Date: May 2002

Take A Trip Down Memory Lane With The EINY

May 25, 2002 by

“This Sunday marks the 13th anniversary of an extremely important night in Arsenal Football Club’s history as on this night in 1989 Arsenal were facing the undaunting challenge of having to go to Anfield and beat the defending league (and recently crowned FA Cup winners a weekend earlier) champions Liverpool.

What made it even more difficult was the fact that Arsenal required a win of 2 clear goals to lift the title as the rules back then stated that in the event of a tie at season’s end between top teams an extra point would be awarded for scoring more goals since the goal difference was equal at the time of the match. Liverpool hadn’t lost at hoime by 2 goals in over 3 seasons and Arsenal were not given a chance at all as they seemed to have squandered a lead of more than 10 points in the league in february and Liverpool were marching on to double success in the eyes of everyone in England at the time as it seemed that George Graham’s troops were just going to be swallowed up in the enemy territory of the dreaded “”Kop”".

This match was supposed to have been played earlier in the season but due to Liverpool’s run in the cup it was re-scheduled and many people didn’t think it wouldcome down to this night in a season where a terrible tragedy on April 15th put football in it’s proper perspective when fans were killed en masse at Hillsborough during the cup tie between Forest and Liverpool. The night was full of atmosphere and the Gunners were more than up for it and if not for a few good saves by John Lukic and a missed Steve Bould header on a corner, the half would not have ended scoreless. The second half saw more grit and determination by both teams and when Arsenal were awarded a free kick in the 74th (???) minute, Alan Smith nudged his head onto the ball and past BruceGrobbelaer for a 1-0 lead.

The Liverpool playersprotested (you can imagine the threats of “”Oi! we’re going to ‘nick your hubcaps, ref!”" and “”if you want to get out of here alive you better disallow it, mate!”" and so on) but to no avail as the referee walked over to his linesman and you could see him say “”he pushed him after it was a goal”" as he pointed to the semi-circle and we were in “”game on”" mode now. A few minutes later Michael Thomas was through on a sweet threaded ball from Paul Merson but he weakly shot it straight at Grobbelaer and you could almost think that the Gunners’ attempt at glory was all for naught. A few minutes of extra injury time were to be added and you could see manager Kenny Dalglish right near the touchline and captain Steve McMahon telling his team “”1 minute!”" (boy would he live to regret THAT!) as theKop became incredible in song then the follwing was said by commentators David Pleat (future sperz perhaps???) and the incomparable Brian Moore-Platt-”"I think in a way if Arsenal are to lose the championship having had such a lead at one time it’s somewhat poetic justice that they have got the result on the last day even though they’re not to win it”"…

Moore-”"I don’t think they’d agree with you on that, David”" (TOO BLOODY RIGHT!!!!!) and then..

“”Arsenal come streaming forward now in surely what would be their last attack..a good ball by Dixon finding Smith for Thomas charging through the midfield..Thomas!! It’s up for grabs now!!(goal)Thomas!!! Right at the end!! (delirium by the Gooners lucky enough to be there and all over London right now)An unbelievable climax to the league season, well into injury time. The Liverpool players are down absolutely abject..Aldridge is down, Barnes is down, Dalglish just stands there. Nichol’s on his knees, McMahon’s on his knees, suddenly it was Michael Thomas bursting through, the bounce fell his way, he flicks it wide of Grobbelaar and we have the most dramatic finish maybe in the history of the football league”"….. do you think???;)Maybe a minute of “”where’s the ref lost his whistle??”" and then finally the referee blew it and bedlam began as Arsenal brought the league title back to Highbury for the first time since 1971 at White Hart Lane.

There’s plenty of emotions and adjectives to describethe euphoria about the evening’s events, but 2 things stood out for me personally-the grit and determination by the team to go out against all odds and do it at the champions’ place and the smile that must have crossed George Graham’s face when he noticed in the hall leading up to the pitch that the scousers were planning to bring out the FA Cup and parade it along with the league trophy after the match (cheeky monkeys!) but to no avail as the Arsenal had become the champions and this match would be the 1 that most Gooners will say brought the club back and started the march to where the club is today.

So I say let’s all raise a glass to “”Saint”" Michael Thomas for winning the league on May 26th! Cheers…

1 life

1 love

1 club

1 nil!

“

“Dude, what’s up with Arsenal America?”

May 24, 2002 by

“I used to go to the website all the time, they always had new features and stuff, but lately it doesn’t look like they’ve added anything new.

Hey, trying to topple secret government agencies can be pretty tough work sometimes. Have YOU ever tried to get a [insert finger quotes] laser [end finger quotes] attached to a shark’s head? I didn’t think so.

Much like the pause one takes in that post-coital moment, Arsenal America has taken a bit of a breather in the afterglow of Arsenal’s Double triumph, which for many of us probably came close to bringing the same level of joy as the alluded to sexual coupling (or maybe that’s just me).

This drop-off in club football has neatly coincided with the busiest period of work I’ve had in a long time.

“”Yeah, so, we’re all busy.”"

True. But I’m going to share anyway because I think you might be interested in what’s keeping me busy 12+ hours a day. On Monday, while many of you are enjoying your Memorial Day BBQ, I will be flying to Sevilla, Spain. There I will act as host for a World Cup preview webcast. Joining me on this webcast will be a fellow who will need no introduction to you. The star of “”Victory”" (and three World Cups), Pele. Pele will give his views on the eight first stage groups. I will be asking him the tough questions, such as: “”Pele, who do you like to advance from Group F?”" and adding my own comments, like: “”Yeah, I don’t see the US getting out of the first round either.”"

“”Where can I see this webcast? I want to laugh at Rick.”"

**Shameless plug alert**Well, on Friday (or anytime next weekend) log on to: www.mastercard.com/fifaworldcup

You’ll see a link to the webcast from there.

“”Oi! I couldn’t give a toss for you, or the World Cup. Gunners forever!!”"

Ok, fair enough. Once I get back from the WC we’ll get ArseAm rolling again. In the meantime, we need a couple more votes in the ArseAm polls. If you, or someone you know, hasn’t voted yet please take a moment to do so now. You can find the polls by clicking on the Message Board link to the left.

Thanks.”