Emirates memories

This Saturday Arsenal return to Premier League action at home to Norwich. It is also be the first time that I have been back to the stadium since 27 February 2020. If that date sounds at all familiar, it is because it just so happens to be the day that Mikel Arteta caught COVID from a member of the travelling Olympiakos party, an incident which all but spelled the end of football in this country for a few months. Now though, football, and in particular football in full stadiums, is back and I can’t wait.

I never got to visit Highbury. In fact, I don’t recall ever being taken to football anywhere growing up. I know that a lot of the old school Arsenal fans will say that Highbury can’t and won’t be beaten. That the soul of the club remains there. I will not argue with them as I have no point of comparison, but Emirates Stadium does hold a special place in my heart. On a personal note, trips to what I consider my second home has helped me through some tough times as sitting amongst the crowd helps you forget real life, if only for 90 brief minutes.

I have a lot of good memories of the place. There are some not so many happy memories too. Ahead of the game on Saturday, here I am going to take a look at some of my favourite moments from my many trips to the home of Arsenal, starting with trip number 1…

First game/goal: Arsenal 2-0 Blackburn; Premier League; Phillipe Senderos 11/2/2018

Monday night, under the lights. Cold with a bit of drizzle in the air. I remember being absolutely pumped for this. I had got myself a red membership and saw the availability for the Blackburn game and jumped at the chance. I finished work early, headed up to N5 and took my seat behind one of the goals to see a team with the likes of Lehmann, Sagna, Fabregas, Gilberto, Hleb, Adebayor and Eduardo.  So of course the first goal I would see there was a bullet header from the man mountain Phillipe Senderos from an Eduardo corner only 4 minutes in. I don’t remember too much else about the game to be fair. I think it was a particularly quiet night, as most games in the cold tend to be, I have found. The one abiding memory is of a fan a couple of rows in front of me who spent the whole 90 minutes chanting “Ad-e-bay-or, Ad-e-bay-or”. His support for the Togolese was rewarded with a 90th minute goal to wrap up the 2-0 win.

Most exciting prospect: Carlos Vela; Arsenal 3-0 Wigan Athletic; Carling Cup; 11/11/2008

The following season, on the eve of my 20th Birthday I took another midweek trek up. This time the opponent was Wigan Athletic and the competition was the Carling Cup. League cup ties have always been a gold mine for fans who struggle to get tickets to Premier League games, as perceived lack of interest and a drop in ticket prices opens the door to fans who may otherwise not get the chance to go. The competition was also treated by Arsene Wenger as something of a proving ground for the young talent floating around the squad, adding another layer of excitement and intrigue for those who ventured out. On this particular night, Arsenal fielded the likes of a young Aaron Ramsey, an even younger Jack Wilshere, and one Carlos Vela. Vela was tricky, quick, exciting. Everything you would want from an attacker, and I loved him. I was convinced he would make it at Arsenal. With all his talent, how could he not? Against Wigan, he scored what had become something of a trademark for him; the little chipped finish over an onrushing keeper, previously displayed in the Prior round against Sheffield United. Moments like that added credence to the belief that he would be the next big thing. Unfortunately however, it never really worked out at Arsenal for Carlos, but he’s done ok for himself in the end, having a decent career with first Real Sociedad and currently LA FC. A special mention for most exciting prospect by the way for Graham Potter. He bought his much unfancied Ostersunds side to Emirates Stadium in February 2018 and scored a victory over Arsene Wenger. He has of course since gone on to manage Swansea and currently Brighton. He will surely be considered for “bigger” jobs as and when they arise.

Best goal; Alexis Sanchez; Arsenal 1-2 Southampton; Capital one Cup; 23/09/2014 

The temptation could have been to put Vela’s previously mentioned goal in this category too, and it was certainly considered. But on a night when Arsenal crashed out of the competition, Alexis Sanchez did what Alexis Sanchez always did, and tried to carry us through a match single handed when the rest of the team didn’t show up. Alexis lined up a free kick 25 yards out in the 13th minute and whipped it in to the top corner, leaving Fraser Forster in the Southampton goal rooted to the spot. It was a moment of typical quality from Alexis that added a little shine to an otherwise disappointing night.

Best atmosphere; Arsenal 2-0 Bayern Munich; Champions league group stage; 20/10/2015

The atmosphere at the Emirates gets its fair share of criticism. Often times it can be pretty quiet, but on this night the place was rocking. It’s not often that I manage to get tickets to a top tier game such as this. Even rarer that I see us win one of them. But all night the crowd were in full voice. From the opening few minutes where the Munich fans stayed in the concourse in protest at ticket prices, right the way through to when Mesut Ozil wrapped up the victory in the 94th minute, I don’t think we stopped singing. It was the sort of performance and result that hadn’t come along too frequently, so boy did we enjoy it. Special mention here goes to another German visitor in FC Cologne. In September 2017 Cologne fans all but took over the Emirates for a group stage match, with a reported 20000 of their fans purchasing tickets all over the stadium. We were surrounded, but it was great fun, with it only being edged out by the Bayern match due to the lesser competition.

Most bored I have been; Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland; Premier League, 20/05/2015

It’s not always sunshine and roses though. You’d think that a game against opposition battling to survive in the early summer twilight would be a dream recipe for some vintage Arsenal. It was not. Sunderland set themselves up to get the point they needed to secure survival and defended for their lives, and Arsenal just could not break them down. The only point of note really was Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat crying on the pitch at full time in pride at surviving relegation. Oh, and I saw Alan Smith on the way out. Nothing else to report here.

Lowest point; Arsenal 0-1 Blackburn; FA Cup; 16 February 2013

At this point Arsenal were in to their 8th consecutive season without a trophy, and the fans were getting restless. Having just lost 3-1 in the first leg of the annual Champions league humiliation against Bayern Munich, the expectation was that Arsene Wenger would prioritise the FA cup and field a strong line up against lower level opposition to try and keep hopes of a trophy alive. Arsene didn’t see it that way however, making 7 changes to his previous league lineup with an eye clearly on the return leg against Bayern. The gamble backfired as Arsenal were humbled by Blackburn and were to remain trophyless for another season. To give Wenger a touch of credit, he did go on to win the return leg 2-0, only going out on away goals.

There are probably many many more moments I could list here, not all of them football related. I’ve sat next to a friend wondering out loud if Bananarama would be making a comeback midway through an FA cup tie against Coventry. In that same game there was a partial floodlight failure, with the fans in attendance doing their bit to light the pitch with their mobile phone torches. I’ve had another friend called a racist after calling John Moss a fat c**t in a league cup north London derby. The guy had unfortunately misheard what was said, thinking something unsavoury had been said about Moussa Sissoko (the claim against John Moss was true, however). There have been many highs and probably about as many lows, but there is plenty of time to make more positive memories. Let’s hope it starts this Saturday against Norwich.