Hello, and how are you?
Saturday the 30th of November at 5.30pm (western European time) sees the Mighty Cannon make its way east for a visit to the London Stadium and West Ham United.
I’m sure after the thrashing we gave Sporting CP last Tuesday, the team, club and fans all have a spring in their step as we head over to visit our cockney chums by the Old River Lea. Going into this game at the time of writing this we have a 65% chance of winning, but West Ham are a weird side and certainly won’t lie down and think of England when it comes to us, despite having a mixed season so far (they lie in 14th place) and especially after beating Newcastle. But we are at the potential beginning of a mini- renaissance, and a win will take us a step further forward to where we want to go, so hopefully we can build on what’s been happening in the last three games, and perhaps see some more quick-witted one touch football and more, more, more goals. But I don’t expect it will be easy and as years past have proven, any side can be the slippery banana skin, especially the old Irons?
Its amazing how football has become such a dominating sport. My Dad and Grandfather weren’t into football at all, although Dad did support the Irons for a bit. Mostly they watched Speedway and the Dogs over at Wimbledon Stadium. There aren’t any London Speedway teams now, the stadiums have gone, but pre-war and for twenty odd years or so afterwards it was an incredibly popular sport. Speedway riders were paid more than footballers.
West Ham had a stadium that could accommodate 120,000 people. The massive stadium was built by Archibald Leitch who as you know built Highbury, amongst an endless list of other stadiums and sported an Art Deco entrance that perhaps should have been preserved? Many football matches were held at the stadium but it fell into a poor catchment area and to this day holds the record for the lowest league attendance of only 469, which must have been an a strange experience in such a vast stadium?
Once they had arrived at the Wimbledon Stadium, overwhelmed by all the speedway sights, sounds and smells they would buy a cup of brickdust tea and a cheesecake, not the NY cheesecake, but the one with desiccated coconut on the top. We didn’t call it ‘London cheesecake’ as kids, just cheesecake-although our old Nan Mills, born in the Victorian era made the best brickdust tea. The last time I saw cheesecake was on Bovvy market pre- 2005. Still delicious.
Sadly, Dads hero got killed at West Ham in the early 1950’s when the Dons were visiting, and he didn’t ever get over it. That accident wouldn’t have even happen now, so its even more sad. How many have died in life to pave a way for the safety for others? All those stadiums, fans, riders, competitions, wins losses and accidents and fatalities that were the mainstay of many communities, all (mostly)forgotten now. As mentioned before: fame, obscurity waiting?
I still like watching speedway, I’m not an expert or even mildly knowledgeable either concerning contemporary or historically aspects of the sport, but mostly its the summer Monster-sponsored international competitions I like to follow. Thing is I can’t stand racing of any kind as spinning metal scares the crap out of me, but in true hypocritical form I find speedway really exciting. Of course its changed considerably since the heavy cinder track and gas-goggle days of yesteryear. Its amazing how many other countries are really passionate about it too and how many fans travel from country to country to watch their team or favourite riders.
I started supporting The Arsenal back in the 77/78 season, and although my beard isn’t the longest here on PA, it is a bit grey. Yet after all this time, West Ham still represent something horrible to me: the team that beat us in the 1980 cup final. That boiling hot, uninspired, heavy- atmosphere day. In my mind I can still hear us being heavily taunted towards the end of the game by the West Ham fans: “he’s only a poor little Gunner feather all tattered and torn…” somehow they knew we weren’t going to get back in the match. And we didn’t.
What a season it was, playing all those games(70, a record that exists to this day)an exciting, fascinating, contradictory, heart-breaking season, losing both the finals and the Charity Shield, all those bloody semi-final replays against Liverpool, some of which were epics. Mind you the West Ham / Everton semis were great games too, we might just have easily have played against Everton in the final? I’m sure you guys have lots of your own memories and perspectives of that season and that FAC final? I still have all the programs from the semis lying in our cellar…
“Someone put the lights back on, I’ll love you till all time is gone.You haven’t looked at me, that way in years, but I’m still here.” (Tom Waits ‘I’m still here’)
Trouble is I can’t look at West Ham without thinking of that day. But this is totally illogical. Both clubs have changed, literally nothings the same, except the name? Loss is a part of football and there’s been so many highs since then that really it should mean little or nothing after all these years, but its strange how some games stick in your head more than others, and we carry certain memories and emotions with us until the day we die, illogical or not. Some you just can’t budge?
Anyway, here’s hoping for Wham! Bam! Thank you West Ham!
Well that’s it, lots of bits and pieces that I’m sure have made you feel like going off and collecting stamps instead of reading this tediousness.
Even so, here’s to a great game for us and lucky horses!
COYG and keep on keepin’ on!
Mills
Positively Arsenal 
Great writhe up as usual Mills, so good I do wonder if Bloon helps you with them
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Beautiful as ever Mills. For someone who claims not to be a writer you don’t half put out some amazing work.
Growing up in the sticks Highbury was a place of distant magic to me. To get my football I went and watched Bristol Rovers at the Eastville Stadium.. Along with football they also hosted Greyhound Racing, and, for a couple of years in the 70s, speedway.
Like you my memory of the ‘ammers is tainted by that awful cup final. However, they were my grandfather’s team, which confused me, he being as Welsh as lava bread. Mum explained that our family originated in the East End which cleared that up. It also meant he hated Sp**s and so was clearly an intelligent, well bred kind of guy.
This team is purring now our captain is back, and I fully expect us to rampage through our upcoming fixtures with swash buckling élan.
Thank you again my friend. The best Arsenal blogging by a very long way.
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Stew me old mucker, you still have the keys to the blog?
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I don’t know George
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Ah Mills, Steww is absolutely right the best blog writing by a mile. There’s not many previous match muse that actually makes you think.
Rye house was my biggest memory and yeah they were magical nights for a littlen. The smells, the atmosphere, the smoke, the dodgy burgers and Bovril.
After the 79 final we were red hot favourites to retain the cup in 80 and it was a massive let down with the dying embers of our title chances and Juve and then Brady going. From a season that promised so much we had nothing who’d be a football fan.
The “go to the bar, buy a larger and only buys one from himself” seemed to fit the spuds better than anyone because of the generalisation about them.
My Dad’s side of the family all come from East Ham and my Grandad even played for West Ham schoolboys before a broken hip ended his career.
Fortunately they moved to a London overspill town and ARSENAL were my nearest club.
Today’s game is difficult to call as no one knows what the fuck sort of form the hammers will turn up with.
We are looking so good at the moment so I hope we can keep the momentum and the fantastic football going through this busy period and not getting jaded as we did in 80. Actually I think we will Fly COYG
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We will be more fluent with Jorginho in for Partey and more creative, but a little less secure in defence. A better watch…….as long as we win.
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Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Jorginho, Rice, Ødegaard; Saka, Trossard, Havertz. Arsenal
subs: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Tierney, Nichols, Martinelli, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus.
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Gabriel heads home from a corner to make it 1-0 to the Arsenal
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Trossard makes it 2-0 to the Arsenal, a fine team goal
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penalty to Arsenal, Saka brought down
Saka give it to Odegaard to take
Odegaard makes it 3-0 to the Arsenal
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Havertz makes it 4-0 to the Arsenal
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west ham pull one back, poor defending
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for fucks sake a non foul called by Taylor and west ham score the freekick, its now 2-4,
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taylor couldn’t wait there to book saka
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2nd penalty to Arsenal as Fabianski takes out Gabriel with a punch to the head trying to get to the ball, Fabianski booked
Odegaard lets Saka take this one
Saka makes it 5-2 to Arsenal
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Bournemouth got 3 penalties earlier today, any chance AFC get 3 in this game
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HT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Gabriel, Trossard, Odegaard(pen), Havertz and Saka(pen) with our goals.
by and large we have dominated
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Kiwior on for Gabriel for the second half
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Zinchenko on for Calafiori
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Saka limps off
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saka returned to action
west ham putting in a lot of very poor tackles and being let do so by Taylor
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Odegaard off, Jesus on
Saka off, Sterling on
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Nwaneri on for Trossard for the last few minutes
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FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Gabriel, Trossard, Odegaard(pen), Havertz and Saka(pen) with our goals, not a lot happened in the second half except west ham being allowed to put in a lot of nasty challenges
looks like we picked up a couple of injuries
up next is Man Utd midweek, as things stand we sit second in the table with liverpool v man city tomorrow.
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COYG! Shame we didn’t score a few more in the 2nd half, but nice to hit another five! Nice!
Thanks lads for the comments, even better (to me) were your thoughts and memories that added to it, sure made my day.
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well Mills my abiding memory of a west ham game was a reserve game at Highbury the day before the littlewoods cup final victory over liverpool. Rix and Merson the outstanding players on show for us, although I thought Francis at right back and Milton in midfield were going to be stars on their showing that day too, sadly not. What left a lasting impression on me was the disgusting behaviour of the handful of West Ham fans that attended the game, they constantly hurled racist abuse at the black players in the west ham team, Arsenal fans complained to the handful of stewards, but their response was that no action was to be taken unless these bigots shouted abuse at Arsenal players. This did not placate the Arsenal fans and midway through the second half they had had enough and basically a group gathered closer to the west ham mugs and told them to shut the fuck up or face a kicking. The racists got very quiet.
My second memory of West Ham also involved racist behaviour by their fans, but far more deadly. Arsenal were not even playing them, AFC were away to Wimbledon, and as a small group of us were making our way back towards North London, couldn’t tell you which tube station we were entering when a guy coming out told us to hide our colours as west ham fans inside, the couple of london guys with us couldn’t understand why west ham fans would be at this particular tube station, so we hid our scarves etc, and split up and made our way past a couple of groups of noisy west ham fans, probably about 50 in total. We safely passed by, but by time we got to the next tube station it was mentioned that there had been an incident at the previous station, later we found out a 12 year old black Arsenal fan was stabbed in the chest as he went down an escalator by a west ham fan going past him on the upward escalator. The boy fell dead into his dads arms.
So my opinion of West Ham fans is not a kind one at all.
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well it was no coincidence that Alf Garnett was a West Ham fan.
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I agree your experiences were disgusting Ed, but what made you write about them? You think Im too Mills and Boon?
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liverpool beat city 2-0, and are 9points ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea. Man city are 2 points behind us.
full round of EPL fixtures this midweek, top games are newcastle v liverpool, and Arsenal v Man utd
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14 year old Max Dowman today became the youngest player to ever play for our U21 team. Its crazy to think that he can play for our U21’s, even for our first team, but he is too young to play in the FA Youth Cup for our U18’s
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by the way Dowman broke the record that was previously held by Richie Powling, any of you long time gooners remember him, mainly a midfielder, but could play in defense too, injuries blighted his career and ended it way too soon
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So did I understand correctly that your ‘like’ means I’m too ‘Mills and Boon’ for your taste Eddie, perhaps you could tell me what I should write, or better still you can do the write ups?
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not sure Mills how I’ve upset you, I was actually trying to pay you a complement as in your write ups are of a professional level, a la mills and boon, a play on your name, not really anything to do with what topic mills and boon write about, in fact I’m not even sure what mills and boon books are, other than romantic, so your musings on old games etc are a romantic look back on the football games in the past we have lived through. Sorry if I gave you the impression your great write ups are anything other than much appreciated
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Ed, thanks for writing that and cool on my part and I also apologise for misunderstanding on my side of things. COYG!
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I remember baby faced Richie Powling, a great player and another one off the academy production line of the time.
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Powling’s injuries gave David Price many more games in the first team than I think he would have otherwise had
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Can you guys recall when ” Arsenal/by far the greatest team the world has ever seen” song first came in? I saw a game the other day from 1980 and it seemed as if it had been dubbed later for some kind of historical DVD collection. Maybe it was around at that time? I just don’t recall it.
Didn’t Ritchie get punched in the gonads in one game and it was ignored by the ref, seem to remember ? I cant recall who it was against but it was at Highbury.
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I see a lot of Arsenal fans pinning our title hopes on liverpool having had a much easier run of fixtures than AFC so far, but they have played Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea, Brighton, Aston Villa, I don’t see that as much different that what Arsenal have had.
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Mills was the song not about for the 1979 FA Cup final,
on powling getting punched, I do vaguely recall something, but I do remember Kenny Burns of Nottingham Forest saying he sent out a message to all opponents when he head butted Powling at a corner, something he got fined £50 for by Clough, don’t think the FA took any action against him
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Video | Facebook
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I was just about to sound all clever and say it was at a free kick but I see you’ve already posted the video.
For any of you who are gamblers, get your money on Dyche getting sacked within the next week. The toffees play Wolves, Liverpool and then us.
Having just got tanked by chelusa they are bound to get fondled by wolves buggered by liverpool only to have a new manager in place ready for us.
My money is on Moyes or the ugly headbutting Ferguson but then I’m not a betting man.
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stuffed by manure of course not chelusa
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We’ve just drawn manure in the cup. Absolute nightmare draw as not only does it mean we can’t rest all our first team but also everyone else has easy draws.
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New post is up.
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