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As in last year's edition the book comes complete with a manager's message by the great man himself, Arsène Wenger, who writes as eloquently as ever. This compact 192-page paperback is generously illustrated throughout with around 240 colour photographs, which include match action and all the essential personnel from the 2004-05 season.
As previously the biggest section of the book provides a two-page report for every competitive first team match of yet another historic record-shattering season. The reports also provide photos from every game, team line-ups, goal scorers, substitutes, date, kick off time, attendance figures, goal times, form guide, yellow and red cards plus the name of the ref who booked or dismissed them. All the match reports appear to be factually correct and certainly contain sufficient information to rekindle the memories of anyone present but they somehow lack a bit of passion. I presume maybe because this is an official narrative the book can't quite bring itself to criticise the referees or tell it quite as enthusiastically as the fans actually saw it on the day.
For the example the description of Thierry Henry's dog's bollocks goal against Charlton at Highbury is described as a cheeky back-heel rather than the gob-smacking masterpiece it so obviously was for all witnessed it. It also comes out with some ‘party-line' stuff such as the comment that ‘Arsenal could take many positives from this defeat' when referring to our 2-0 mauling at Sold Trafford. There is also a rather unfortunate comment referring to Vieira's commitment to the Club in the Cup Final match report but this is just picky criticism because the match reports serve their purpose well enough.
As a photographic record the pictures chosen do an excellent job regarding the games played and include a number of great photographs. I found it quite amusing to browse through all the photos just studying the expressions on the players' faces in all the action shots. If you ever doubted such things as commitment take a good look at the totally concentrated effort on Freddie's face in almost every shot. In the photos where he is not committed to the cause it's because he's celebrating with enthusiasm. Henry's contorted grimace as he fires off a shot is also something I can't say I'd particularly noticed previously.
A couple of diary pages for each month of the season remind us who was voted player of the month on the Arsenal.com website. This feature also provides the League table as it stood at the end of each month and a brief outline of unfolding events as they were happening. Profiles and Statistics of all first team players and staff plus statistics are included. The reserves and youth players receive rather more minimal treatment but do all get the photos in the volume. Also included is a map of England showing all the venues we travelled to last season and the results obtained there. The Ladies team is afforded four pages to cover their unbeaten League campaign. Three additional sections are also included ‘Travelling with Arsenal' provides the necessary information to reach any of the Premiership away grounds in the coming season. The second new section gives an update on the progress of our new stadium, which as any eyewitness can confirm is looking fabulous even before completion. The book finishes, appropriately enough with a piece on the future of Highbury after this our final season at The Home of Football.
As with any good book you'll be able to order it from any decent bookstore if you quote the following ISBN number: 0 600 61338 0 or alternatively checkout your favourite online bookstore. Or no doubt all places you'd expect to sell it in and around Highbury will be doing so if you're paying a visit in the near future.
The Official Arsenal Yearbook 2005
Priced £12.99
Published by Hamlyn 2005