Over the weekend it is quite likely that you and I will come into contact with more than one ‘young person’ who will be very confused as to why Sky Sports and the general media at large are making such a fuss about Sunday’s match against United. Mentions of Wenger v Fergie, Vieira v Keane, Wright v Schmeichel will be met with furrowed brows. Tiktok and Insta will be consulted, to no avail and said young people will wander off muttering “weird boomer” under their breath.
Conversely, have the same conversation with any Gooner over 40 years old and you can expect to be still be reminiscing early in to next week! This was the Premier League’s first proper rivalry and despite the fact that overall between 1997 and 2004, we were slightly outdone by them, it still remains a seminal period in any Arsenal fan of a certain vintage. For me personally, I had move from Manchester to Angel in 1997 and then on to Gillespie Road in 1999. Half of my best friends were United fans and I had just had the good fortune to acquire a season ticket in Highbury’s West Stand. What times they were!
I was there when Platty made it 3-2, for Freddie’s debut with a debut goal, to see Anelka terrify their defence with his pace, when Titi turned and lobbed Barthez from 25 yards and also when said goalkeeper managed to gift us two goals to complete a turnaround 3-1 victory, It was utter carnage, I believe that it is called ‘limbs’ these days. I was also there when Keane made in 1-2 in the final minute, but we will gloss over that. These games were massive and they mattered too, each year the two clubs finished first and second (five titles to them, three to us – 2003 will always haunt me) and every one hated each other at every level, the managers, the players, the fans, even the coaching and backroom teams. It was bigger than the NLD and would have continued for many more years had a combination of the stadium move and Roman’s riches not shifted the goalpost irrevocably.
So while it’s true that times and faces have changed over these twenty odd years, this match is still one of the first that I look out for. I was able to take my kids to the 3-1 ‘Rice, Rice baby’ match a couple of years ago and they get it now and so should every Gooner. We may no longer be living either side of the turn of the Millennium, but genuine rivalries endure and this one has plenty of legs in it yet,
Featured image courtesy of Reuters/Action Images