A guest post from Out For A Corner
When people think of football, not many think of Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus, but on a cold, spring morning in 1988, it was the only place to be. Or, more accurately, it was the only place where tickets for the upcoming Littlewoods Cup Final were about to go on sale. An Algerian Gooner I worked with had invited me to come with him to try to get tickets: Arsenal versus the not-so-mighty Luton Town. After an hour or so standing outside in the cold, our turn came, and we bought our tickets to the final.
In America in the late seventies and early eighties, there were two ways to see football from Europe. The annual broadcast of the FA Cup Final on ABC’s Wide World of Sports was the only time all year that a match was shown in full (or nearly full – I think they still cut away for ads and maybe some ten-pin bowling). The weekly broadcast of Soccer Made in Germany was generally a better bet. It was a highlights programme, and it not only showed Bundesliga matches but also European matches that involved German teams. With a British commentator and featuring impossibly exotic-sounding teams such as Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United, the programme offered a tantalising glimpse into a very different world.
Even with this limited access to watching football, I knew that having a Cup Final ticket was something special. As we entered Wembley Stadium, the sight of packed terraces reminded me of the matches I had watched on television a few years before. It was impressive to see more than 95,000 people squeezed in to the old, crumbling stadium, but it was not so enjoyable to be one of them! After a long struggle, we finally found a place to stand. As we settled into our spot, I noticed that one of the people behind us must have spilled his drink, and it was trickling down the terrace. On seeing a second and third stream of liquid, the penny that others had spent eventually dropped. We quickly shuffled sideways, out of the path of the dripping liquid.
The terrace-based sprinkler system notwithstanding, it was an entertaining match. Arsenal conceded an early goal but came back after halftime, scoring two goals in three minutes to take the lead 2-1. The Arsenal goals gave me my first experience of being swept forward in a mass of euphoric supporters – frightening, but thrilling. With about ten minutes left, the referee awarded a penalty to Arsenal, and it seemed the perfect opportunity to finish off the match. However, Nigel Winterburn had his penalty saved. Soon after, Arsenal defender Gus Caesar (“I came. I saw. I fell over.”) gave the ball away in the Arsenal penalty area, and Luton equalised. Then, in the 90th minute, Luton scored the winner. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory! (© Arsenal)
As the Luton fans celebrated at the other end of the ground, I asked myself: what kind of a team throws away victory in a cup final? More importantly, did I want to support a team that throws away victory in a cup final? The answer to the second question was no – or, rather, not yet.
Having had my budding passion for Arsenal extinguished so painfully, I moved into the next stage of my football-watching career: I became an interested neutral. Without an allegiance to any team, I was free to appreciate good football wherever I found it – sometimes in the most unlikely places. Yes, dear reader, I am not afraid to tell you: I visited White Hart Lane several times, and I often enjoyed it. Those were the heady days of Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, and Terry Venables. It goes without saying that Spurs won nothing; they did, however, manage to put together a good end-of-season run to finish third. You probably don’t need me to tell you that they have not finished that high in the table since then.
Some matches I attended in this period were notable from a football perspective. Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut for Manchester United, Real Madrid’s 5-1 demolition of Olympiakos in the Bernabeu, Atlético Madrid v Bobby Robson’s Barcelona in a Copa del Rey match that featured three future managers (Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Luis Enrique), and Manchester United knocking Internazionale out of the Champions League at San Siro. Other matches stay in the mind for more unusual reasons. On the way to Adams Park to see Wycombe versus Brentford, I was a victim of football-related hooliganism. Yes, I was hit by an egg. (Annoyingly, the Brentford fans I was with escaped without a drip.) At Old Trafford, the sight of Dave Busst’s horrific leg-break led Peter Schmeichel to be sick on the pitch.
More than any other, though, a match at Plough Lane (Wimbledon v Tottenham) in the late eighties summed up the era. At halftime, there was an announcement that crowd trouble had interrupted the FA Cup semi-final that was being played at Hillsborough between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The people on the sparsely populated terrace around us booed the Liverpool supporters and sang songs about the ‘drunken Scousers’ who they assumed had caused the trouble. After the match, on our way back into London on the District Line, I overheard a group of lads next to us discussing the other matches that were being played in London that day. Their conversation had a chilling conclusion. After identifying which teams were playing, they decided to head to Kings Cross – to attack the Newcastle supporters who were on their way home after seeing their team play Arsenal.
That reminds me, what about Arsenal? Despite their success in the late eighties and early nineties, I found the team of that time difficult to like. They seemed a bit thuggish: they were punished with a points deduction for a brawl with Manchester United, and their captain went to prison for drink-driving. However, their most obvious flaw (in my eyes) was that their football was not very enjoyable to watch. They did, however, have an amazing will to win. I watched the finale of the 1988-89 season at my Arsenal-supporting friends’ flat on Liverpool Road. As Liverpool lost the ball with seconds left, I told my friends that Arsenal were about to score – and so it came to be. Aguero, my arse – there has never been a more exciting finish to the season than that match. But even after Anfield, they weren’t my team.
A few years later, I moved to Islington. I was still a neutral, but looking to attend more matches. I suggested to my Liverpool Road friend that we get season tickets to Arsenal and Spurs so we could go to a match every weekend. He declined. As it turns out, that was the year of the first League title (and FA Cup) in the Arsène Wenger era, and there has been a (long) waiting list for season tickets ever since.
In the years between Anfield ’89 and the 1998 Double, I had looked out for whichever team was playing attractive football: the Neil Webb-era Nottingham Forest, Norwich City for a time, Kevin Keegan’s swashbuckling Newcastle, and then, in the years following the arrival of a certain Frenchman, Arsenal. They say if you watch enough football, a team will find you. Well, it took a long time, but eventually the Wenger-era Arsenal found me.
Years later, my friend redeemed himself when he pointed out that there was a residents scheme for the new stadium. Local residents who were on the season-ticket waiting list would be, in effect, allowed to jump the queue. This was Arsenal’s clever, if somewhat cynical, way of placating local opposition to their plans to build a new stadium and help to pay for it by building several high-rise blocks of flats. I signed up to the waiting list, and I was assigned number 37,000-something. I was one of the last to get a ticket before the cut-off.
One of the benefits of the residents’ priority scheme was that it led to life imitating art: in Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby described what he imagined life would be like when he moved to Highbury:
In my street, of course, it would be Arsenal supporters, rather than commuters, who emerged, and they would all be wearing flat caps and faded bar-type red-and-white scarves. And they would see me and smile and wave, and I would immediately become a much-loved and valued member of a happy, working-class Arsenal community.
It wasn’t quite like that, but it wasn’t too far off either. Several people in the neighbourhood have season tickets, and it is not uncommon on match-days to see people emerging at the same time, proudly wearing their bar-type red-and-white scarves. We even occasionally wave to one another.
As well as enabling me to join the local Gooner community, obtaining a ticket marked the end of neutrality. And so began the final part of my journey: as a supporter.
The first season after the move had some real highs: the Bergkamp testimonial (Marco van Basten and Johann Cruyff in the flesh – incredible), the last-gasp Henry header(!) to beat Manchester United – and then the trip to Cardiff to see the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea. I was sure things would be different. In some ways they were: this time, Arsenal scored first. But old habits die hard, and Arsenal still contrived to concede two goals to lose 2-1, Didier Drogba playing the Mark Stein role. Abou Diaby’s full-blooded kick to John Terry’s face was scant consolation.
Fast forward to 2011 for the Carling Cup Final against Birmingham City at the ‘new’ Wembley. Arsenal conceded an early goal but equalised before halftime. The score stayed level until the 89th minute when, in a poorly timed homage to Gus Caesar, Koscielny and Szczesny conspired to give the ball away to Obafemi Martins who gratefully scored the winner. Three League Cup final defeats in three stadiums!
And so to 2014: the FA Cup this time –not the dreaded League Cup – and a semi-final against Wigan, the holders. Arsenal follow the usual script by going behind, but then something amazing happens. They don’t throw the game away. They equalise and then take the match to extra-time. No goals, so on to penalties! What are you made of, boys? Well, sterner stuff than previous years – Arsenal win on penalties. The final? A cake-walk. Arsenal spot Hull City two goals just to make things interesting. Santi tries to outdo Gazza with his free kick to pull one back. Kos emulates Per’s semi-final heroics by scoring the equaliser, and then it is left to The Man – Aaron Ramsey – to score the winner from a ‘gorgeous’ Olivier Giroud back heel. My twenty-six year wait is over. As the players parade the trophy, I look down and notice that the person behind me has spilled his drink. This time, however, it is only Coca-Cola.
So, in the end, what led to me becoming an Arsenal supporter?
It wasn’t the winning or the new stadium. It wasn’t the glamour of new signings. It certainly wasn’t the long-running tendency to lose big Cup matches. Two things made the difference: the way they played – breathtaking, attacking football allied to a miserly defence – and they way they operated. I came to recognise that the Club’s values were compatible with my own. Where others had oil money, Arsenal had stability. Where others had expensive, ready-made star signings, Arsenal had unknowns (or little-knowns) who became stars. Where others mortgaged their future, Arsenal lived within its means. Where others had a new manager every year, Arsenal had the pioneering genius Arsène Wenger. It took me a long time to make my mind up to become an Arsenal supporter – about eighteen years – but, having made the decision, I haven’t regretted it once.
Positively Arsenal 
By any standards this is an outstanding piece of writing. By the standards of a football blog it is astonishing. Thanks so much: a lovely way to start the day, and perhaps the cue for a series of articles exploring different routes to the club.
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A veritable tour-de-force, Out; your initial neutrality enabled you to take an unusual perspective on the game denied to most and it’s reassuring that after 18 years careful consideration you finally came down on the side of all that is decent and good in the world.
Always enjoy hearing how people came to support the club, even if some journeys were lengthier than others (BST).
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We’re being treated to some very high quality writing. Long may it continue!
(Just need to get rid of the “Like” button, now.)
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Excellent. The writing really took me along on your journey. This article should be picked up by Arsenal.com. Such a well written piece.
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Absolutely fantastic piece. Bravo Out For A Corner.
My ultimate reason for becoming a gooner is exactly the same…
Style of play, business model, and a certain civilized frenchman.
The path less taken separates the greats from the mob.
Thanks for posting this PG.
Long live PA.
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Fantastic stuff,it’s always interesting to me how people end up coming to support the club.
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Top writing OfaC – it is the journey not the destination
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As an overseas supporter it is pleasing to read OfaC’s odyssey. The journey may have taken a completely and far more varied route from mine but I am familiar with a few of the metaphoric landmarks. Fortunately he has the privilege of living in Islington and being a season-ticket holder. On that basis we may be physically thousands of miles apart but this blog has highlighted the values of the club which makes us so bonded together.
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Superb article, OFAC.
It was great getting tickets for matches in those days. Just go to Wembley and queue for a ticket on a given day. I’d forgotten about Tower Records. I used to go many grounds in London. Twas so scary I can’t believe I persisted. I didn’t get abused at Highbury (or pissed on).
Here’s whassisname’s leg break:
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I genuinely appreciate the kind comments. I hadn’t anticipated the post would be so divisive (on Twitter). Perhaps I should have known better.
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OfaC
The WOB tw*nts are just jealous of your season ticket. That’s the bitter truth. As am I.
I was posted abroad on duty (work! Study. Life. The usual.) at the time of the rebuild and was blissfully ignorant of this cunning scheme/bribe by the club to offer the local community tickets and avoid the kind of delays the unfortunate and insincere owners of neighbours are experiencing (what was that Olympic bid all about then?). I’ve been told the season ticket scheme was undersubscribed! Incredible if true. And it’s no surprise that the gritty Groaners have completely edited this scheme out of their narratives.
Is this how to make a modern super club? A real football club? A path that beats having beautiful Boris as your guardian angel? Well, one thing we can say for sure: it’s not the money laundering path that some experts and insincere self-declared experts in PR who are not very good at PR and their wannabe agent pals would’ve chosen, and that’s one reason why they Groan.
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OfaC: I am really struggling to understand on what basis this post could possibly be divisive, but then again I have read one or two comments today that suggest that AW had nothing to do with the signing of Welbeck, so I guess if they are capable of convincing themselves that, they are capable of anything.
Fins: I imagine that some PR experts have spotted that it might be possible to construct a site that is openly critical of an experienced and successful figure which is an extremely attractive port of call to a disaffected and disenfranchised minority. It happens in politics which explains the popularity of extremist parties, so no surprise it works for sport too. And if that site attracts a significant number of hits, and advertisers know the likely demographic of the sites followers, then it will possibly be quite a lucrative undertaking. And once that scenario is in place the object of the blog is to generate hits, rather than any genuine attempt to illuminate.
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Terrific piece OfaC. We are so fortunate to have a place where we can share our stories. I love reading them.
Don’t worry about those Twitter idiots. Any moron who can breathe can get a Twitter account and spew their ridiculous venom. I tangled with one this morning as well. The block button is handy. I refuse to let them ruin it for me. You shouldn’t either.
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FH
True
I met Twatter Expert once. At the time I was trying on google glass so I guess it should not have been a surprise to meet a cyber sleuth type. He told me that advertising firms can use any word in any tweet to see what individuals are talking about, it’s what this fellow spends his day doing (I knew there’s a reason I don’t tweet!). So it is a big industry and what you say is logical given the volume of on line traffic that AFC generates. At best that I what it is.
As Voodoo Magik reminds us, as too many foolishly denied, this trolling online or on tv or the radio has had an negative impact on the club. So I’m glad that the wider Arsenal support have began to lampoon and satirise them. Better late then never.
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Excellent post. As a fan of Holland since I was twelve, I became an Arsenal supporter after Dennis Bergkamp’s audacious move to North London from Inter. Arsene, Henry, Pires, etc., I wasn’t expecting all that.
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Thank you, that’s good advice! The narrative people can create based on assumptions and prejudice is pretty amazing. Long live PA!
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I knew there would be some negative reactions to the article.My story is much the same and I am branded a glory hunter and a second class fan by many .
Fuck e’m btw
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I accidentally clicked ‘like’ on my comment above *coughs*
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Wonderful, wonderful post OforaC! Will comment more later when I’m more relaxed.
Bravo indeed!
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When current work has died down a bit I am looking forward to writing my road to The Arsenal, although I am afraid the final decision was for decidedly unglamoruous reasons.
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Not had a chance to check your Twitter storm/ripple, etc but I’m guessing it’s to do with your audacity in visiting the Spuds for a few games back when they were less ordinary (slightly).
Out out!!!
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I don’t like fans of any sport. In fact, I don’t even like watching games with other people.
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AA, you may well be right – I thought that if there was going to be any controversy, the Spurs section would be the cause. I think Finsbury is also onto something with the season-ticket.
Some seem to object to me not having stuck with Arsenal after the Luton Town debacle. Some seem to have assumed that I grew up in England, only chose Arsenal for the ‘entertainment’, and am not interested in the team winning (none of which is true).
It’s a funny old world. I am glad to be among friends here.
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For what it’s worth OfaC, the majority of fans I meet in and around the stadium are more like the kind of people that post here (obviously excluding George) than half the lunatics on Twitter (obviously including George). Twitter is classic ’empty vessel’ territory.
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Thank you, Andrew. (banned smiley)
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Oi
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Great goal for Akpom in the U21 game, the pass from Zelalem, and the finish.
And he’s just denied a hat-trick by a slight deflection off a defender.
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Diaby had a fine game, all 90 minutes of it too, and Hayden looked particularly assured. A very satisfactory night’s work and what a treat to be able to watch them.
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A pal of mine was in the Armoury a couple of days ago when Diaby was buying a replica shirt. Apparently, aside from one or two members of staff, he passed through entirely unrecognised.
I’m hoping if he pulls the same stunt this time next year, he’s mobbed to within an inch of his life.
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Great piece OFAC!
You made a decision on purely footballing reasons, superb. What an endorsement of Arséne Wenger……
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With Ramsey a doubt we might see Rosicky continue his duel with Yaya Toure, though I think Rambo will do his best to convince everyone he’s fit to play. Rozza may then get some minutes back at his old club next week. I hope. Vengrrrr better be listening.
Cazorla thankfully wasn’t used by Spain in their last game so he should be good for the left, barring Ramsey the rest picks itself, with Chamberlain working his way back into form and match fitness (I guess) at the moment.
Mertesacker in for Chambers may mean there is a little more space for the Oil City/Arsenal B Team speedsters then last time out? Will be interesting.
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the early GG years wernt boring it was the latter years that he became one dimensional oh and I remember that cup final leaving wembley with my face painted and feeling really shit the other end of the spectrum from the season before.
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Ramsey trained today, Diaby played a whole game for the U21s at villa and Serge is running again
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alabamagooner
Hi there, I’m requesting your report from the NY Bulls match/experience.
I really enjoyed tonight’s U21 match.
It’s lovely seeing Zelalem making time for himself, along with Abou – looking imperious. It really was a good Arsenal-lite performance, I thought.
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Akpom 2nd goal
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Akpom 1st goal
http://arsenalist.com/f/youth/u21-akpom-scores-against-aston-villa-1-0.html
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It’s great that Akpom scored again tonight, he is in good form at the moment. However, I disagree with the Twitter experts that this automatically means he is better than Sanogo. It’s one thing to score against other youngsters, but I’m sure Akpom would not find it anymore easy to come up against PL defenders. Sanogo was also prolific as a youth player. I do wonder sometimes if the average football supporter has the memory of a goldfish as I seem to recall that Sanogo’s presence on the field really made a difference to us winning the FA cup final against Hull. Akpom will have his chance if he keeps up his current form. So instead of pitting one youngster against another, why not be glad that we have a couple of promising players and support them both?
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It’s long been a pet hate of mine, Passenal, this primitive tactic of discrediting, running down or attacking one player in order to supposedly ‘big up’ another. It’s sometimes quite laughable and should always be mocked, highlighted and held up to ridicule imo.
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When the man who developed George Weah and Thierry Henry says Sanogo has raw talent, the sofa experts should maybe give the kid a few years before writing him off.
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OutforaCorner, that was an absolutely terrific piece of football writing–what a fascinating trip through your memories of matches! I despise twitter, and the ‘controversy’ around this lovely piece only further confirms that it is for thoughtless cyber- bullying more than for any sensible dialogue. Besides George, how can anyone say anything really meaningful restricted to such short bursts?! You can only reflect cliched and platitudes because anything counter- intuitive takes time to explain. So I justify my own long ramblings, anyway!
For me, I became a Gooner in spirit as a student at SOAS in the early 90’s but in return to the US didn’t get much opportunity to follow matches until games were picked up on the Yankees ‘ home network when I was living in NYC in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Since moving to Canada, the PL internationally expanded and virtually every match other than the odd Leafur Cup seemed broadcast on the two major sports networks.
Upon moving to London for the year a couple weeks ago, the challenge for a fan is oddly greater to watch matches– no Sky or BY sport and tickets are very hard to come by, but I am finding watching in a pub in North London to be a decent way to have some local atmosphere but usually I can’t absorb the details of the game as easily. For me the legacy of Anfield 1989 was magic but it really only cemented into full goonerdom through AW ‘s attacking play and philosophy. I could never have been but an Arsenal supporter in the PL but there have been active and passive phases. I’m looking forward to a most active phase as a North American Gooner in London this year tremendously!
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Hi Limestone
We should try and meet up sometime….
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Watching the Under 21s last night I spent a little time (especially in the first half) being disappointed with the showing of GZ, although I was pleased to see him playing a more prominent role in the latter stages of the game. It was only much later that I began to remember that he is only 17 and the enormous difference in physical growth and strength that occurs in the late teenage years. This was all the more embarrassing as I have spent the last 25 years teaching at a high school so am confronted on a daily basis with the differences that maturation brings. But it got me thinking more seriously about the age of some of our players, and the expectations that fans have of them. The difference between 16 and 19 is immense, and there are few that can compete on equal terms with adults when they are only 17 – and why games for the Under 21s are enormously useful for older players returning from injury. So I would like to apologise to GZ for being ridiculous and to wish him all the best for a fabulous career.
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Where’s the “Bah Humbug!” button?
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How was Diaby and Coq, FH?
Are they capable of providing midfield options for the first team?
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Gains 2:25am
Don’t forget about the man who discovered Anelka’s talent too.
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Georgaki–that would be great! Let me know any matches you are going to or if you are interested in watching at a pub in the Highbury area–I’m not too far away in Kentish Town/Tufnell Park.
Foreverheady, how have you watched the U21’s–on Arsenal Player? I was wondering if it might be possible to attend some of those home matches every once in a while with Limestonegunnerinho (my 6 year old son).
Btw, I have found it very difficult and expensive to situate him in some sort of local football league. His school is small so they just play informally during recess breaks, but I have tried to contact the Camden-Islington league and Camden-Regents Park leagues but not found out anything from them. The only place that got back to me was the Hampstead FC youth set up that runs an hour session on Saturday afternoon for 130 pounds a school term! I thought we’d find many more affordable local options than we could take for him to play after school and get some youth coaching but perhaps I have gone about it incorrectly? I would be grateful if any London gooners with younger children could provide advice on this.
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Ian is right to remind all of the quality football of that middle GG team. That ’91 Arsenal team are on the edge of my football consciousness. They were by all accounts a very very good football team.
This consideration makes the story of GG’s fall out with Paul Davies the key story of that period for me. The midfield I eventually saw was rebuilt to be efficient, they won cups, but the players didn’t like it and PD was crucified for it, replaced by Hillier. Two years in the reserves for one of England’s best players at his peak? What was all that about then? GG could tolerate the Tuesday club but not a suggestion from a senior player?
What is staggering is how the very same Groaners that love to groan, that must’ve heckled OfaC, they cannot bring themselves to criticise that horrible call from GG (even though there were cups) because he destroyed his own team in a way that AW never has, which they accuse him of doing. Increbile when you think about it. Cups are nice for fans but or the club they could not cover the fall down to 5th or 12th in the league! No wonder the team dropped, what must the dressing room have been like with PD a key player in ’91 in the reserves? Please also refer to current events at ManIOU.
So: the Groaning WOBs use the ’91 GG team in their genius PR against the current owner and manager of AFC, yet they try their best not to mention what happened to that team? Strange behaviour?
When you think about it, it’s a little bit mad, no? This unedifying middle aged angst. I don’t hesitate to suggest colour plays a factor in their reticence.
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Football has left the Groaners behind.
Tomorrow Arsenal face the champions, including players who once played for the Arsenal, players the AAA once said were not good enough.
Pellegerini may have slight variations in his tactics, but one reason these two great managers are happy to trade players is because their football is not so different. City won the PL playing a style of football that is not so different to what we see at the Arsenal, the 1-1 game in the spring was a classic example. Top top quality football. Edge of your seats stuff. And Flamini scored!
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Paul Davis got 0 England caps
Rocastle got 14
There were some good midfielders at the time I guess, but for a player who was a key player in two titles to get zero caps? That’s an oversight!
http://www.blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/3732
And according to this the FA have had no historical problems using video evidence, when using it against AFC players. Which is interesting.
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Interesting.
Laundryender from Untold in the comments above says he compares Davis to Arteta, not just in style but character.
“Laundryender
18 June 2012 at 5:55 pm
The Cockerill story is started at the Dell, and finished at Highbury.
Glenn Cockerill was abusing Davis at the Dell, and carried on at Highbury. no need to use your imagination what the nature of the abuse was.
The left arm Davis gave Cockerill at our place was worthy of any prize fight. the tough man went down like the preverbial sack of spuds.
Davis did later in his career upset George Graham, not liking the way we played. After a period in the reserves it was the returning of Davis to the side that beat Parma that provided GG with one of his finest hours, and my fondest memory of a week away.
Davis was classy, cultured,intelligent and sophisticated as a player, but he could also look after himself, similar to him today would be Arteta. The fact that Davis never had 50 England caps always confused me. Davis and Robson for England would have been sensational”
Very. Interesting.
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