London Calling
The Final Salute - Highbury - A Fan's View

Well, in all honesty there’s no way I could have come up with a better script for the day if I’d tried. It was always going to be a special day, saying goodbye to such an old ‘friend’ but we didn’t dare hope it would turn out as well as it did.

Wigan.

Came down on the Saturday and on Sunday I got the tube into Finsbury Park in time to be there nice and early to soak up the atmosphere. Now I normally get to the ground in plenty of time and whilst there are people around – it’s certainly not crowded. Today, however, everything was different.

I walked out of Finsbury Park into the Highbury sunshine and was amazed. People everywhere. Normally at that sort of time you just stroll up to a programme seller, have a chat, and get your programme but today all of them had massive queues in front of them. A couple of friends had asked me to buy programmes so I was actually after six, but I swear no one in my queue bought less. The guy in front asked how many were in a box and then simply said – two boxes! Arsenal had more than doubled the normal programme run to 60,000 but they were going fast.

The programme (we had been warned) would be £5 rather than the usual £3 and contain an ‘A-Z of Highbury’. In all honesty I (and most people I talked to) were expecting a naff pull out in the centre of the programme, but what we got was a nice magazine, the same size as a programme but with the spine on the short side (both contained in a little bag). Excellent. Impressed already.

Off to the 12 Pins (still no sponsorship guys) for a couple of liveners. Everyone was there early; even my brother had made it by 1 o’clock. Miracles do happen! The programmes had evidently sold out by then because there were people going around asking if anyone had spare programmes. Two hours before kick off and all the sellers at the station had sold out!

Spudsgate had broken by then and people kept coming out of the bar (which has Sky Sports News on) with updates. At one point it looked like it might be called off but we were happy enough when it was announced it would be played. A lot of people were worried that, with the FA Cup final coming up, West Ham would take it easy. I really didn’t think so, mainly because I know how much the Irons hate them (possibly as much as we do). Anyway, my point was that their fans wouldn’t let them take it easy.

We headed off to the ground at about 1.30 and strolled down to Highbury for the last time. I was stunned by the crowds (this early) again, with everyone appearing to want to be in asap. Stopped for a chat with a couple of the traders I know and headed for my entrance where I saw the most amazing thing I saw all day – people literally pushing each other out of the way to try and force themselves to the front of queues for the programme sellers outside the North Bank. It literally resembled a rugby scrum and if I was selling them I’d probably have abandoned my post…discretion and valour you understand.

Rather than go straight up to my seat I went onto the lower tier for a while. My father had his ashes buried in front of the North Bank a few years ago and I guess it was almost like a last chance to say goodbye. I sat by the pitch for a while and then decided I’d like a photo of his ‘view’. Unfortunately there were two ball boys in the way, fortunately when I explained to a steward she got the kids out of the way pretty sharply for me! We really are lucky to have such a superb set of Stewards at Arsenal (and not just because of this one incident) – just one more thing we should take pride in.

The ground was almost full by 2.00 and virtually everyone was wearing their free t-shirt which I’ve got to say made Highbury look absolutely magnificent (and as an aside I’m glad they used ‘proper’ red). When I was coming out of the lower tier I overheard some guy saying he ‘wasn’t wearing a poxy t-shirt’ so I said ‘I’ll have it’ and he threw it to me! Wonder what he thinks now that they’ve been selling on ebay for £50+ each. Anyway, I shoved it (a white one) in my bag and headed upstairs to my seat. Gutted. We were in a ‘white’ section so I had two white t-shirts and no red! Actually, whilst on the subject of t-shirts I had my own white ‘farewell’ t-shirt on. A couple of weeks ago when I was going through some stuff I came across an old t-shirt from 1992 that the club issued for the last game of the ‘old’ North Bank which I’d decided to wear. Who’d have thought that t-shirt would outlast two North Banks?

Oh well, worse things than having two white t-shirts can happen so it was quickly forgotten as the game started. What an atmosphere! Absolutely amazing – it was like everyone had come out of the woodwork to sing their heart out one last time. Looking round there were lots of faces I knew and remembered rather than the tourist element that turn up at Highbury so often. With the North Bank in full voice and the other stands trying to compete with each other to reply it was just like it used to be. In fact it was better because even the East and West Uppers were bouncing.

The whole place erupted when Bobby scored the first – partly because we all expected a landslide to follow. Then within a minute or so of the restart it came through that the spuds were losing and the place erupted again. Couldn’t get any better really – nine minutes gone, we’re winning and the scum are losing. It occurred to me then how little attention was really been paid to the game. Late comers tend to ask me the subs and stuff because I make a point of knowing but I realised that if at that moment someone had put a blindfold on me I might not even have been able to remember which 11 players were out there.

Then as quickly as all that had happened they’d equalised and Sol had nearly given away a spot kick. From my angle it actually looked like superb blocking by Sol but when I saw it on tv later… Anyway, the game got a bit more serious then. Everyone woke up and we knew we had a game. That is everyone except Jens and it was 1-2 and we were out of forth! It was good that Jens got his name chanted by the fans straight away though because he’s been there for us more than most this term.

Various people have written various lists of what it takes to make a truly great game. Normally stuff like importance, atmosphere, injustice etc get mentioned but the one thing that doesn’t get mentioned often is desire. The players have to have the extra desire to make something special and (along with others) Thierry most defiantly had that desire. The way he was shaking his head when he was celebrating his equaliser minutes later was like he was saying ‘I won’t let this happen’. That guy is a Gooner pure and simple. Just like if he was in the stands with us.

And he certainly didn’t let us down. Last hat-trick at Highbury, last goal in The Clock End and then the last goal in The North Bank was sealed with a kiss. Spuds losing to West Ham and DB10 comes on to say goodbye by going within inches of scoring with a divine chip. Then, suddenly, it was all over. There wasn’t time to dwell on it being the end of the last match at Highbury as the final score came through from West Ham to put the perfect topping on the day.

After a while the final ceremony started. Now to be fair it’s difficult to put anything on other than a football match to keep a stadium full of football fans interested but the club did a damn good job. From the Marching band tossing the baton in front of the North Bank (and not dropping it) one last time to the final fireworks time seemed to fly and it’s testament to the organisation that they managed to wrap it up bang on time with the countdown clock. Also it was very noticeable that compare Tom Watt never once used the ‘E’ word referring to the new stadium. If we all call it Highbury the press will catch up sooner or later.

Then it was over. After hanging around for ages we left Highbury for the last time. It’s funny, I didn’t feel as choked as I thought I would but then again there’s still the Champions League final to divert attention. A few of us agreed that it was kind of like when you break up for your summer holidays but you’ve still got the school disco to go to a week or so later.

But we had to quaff a few for the old lady so it was back to the 12 Pins for some drinks. We hung around for an hour or two but there were more and more police around so we decided to go somewhere more relaxed and ended up at a pub in Winchmore Hill. Got our drinks in, turned around, and there’s Frank McLintock standing a couple of feet away! He was obviously in his local with close friends so we didn’t want to bother him (and were probably too drunk to be that sensible anyway and you don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of an Arsenal hero) so a quick handshake seemed in order. Top bloke.

A word about the spuds and their ‘situation’. They have seriously shown themselves up to the whole football world. 10 players with food poisoning turned into 6 players, only 2 of which had played in the last few games, suffering from a virus. The two-hour delay that would have made all the difference (according to Jol’s post match interview) was offered by the League and turned down because the spud’s own doctor said it wouldn’t make a difference! Lies lies lies. Let’s face the truth, whilst they may have had the runs it was fear that caused it not a lasagne from The Marriott! More important everyone now knows what we know about them…scum.

I stayed at George’s that night and on the way down to Kings Cross the next day I couldn’t resist getting off at Finsbury Park and taking a stroll round Highbury. That’s when it hit me. Seeing the stadium there empty. I don’t know exactly how many times I’ve been there but virtually every home game since 1977/78 and dozens before that must add up to somewhere around 800. A couple of hours each time (loads more in the terrace days) and that’s got to be heading towards 2000 hours which is around 80 days. 80 solid days of my life in there and some of them have been amongst the best days (got to admit some of the worst as well!) I’ve ever had.

Goodnight Highbury, sleep well.

Come On You Red(currant)s!