we needed have been achieved, and now Spurs know that they have to beat West Ham. Arsene has rather cleverly suggested that the Hammers too must win, and Alan Pardew has insisted he will field a strong side.

Now what we must do is go out and beat Wigan, hoping that Spurs simultaneously slip up. Coming fourth would take the pressure off us ahead of the Champions League final, and maybe even persuade Henry to stay. The importance of it cannot be underestimated.

Let’s just home that tomorrow, we’re blowing bubbles.