Highbury Memories

[SE13]

The surging is sopmething i remember Gooch, a mate of mine tooks sandwiches to a game once (he is a bit geeky) and dropped them as we wnet forward down the North Bank. As we got back they were about 2 foot wide and 2 mm thick, he didn't eat them.

There was one time I smuggled a load of cans into the ground. Do you remember those kagoule things from the early 80's with the pouch thing in the front....... Well, I had a load of beer in that, to the point where I looked pregnant, a load in my pockets, in fact anywhere I could hide it, and I got in. The first surge was maybe something like 2:10 in the afternoon, and the whole sodding lot went tumbling down The North Bank Terrace, and I never sampled one of them! That'll teach me to pinch beer from Tesco in The Catford Centre!

[Libertine]

Arsenal v Newcastle United - Division 1 - 1985/86

Some days you know you seen something special.
Some days you just know you've seen a player who's going to be the real deal.
For me, that day was Saturday 28th September 1985.

The season had started reasonably well. We lost at Anfield on the first day but, seeing as we hadn't won there since '73, that was no shock. United beat us 2-1 in a scrappy game at Highbury but then we went on good run of 4 wins on the bounce before gettig beat at Stamford Bridge. That defeat saw yet another injury for the unfortunate Stewart Robson, fortunately for us fans though, it made the following weeks game at home Newcastle a chance for us to witness the day a star was born.

I feel privileged to have been one of the 24,104 paying punters at Highbury that sunny September afternoon.
Because we saw David 'Rocky' Rocastle make his debut.

It wasn't the greatest of games. It was a fairly dull 0-0 draw in truth.
As was often the case at the time, Tony Woodcock and Graham Rix looked like they'd rather be somewhere else (probably the Orange Tree in Totteridge!) but we were gripped by the performance of the young kid in the number 7 shirt.
About 15 minutes in David Rocastle picked up the ball on the edge of our box and set off towards the Clockend. A mazy dribble took him past 4 or 5 Geordies, before a slide rule pass on the edge of their penalty area allowed Charlie Nicholas to stick the ball high and wide.
The kids enthusiasm was fantastic to see. Paul Davis in particular seemed to thrive on having another youngster trying his heart out alongside him, rather than an old hand going through the motions.
Attacking the North Bank in the second half, a great sweeping move saw Rocky arrive late and unmarked in the box, only to hit the post with his diving header.
Perhaps a goal would've been too perfect a debut?

Bizarrely Rocastle was on the bench the following week, as Don Howe tried a new formation with Charlie Nicholas wide on the right and Chalky Whyte being used as a striker. Being fair, we beat Villa 3-2 and Whyte got the winner. Rocky found himself on the bench for the next month or so, until a 6-1 defeat at Everton gave Howe the perfect opportunity to blood some more youngsters.

Martin Keown, Gus Caeser, Martin Hayes and Niall Quinn all joined Rocky in the team over the next few games and they all made a difference.
Niall Quinn scored against Liverpool on his debut as we beat them 2-0 at Highbury. Gus Caeser replaced Viv Anderson for our game at Old Trafford and turned in a MOTM performance (marking Jesper Olsen out of the game) in a 1-0 win.
Martin Hayes ran Oxford ragged on his first outing and Martin Keown looked likely to be O'Leary's long term partner after an assured performance at WBA.

Sadly, Don Howe didn't stay long enough to see all these youngsters he introduced blossom.
Terry Venables told him that David Dein had flown to Barcelona and approached him about taking over as Arsenal manager the following season.
Don Howe, outraged at the lack of respect shown to such a loyal servant of the club, walked out and Venables, in a show of support for his friend, turned the job offer down.

We meandered to a 7th place finish, with a lot of us bemoaning the fact that, just as we looked like we'd finally turned a corner, we'd actually just arrived at another cul-de-sac.

But good times were on the way.
And an ex-player, fresh from managing third division Millwall to promotion, was going to deliver them.
It was time for the glorious return of George 'Stroller' Graham.

[Trina]

excellent read libs, mind if i put it on the blog? With credit to yourself of course

[Libertine]

Help yourself luv.

[Inchpräctice]

Good read that.
Some of that rings a vague bell despite the fact that I was only 13 at the time.

[the real gooner]

Top story and just how I always remember Charlie Nicholas got himself into some great positions but just couldn't put it in (as the actress said to the bishop)

[bishop05]

arsenal 2 juve 0 was one of my favourites when little cesc scored it was one of the greatest feelings .

[Nathalispur]

Just out of curiousity do you think the atmosphere was better when you were at Highbury? or is it just the same at the Em? I wondered coz with our imminent move to a bigger ground whether it becomes too big if you know what I mean (yes women do think it can be too big)....I know from going to Wembely to watch England (why?) its all a bit too vast and the atmosphere gets a bit "lost"...just wondered.

[SE13]

I haven't been to Wembley since it was rebuilt, but it was shocking prior to that!

Highbury was always great in the terrace era. Personally, I can't abide sitting at football, more so because the atmosphere has been ripped out of the grounds.

[ThierryHenryJunior]

Last Game At Highbury Against Wigan,
Henry's Penalty Then Kissin The Ground,
Emotional Stuff That Was

[Libertine]

The 1986/87 season saw so many twists and turns, i don't think i could do it justice in one article.
So, if you'll indulge me, i'll split it into two parts......

1986/87 - Part One

Do as i say, not as i did!

The summer of 1986 saw one of our ex-players return to the club as Arsenal manager, George Graham.
George 'Stroller' Graham had been a classy player and a vital member of our 1971 double winning team. He had excellent ball control, a great range of passing and was brilliant in the air. What George was most definitely not noted for, however, was his workrate. But workrate and effort was exactly what Stroller now demanded from his playing staff. As he would later remark himself, George the manager would never have picked George the player.

The first thing George did was get his message across to our under-achievers. Mariner and Woodcock were gone before pre-season training had started. Nicholas, Williams, Anderson and Rix were all told to shape up or f**k off. The only addition to our squad was Perry Groves from 4th division Colchester, who'd been a transfer target for Graham at Millwall.

The season started with a full house at Highbury for the visit of Man Utd, Charlie Nicholas tapping in the only goal of the game. This was quickly followed by defeats at Liverpool and Coventry and, as October rolled around, we'd only won once more in our opening 8 games.

Injuries to Nicholas, Rix and Robson brought Williams, Groves and Hayes into the first team and we started to pick up a bit of form. Williams scored with a 30 yarder in a 1-0 win away at league leaders Everton. Watford were beaten 3-1, with Groves having a blinder, and Steve Williams got another goal as we won up at Newcastle. David Rocastle single-handedly beat Chelsea at Highbury and by the time Martin Hayes scored a brilliant solo goal, to seal an away win at Charton, we found ourselves top of the table.

The transformation was incredible. The back four were looking solid. David O'Leary and Viv Anderson seemed to revel in the responsibility of looking after an erratic Tony Adams. Steve Williams and Paul Davis were bossing the middle of the park, David Rocastle was playing out of his skin and Hayes, Groves and Quinn weren't giving the opposition defences a moment to relax.

November saw Villa and Southampton both beaten 4-0 away home, either side of a 3-0 win over Man City at Highbury. Martin Hayes ran QPR ragged in a 3-1 win at home but the game was more notable for George Graham going mental when QPR scored a late consolation goal. The boss locked the players in the dressing room for an hour after the match and reminded them, in no uncertain terms, that he expected 100% effort for the entire 90 minutes.

Niall Quinn scored the only goal as Arsenal celebrated their 100th birthday with a win over Southampton at Highbury on Boxing Day and Wimbledon were beaten 3-0, all the goals coming from set-pieces (another improvement under Graham), on New Years Day. Then followed our annual visit to the yids.
A tap-in from Tony Adams and a Paul Davis free-kick put us in the driving seat. The yids scored right on half-time and the second half saw us produce a superb "backs to the wall" display as we clung on for a 2-1 win.

We were now 4 points clear at the top of the table and as we bounced up and down on the Park Lane, taunting the yids about the shift in power in North London, we all felt that our long wait for success was coming to an end...............

[arseman]

Excellent!

Martin Hayes ran QPR ragged in a 3-1 win at home but the game was more notable for George Graham going mental when QPR scored a late consolation goal. The boss locked the players in the dressing room for an hour after the match and reminded them, in no uncertain terms, that he expected 100% effort for the entire 90 minutes.

How we could do with that sort of atitude now

[StLGooner]

Good stuff Libs, I like reading the older stuff before I was able to follow Arsenal. Not that you're old or anything though.

[Andreys_Does_Simples]

Absolute quality mate, really enjoyed reading that

[Git]

Quality read mate, thanks a lot. =)