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Nice day for a sulk.......

alonso14

Established Member
Saturday 09th November 1974.....what were you doing? well?

I was crying...not for the first time, and most certainly not the last due to my football team losing...

My Dad tells me that this was a memorable occasion, as it is his birthday....But me and Arsenal spoilt it......they won 1-3, I cried....

I probably cried on the 08th of May 1971....when Mr George lay on his back after dispatching a rocket past Ray Clemence on a sultry day in London.....But being 2, I was probably after some food, or I'd **** myself.....Not that my Dad would know of course, he was tanked up at Wembley.....He probably cried too......

Arsenal have long had a place in my subconscious..If I am honest, when I grew up I disliked Arsenal.....To me you see they were wrong...they played in London for a start which, at the age of 8, seemed a long way away.....There players always had bad hair cuts (Alan Sunderland?? please!)...they had ruined a perfectly good red kit buy having white sleeves and there name wasnt even a real place...Even Everton is a real place, it stinks mind but real none the less.....

Then you did it......you did something which redeemed yourselves, and would mean that my opinion had changed, Arsenal were not Satan incarnate....they were angels, cockney angels with a crap kit and no real place name, but angels all the same.....As that cross floated over Gary Bailey...the 12th of May 1979.....the date Arsenal stopped being a pain in the arse....I cried again...this time with joy.....you had beaten those bastards after throwing away a 2-0 lead, I wasnt quite sure what a bastard was then, but I knew Lou Macari was one as my Dad kept calling him one.........

We have had our ups and downs since, the year later for example.....three replays in a cup semi final, I couldnt go to the last replay at Highfield Road but Brian Talbot ruined my night as I listened to Radio 2 with my mum "its only a game son, now bed".....yes mother, only a game!!

SInce my early days of football watching I have grown to like Arsenal, Highbury is one of my most often visited away grounds, a place I admit I fell in love with.....It was a unique football ground in many ways, it reeked of history and nostalgia....even the away end, with the Arsenal crest in the toilet walls!! As lovely as the Emirates is, it will never replace that old ground.......A proper ground for a proper football club.....

Even on the night of our most celebrated encounter i couldnt be angry with you....as the Arsenal players gave out bouquets of flowers to commerate the fallen at Hillsborough, a gesture not forgotten as the same players were afforded a wonderful ovation by the Kop, despite our heartbreak on and off the pitch....

In modern times, we robbed you blind in 2001 at Cardiff (no puns please!)..I walked into a pub opposite our end after the game, and next to me was a lad in a Arsenal shirt just staring at his pint and shaking his head.....I bought him another and walked away.....He bought me one back later,, and we have been mates since...he stayed out with us and had a good crack.. i meet him at Anfield before our game every year now

You see, I have always associated Arsenal with a sense of fair play and appreciation...When I go to Highbury I never feel as if I am in physical danger (unlike most other London grounds esp Sp**s these days) and we have always enjoyed the craic together

Take the last few seasons, we have been going in the Famous ****.......,the first tine in 2005 weekes before Istanbul...we were giddy!! We were singing very loudly, nothing offensive.....pro liverpool songs......the locals loved it, they sang Arsenal sings, we sang ours and occasionally we joined in ("you won the league in Manchester!").....ok so were bere barred eventually, but we enjoyed it (and we have been back each time since!)

Three of my favourite non Liverpool players have been Arsenal stalwarts........Pat Jennings was my first real football hero....i wanted to be a goalie...and i loved him (bad hair though) believe it or not, I have his picture up in my study, signed, the only non Liverpool player afforded such an honour.......Liam Brady was one of the first players I watched and made me go "wow he is not of this planet"......he was a wizard...and then there is Thierry Henry

Lets face it, he was the best player in the world playing at your club...it isnt often a fan can say they watched the worlds best player playing for there own club.....I dont think I have ever seen that despite our succes...I think Rush was the best striker in the world at the time, and Kenny could have a case...but thats it.....

he is and forever will be interwoven with your club, it might hurt now but you will look back fondly and remember him just like the legends above

As I will......dont get me wrong, I am glad he isnt going to rip us to shreds no more,,,,,but I am thankful I saw him in his pomp........

I remember Arsenal coming to Anfield a few years back and drawing two all....Heskley equalised in injury time...

I stood and I applauded every Arsenal player off that park...it was a performance of sheer beauty......They say winning is everything, and to an extent it is...but my god I witnessed something very special that night.....

Things change, people move and life goes on...but what can never be taken away is your memory

You have been fortunate to witness probaly the best footballing side to grace this isle, and one of the greatest ever players...not many can say that......

He terrorised us....And Carragher and Gerrard will be glad he has gone.....

but gone he has....But Arsenal are still here......A club of legends, of history, of success, of championships, of FA Cups, of flowing football, of humility and grace...a club of Herbert Chapman, Denis Bergkamp, Pat Jennings, Cliff Bastin, Liam Brady, David Rocastle, Ray Kennedy, Bertie Mee, David Seaman, Ian Wright.........and yes of Thierry Henry

The King is Dead...long live the King...

Long Live the Arsenal

Alonso14
 

M+D

Established Member
Love reading your posts Alonso, don't know where to put this so I'll leave it to someone else to move it!
 

Tony Montana

Established Member
Unbelievable. Best article i've read from you and there have been many excellent ones. Said it better than most Arsenal fans on here. You seem like a nice lad with giving that gooner a drink.

You seem to respect Arsenal so much it's almost like you support us. I know you don't obviously.

I love our football shirts though, particularly the white sleeves. Liverpool's all red kit doesn't quite do it for me. But have you seen Manure's kits over the years? They've had a white one with a red v neck stripe across the front. It's really weird.

As for Highbury it was class. I miss it. I wished it was a bit bigger though. Maybe 42 000 instead of 38 000. In fact i would have loved the Clock End to look like the Kop.
 

kym7224

Well-Known Member
Great Article, thanks Alonso..

For Highbury, I still miss there. I know we have to move, and it is right to move but still miss highbury.

BTW what happen to guys who bets hundreds on TH to Pool? :lol:
 

RC8

Established Member
Great, great article.

The best thing I've read in a while. Cheers for that. Really, I appreciate it.

Is there any possibility for it being posted as an article on the main site?
 

Nutsy

Established Member
Excellent Article alonso14. excellent indeed. I often wondered how a Liverpool fan such as yourself can write this brilliant piece. - I mean writing an article that is closely relate to Arsenal.

Brilliant
 

RocktheCasbah

Established Member
Goosebumps time.

I too just feel thankful to have been able to watch one of the greatest players to grace our shores. But he was ours! :)

I think in time, what you have articulated here... well those Arsenal fans throwing insults and terms like Judas around as if Thierry didn't spend his best years here racking up the goals, will realise that a Liverpool fan has come closer to putting into words what he meant to us than any of these ingrates ever could.

Cheers mate.
 

Clrnc

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Player:Tomiyasu
superb article.

at least i smile when i read your article. thank you!
 
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