Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2: We got our trophy back

Post-match jubilation!

I felt certain that I was going to enjoy a unique occasion and I wasn’t disappointed. There are a number of things that made the day possible however, so maybe I should start with a vote of thanks to Ameobi and Shearer for doing their bit. For without their goals, and Shearer’s was a cracker, against London’s biggest spending serial failures, a repeat of 1971 would just not have been possible. Sitting in the sunny garden of a Tottenham Pub, receiving text updates of the score and trying not to cheer as the Newkie Broons scored was not quite how I would normally pass a Sunday lunchtime, but what better way to kill time before a game is there? Having been locked out of White Hart Lane in 1971, along with about 20,000 others, I for one am delighted that at least the ticketing systems have changed since those far off days. Thank God for away match credits. Thank goodness also for the massed ranks of the boys in blue kitted out in riot gear who enabled us to arrive at the turnstiles without the aid of an ambulance. Try to picture screaming Neanderthals with all the endearing features of Gary Neville on speed and you’ll maybe get the picture of some of the more passive looking boneheads. The vast baying hordes of mindless scum greeting us at WHL are not what a once half decent Club deserve. O k so maybe they are precisely what Spurs deserve, but I know a good number of decent Tottenham fans who are almost as embarrassed with these brain-dead, despicable morons as they are with their directors, manager and team.

The evil atmosphere outside the sh*thole that is WHL contrasted with the buoyant anticipation of the Gooners within who were all geared up for a party. Arsenal fans had no doubts about the outcome due to a total faith in our team that break records on a weekly basis. We are after all the League’s top scorers averaging over two goals a game and we also have the best defence. Perhaps best of all however are those lovely won, drawn and lost columns, which uniquely still contain a big fat zero in the lost column. Arsenal flags on the day were impressive, especially that of ‘The Hong Kong Gooners championship section’ whose banner looked very professional. We were all going mental long before kick off and you just had to laugh at the Tottenham huddle, which was a sad parody of the real one.

And so it began, a match which will not live as long in the memory perhaps as the atmosphere on the day and our reason for being there. It was seven Arsenal passes into the match when a white shirted player first touched the ball. The first foul was by Brown on Vieira, the first corner went to Tottenham and the first mugging went to Arsenal. Before you could say ‘kerb crawler’ Henry took it up on the edge of our box following the corner and proceeded to the halfway line at his usual casual pace. Henry found Dennis with a tasty pass, who in turn crossed for the rampaging Vieira to score. 0-1 Arsenal and the game was over pretty well before it began. ‘We shall not we shall not be moved, we shall not we shall not be moved, just like our team that’s gonna win the Premiership, we shall not be moved’

Henry turned Davies inside out before the chant of the day started up in our corner of the ground ‘71 we’ll do in again, 71 well do it again’. Lauren was too good for Taricco, but isn’t everybody. ‘What’s it like to win feck all? Handball by Keane. ‘71 we’ll do in again, 71 well do it again’ ‘Only one team in London, there’s only one team in London, one team in London there’s only one team in London’ Dennis broke left. Rednapp on Pires for a free kick. ‘Who’s that team they call the Arsenal, who’s that team we all adore, they’re the boys in red and white and they’re fecking dynamite, and David Pleat’s girlfriend is a whore’ ‘Shall we sing, shall we sing, shall we sing a song for you’

Patrick Vieira - Masterful

Sol headed clear from Kanoute. ‘Sol’s a Gooner der, der, der, dut’ Cole to Pires to Henry as we slipped into slick mode. Dennis almost found the killer ball for Thierry. Sol heads and cleared. ‘Hey, Hey-eh Y*ddo’s I wanna know o o o where your captains gone’ Sol clears again and Rice is out of his seat ranting, no idea why. Dennis had a solo and his shot was saved. Pires put Cole away but his cross was cut out. ‘One Arsene Wenger there’s only one Arsene Wenger’. Parlour with his first outing in a while was in hard on Keane. Tottenham possession went nowhere except the predictable square tick-over ball from the raely fit Rednapp. Henry called offside to a very obviously relieved cheer from three and a three quarter sides of the ground. Kelly dives and Parlour was axed. ‘Came to see the Champions, you only came to see the champions’ ‘43 years, 43 years, 43 years, 43 years’ The Totts won a free kick outside the box which Jens saved from Rednapp. Dennis in hard, Sol clears, Ray plays a poor ball, Cole blocks a ball from King and King then played a crap ball forward. ‘1-0 to the Champions’ Pires breaks. Scum fans stand for a chant which I can’t hear due to pretty well continuous noise in our section, well that a poor hearing. Gooners wave them to stand up and chant ‘Stand up for the Champions, stand up the champions’ So the Scum sit. ‘Sit down if you’re going down, sit down if you’re going down’ ‘No silverware, no silverware, you ain’t got no silverware, from White Hart Lane to anywhere, you ain’t got no silverware’ Never mind the football the atmosphere was something else.

It was a hard and fast game as Taricco shot onto the roof of the net. ‘Premiership you’re having a Laugh’ Dennis heads one on in another neat move. ‘Champions’ Parlour won a corner but Pires hit it straight at Keller. ‘71 we’ll do in again, 71 well do it again’ Kolo beat Jackson (who?) with ease. Sol conceded a corner that Jackson hit straight out. ‘You’re not very good’ A scissors kick by someone in a white shirt was aimed at a corner flag. Foot up by Brown on Vieira resulted in a quick free kick aimed at Henry that was cleared. More flowing passes saw Pat ploughing down the left and Dennis found him with a pass that Pat cut inside for Pires to side-foot home 0-2 Arsenal. ‘We’ve got our trophy back’ ‘Go home, you might as well go home’

Kanoute had a shot on target and Davies shot one over. Arsenal appeared to be in piss-take mode now, so were the fans ‘Spurs a big Club? you’re having a laugh’. Rednapp despite his best efforts failed to kick Vieira so Brown did it for him. The riot police were out very early to stop a pitch invasion, quite why is beyond me, does anyone recall the last pitch invasion by Arsenal fans, perhaps they were there to protect the Scum from a surprise attack by Gooners. Who knows? Then we twigged it and chanted at them ‘You only came to see the Arsenal’ Jackson had a cross tipped away by Jens for a corner, this in turn he punched clear. One irritating twat of a police sergeant insisted on standing in front of the Gooners to the annoyance of Gooners and the Tott’s main security man.

Pat far too good for Kanoute. Dennis to Henry for a left footed shot on target. Pires wins a ball despite being down on the floor. Half time and I’ve forgotten to mention that the subs were Keown, Edu, Reyes, Stack and Clichy.

‘71 we’ll do in again, 71 well do it again’ Defoe replaced Jackson at the break. Kanoute opened the second half with seriously crap shot. King limping before Defoe marked his appearance on the scene with a foul on Cole. Our subs warmed up. ‘Jose Antonio’ ‘Edu, Edu’

‘Come to see the Arsenal’ Renapp with a two footed lunge on Gilberto. Totts won a corner down ther right. Davies’ corner was held well by Lehmann as Kanoute jumped into him. Like most teams in the Premiership the Totts played the ‘lets rough up Lehmann game’ like most refs in the Premiership Mark Halsey let them. A fine ball by Henry to Cole who couldn’t quite find Dennis with his cross. Parlour tackled Keane delightfully but Keane was awarded the free kick. Kanoute blasted the free kick over but Halsey told him to have another go, so he blasted his second attempt wide – good variation.

‘ArseneWenger’sredandwhitearmy’ followed by another classic ‘Are you Tottenham in disguise’ Vieira tackled Defoe and Spurs won a corner which Sol headed clear. Dennis to henry who strolled in to win a corner. ‘Super Rob’ hit it too deep. ‘What the fecking hell was that’ Parlour made an overhead clearance aimed vaguely at Bergkamp. ‘Can you hear the Tottenham sing, woo oh woo oh, can you hear the Tottenham sing 'cos I can’t hear a fecking thing’ ‘Have you ever seen Tottenham win the League’ Cole saw off Kanoute. Rednapp tripped Parlour from behind as Arsenal broke with Vieira on the right. Yellow card for the spice boy. ‘We won the League, we won the League, We won the League, we won the League, we won the League at White Hart lane, we won the League at the sh*thole, we won the League at White Hart lane’

Pires gets the second goal

Pires and Henry combined well and Thierry’s shot was tipped around for a corner by the flying Keller. The corner was too deep once more. Parlour fouled for a Totts free kick, yeh, it made no sense to Ray or me either. Kanoute caught offside. ‘71 we’ll do in again, 71 well do it again’ Pat powers down our right and hit one low to Henry at the near post but it ends with a corner. ‘Vieira woo ooo, Vieira wooo oooo, he comes from Senegal, he plays for Arsenal, Vieira woo hoo ooo, Vieira woo hoo ooo’. Another great chant is heard ‘61 never again, 61 never again’ it’s already one of my personal favourites.

Tottenham down the left and a ball inside for Rednapp is met with a peach of a shot that has Jens well beaten – a good goal. Served us right for sitting too deep, something we often do when we’re well ahead but defending. 1-2. ‘We are Tottenham from the Lane’ was one of their few chants that I heard ‘We are Champions at the Lane’ Henry through but offside. Kolo clears as Tottenham attack. Dennis tried a long one with his left to Henry but by and large Tel didn’t get the service. Defoe blasted well over from a narrow angle. Edu replaced Ray. Kelly tackled Henry and the applause was such you’d have thought they’d scored. ‘Feck off to the Nationwide’ The very loveable Tarrico fouled Vieira yet again.

Them: ‘Same old Arsenal always cheating’ us: ‘Same old Arsenal always winning’ Dennis, Henry, Gilberto, Lauren, Toure, Cole and Edu passed it around well for a bit then Pires nearly found a fine ball for Dennis. Lauren and Cole were much deeper now. Pires set up Henry with a great chance that he fired just the wrong side of the post. ‘Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry’ A perfect tackle by Pat on Brown won Spurs a free kick and Pat was distinctly unimpressed with Halsey. Rednapp’s shot was tipped over by Lehmann. Arsenal were not attacking at this stage and were content to keep the ball. We were still playing too deep. Cole down the left for Pires. Edu hacked twice and the whistle went for the second. ‘ArseneWenger’sredandwhitearmy’ Henry played in Pires and he struck it well but it came back out from the underside of the bar with Keller well beaten. Kelly off Poyet on. Brown fouled Campbell. Reyes on for Dennis. ‘We’ve got Dennis Bergkamp’ ‘Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Jose, Jose’ Two white shirted players had a hopeful hack at Henry after Gilberto and Lauren combined well down our right.

Keane on a charge and the boots were beginning to fly. King used Henry as a step ladder. Pires to Henry whose shot hit the heels of a red shirt, unlucky. Keane fell over for a free kick. He fired it straight out ‘You’re not very good, you’re not very good, you’re not very, you’re not very, you’re not very good’ ‘Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio’ with five minutes left. Cole out jumped Kanoute. Kolo cleared. Reyes had a solo as Henry and Vieira continued to press. Edu headed clear. Kolo won a great ball in the air against Kanoute but the Totts have got a ‘homer’ and won a free kick. A crap decision! ‘Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio’ Defoe forced another fine save from Leahmann which he tipped over for a corner. Lehmann trampled on and shoved so our the mad German shoved back, and I think it was the lino who awarded a penalty. A joke decision by Halsey but sheer stupidity by Lehmann. Keane and Lehmann were both given yellow cards. There was a long delay after which Keane scored from the spot. A disappointing and unnecessary end to a game which we bossed for most of the time. I felt that if we’d needed to win it we might have pressed them more in the second half but we sat back. But it mattered not, unless of course they miss relegation by a point. ‘Champions, champions, champions, champions, champions, champions, champions, champions, champions, champions’ ‘That song, you’ll never sing that song’ It was an irritating end to a Spurs match but it just didn’t matter. We’d got our trophy back.

The players salute the fans

Not that we cared, but we were locked in for about an hour and a quarter. Those that tried to beat the rush found that outside our exit gates, and trying to get in were a huge mob of brain-dead, baying, boozed-up, barbarian bar-stewards being confronted by the entire Metropolitan police force in full riot gear and aided by the mounted police also kitted out to avoid cruelty to animals. To avoid cruelty to the horses that is, not the brain-dead, baying, boozed-up, barbarian animals. The team entertained us. Having celebrated at the end of the game in front of the Gooners the security ushered them off as some mindless Totts went mental. The team returned when the Scum had all departed and entertained us with a rubber chicken and a blow up Premiership trophy which was paraded to an empty ground and planted on the centre spot. The team departed once more and Arsene came out for a solo slot with the fans, he looked a happy man. He was for some reason far more relaxed than a few weeks back. So that was it – just some more waiting about and some loonies on the lookout for a fight to endure and we could get down to some serious partying.

A big thank you to everyone at the Club who through no little skill and endeavour made possible another fabulous day for Gooners across the globe. But most of all a vote of thanks to the man who knows, the only Arsenal manager to have won three Championships and the only living manager who has seen his side win an English Championship without having lost a match. The man who turns relative unknowns into world-beaters and very classy, skilful, hardworking, unbeatable world-beaters at that. The man we all love more than he could ever know. The man who is now, in my opinion, a greater figure in the Club’s history than Herbert Chapman. The man who was planning for next season before this one even started. Thank you Arsene Wenger, thank you so very much. You’re the very best and you’re ours, for which we are seriously grateful.

I was locked out in 1971 and locked in for the game in 2004. Not being there to see Ray Kennedy score is still one of my biggest regrets as a Gooner, but sharing Sunday with a few thousand delirious Arsenal fans finally made up for it. The night that followed was pretty damned good too. Due in no small measure to a sizeable bet made by John on Arsenal winning the League at WHL at odds of 25-1, winnings that were generously shared in the guise of Champagne bottles at The World’s End, but that’s another story.