Anfield ‘89
May 26, 2009
It was twenty years ago today that Michael Thomas scored the league-winning goal in injury time at Anfield, arguably the most important moment in Arsenal history. Arsenal America salutes Thomas, captain Tony Adams, manager George Graham, and the entire championship side!
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May 26th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Steve Bould was on the Anfield pitch that night for Arsenal, and he’ll be on that same field tonight — twenty years later — as his Arsenal youth cup team look to secure their 4-1 first leg advantage and become 2009 FA Youth Cup champions!
May 26th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Awhile back someone on here posted a link to the Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association website because there was a survey there about Arsenal’s season. I took the survey and somehow ended up on the AISA emailing list. All of the emails have contained member-submitted stories about the Anfield title game. I like them because I’m not old enough to remember (I was 29 days old when on that magical night) so it helps convey what it would have been like. Some of my favorites:
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“Born in ‘68, too young to remember the ‘71 double year, I spent the majority of my formative Arsenal years watching rubbish, first under Terry Neil and then Don Howe. However bad it got, and boy did it get bad (Walsall at home, anyone!) I still clung to the dream of one day seeing an Arsenal captain lift the League Trophy.
“Fast forward to the 26th May ‘89. Left for Highbury early in the morning, arriving with minutes to spare, I was on my own as the rest of my usual crowd had decided against the trip following the postponement of the original date. Everyone was in a good mood on the coaches with loads of banter flying around. Then we hit traffic on the M1, credit goes to the coach driver for doing his best to jump the queue each time we got to a junction.
“As we entered Liverpool about 10 minutes before kick off, a member of the local constabulary boarded the coach. He assured us that due to the traffic the kick off had been delayed and no need to panic, we wouldn’t miss a kick. So it was no suprise that we entered the ground just as Bouldy flashed a header just wide.
“Half time came and went and then the first magic moment when Smudger’s header hit the back of the net, cue bedlam. Then we come to Mickey bursting through the midfield and time is almost suspended. At this point I should explain that I was wearing glasses and without them am nearly blind (-8.0 in both eyes for anyone who’s interested). The last thing I saw clearly that night was the ball hit the net.
“I leapt in the air with everyone around me, but my glasses also leapt about 30 yards forward never to be seen again. The final whistle came and went, I celebrated along with everyone else. Big Tone lifted the trophy but all I could see was a blur in the middle of the pitch, only knowing the trophy was raised by the cheers.
“It was to be another two years before I finally saw that trophy lifted by an Arsenal captain, by which time I had taken the sensible step of investing in contact lenses. If anyone was hit or injured by a flying pair of glasses that night I apologise, but I’m sure under the circumstances you’ll forgive me.”
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” I was privileged to see almost all of the games at Highbury that season. The night of the game I met an American friend who loved football, came to this country as a Liverspud supporter but had been brought to the light. We made our way to the college bar, and after several pre-match drinks went into a tiny TV room to take our place. The atmosphere in the room was electric, with a very definite 6″ line down the middle.
“Like every other Arsenal supporter, we took dogs abuse all through the game, and when Pleat said “It’s fitting that, after the season they have had, Arsenal should win 1-0″ the Scousers erupted with a torrent a new abuse about lucky Arsenal not deserving a thing. And when we saw Barnes and McMahon shaking hands with a couple of minutes to go – we went mad.
“When Thomas burst through into the area, I think every Arsenal supporter in the room knew it was going in. I never saw the ball go into the net and I never saw the end of the game, Pete and I dancing with the others, which is just as well because I would have spent the last minute saying ‘typical of Arsenal to give away a penalty or something now’.
“When we had calmed down, I rushed down to the phone to call my Dad. I had to wait whilst a girl was talking to her mum. She was just about to put another pound into the phone when I said “If you put that in the phone, you will lose it!” She very calmly said to her mum “I’ve got to go, an Arsenal supporter needs the phone.”
“I called my dad and uttered the most ridiculous question in the history of man. Through a waterfall of tears I asked “Did you see the game?”
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“I was working in Barbados but had kept my season ticket and was determined to be there for the season’s end so I booked 5 weeks off. The Hillsborough disaster meant a delay in the last two games; I extended my ticket to take in the Wimbledon match but had to return to Barbados so gave away my Anfield ticket.
“Back in Barbados I was relying on Radio 5 (these were the days before satellite TV). Can you believe that for the only time in their history they went on strike. I spent the match in a beach bar phoning a mate in UK every 20 minutes from a payphone on reverse charging. He gave me live commentary for the last 5 minutes and at the final whistle I dived into the Caribbean sea.
“Many months earlier had also had huge bets with a number of scousers on the outcome of the title and was staring at a huge payout. I collected the bets from shocked scousers and invested the money in champagne and beer and sent a congratulatory postcard to George Graham (and amazingly got a reply).
“I made a promise that night that wherever I was in the world I would never miss another big game again. I have kept that promise and it has been very costly!”
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May 26th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I really expected there to be more excitement around here about this.
May 26th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I just finished watching that match on ATVO, first time I had seen the whole thing. Can only imagine how freaking stressed I would have been if I were watching that one live.
Before that a nice length interview with Alan Smith.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Excitement starts here!
I get chills up my spine just looking at the photo above.
Here’s my 1989 story.
I’ve be been a Gooner since I was a lad. I picked them as my team when they won the double, then we moved to North London and there in the A-Z was Highbury, just down the road from our new home. It was meant to be.
My old school was either Arsenal or Spurs and the corridors were also having mini-fights when we changed classrooms.
We used to take the 19 bus to the game and do “the squeeze” to get into the North Bank (put down two quid and two boys squeeze into the turnstile, for a saving of 50p each.)
I remember the Junior Gunners throwing snowballs at the opposing winger. And some big Panda mascot being taunted with cries of “Are you Gascoigne in disguise?”
Until May 1989, my most breathtaking finish to a live game was probably Malcolm Macdonald’s last-minute header against Wolves in a cup tie – and on TV the Man Utd FA Cup final, which I never got to see live as I had to work on a stall at Chapel St market. (Messed-up priorities or what.)
And so, in 1989, I was 24 and working at Punch magazine. I was also a super fuck-off yuppie scum season ticket holder, I thought. Lower west stand, sixth row. between the North bank goal and the halfway line. Smoking my Silk Cut and taking a thermos of fresh coffee with me.
I lived every game that season, going to all the London away games too. I’d already felt the high of the Littlewoods victory with Charlie Nicholas. And mercifully missed the following year’s defeat to Luton by blagging a freebie trip to Australia. I watched that game on TV with brutal jetlag and feel asleep just Winterburn was stepping up to the penalty, thinking it’s all over. A blessing.
But 1989 was the year when the team finally felt like a real George Graham machine. Thomas and Rocky were marauders in midfield. Smith was the striker who could hold up the ball. Merson was bursting through. Tony was the rock. Lukic was solid. Richardson was the tidy guy to break up the play. It was a good balance… And suddenly the title was in view.
I remember the gut-punch of Wimbledon snatching a 2-2 draw and part of me thinking, that’s that, but another part of me, not being able to give up hope: George Graham was Mr. Unflappable. The night of the big game I went back to my shoebox flat in Blackheath to watch it on TV alone. I knew I couldn’t face the world if we lost. Arsenal was my closest, most intimate and consistent relationship in my 20s – no birds came close! Only my cat, but he couldn’t work the doorflap for a pee never mind the offside trap. So Arsenal it was.
I drank half a bottle of Scotch up to and during the game, and never felt drunk, I had that much adrenaline. Even now, looking back, there is no way to describe the tension of near certain defeat, and then the explosion of last-gasp victory. It was eerie the way Thomas fluffed an easier chance earlier and then he got a similar chance – charging through with a ball almost off his shin.
I fucking bounced around my room like an asylum inmate. I couldn’t contain my joy – it was beyond words. It’s amazing how MY team – OUR team – winning gives you such a feeling of communal satisfaction and vindication. It was like having all these emotions at once – joy, crying, glee, disbelief.
I got calls from all my family, none of whom share my obsession, as if I’d somehow contributed to this mementous achievement. Even one old girlfriend figured this would be the perfect time to see if we still had a chance.
The next day I bought all the papers and relieved the experience. I still have them in the garage here in LA – I bought with me. I went to the parade at the town hall. I was on a high all summer.
I got the DVD of the whole game a few years ago on a visit to Highbury, during the farewell season, and watched it with all the same emotions welling up in me. Even thought I knew we one, I still felt nothing but a knot of tension. And still couldn’t believe Richardson somehow made that casual backpass to Lukic after the second goal.
It’s in the Guinness Book of Records, closest finish to a football season. Same points, same goal difference, we only won by virtue of scoring more goals.
Amazing.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Awesome.
May 26th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
We beat Liverpool at Anfield again!!! The youth team won the second leg 2-1. The first leg was a comprehensive 4-1 win. Aggregate is 6-2. Congrats to Steve Bould!!!
When will the first team give us results like this?
May 27th, 2009 at 7:03 am
I was a teenager at the time and yet remember it like yesterday. It is vividly etched in my memory. I can still see the Liverpool players faces in those final minutes in the break in play before the Thomas goal….McMahon, Barnes, Whelan, the gestures, the signs of “1 more minute”. Then the goal and the Thomas summersault.
It was one of those defining ocassions that gives great clubs a depth of history that goes beyond the trophies themselves. You can’t plan for these things, history bestows the opportunity upon you and you either take that opportunity or you don’t. We did in stunning fashion. It’s like Macmac describes so beautifully, it’s the emotion that was palpable. I too screamed the house down, I had witnessed something fantastic, in retrospect it was the rebirth of modern Arsenal. Wenger quite rightly gets enormous kudos, yet GG got the club winning again. A winning base. No GG no Wenger no Emirates.
The game one of the gooners greatest. They were a young team who relied on their collective synergy and they were up against one of the greatest English teams ever, that Liverpool side was a thing of beauty and steel, fantastic. A side fueled with emotion from the recent stadium tragedy. So yes that night was priceless.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:49 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eR67RXMlvE
One thing great about watching the kids play is – look at the PASSION. to them, football is still a game they love, money hasn’t come into full equation yet. it may be ONLY a FA youth cup to some. but judging from how they celebrated after each goals, it surely hell means a lot to those kids!
May 27th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Anfield 89 is fairlytale stuff, that u cannot possibly come up with a better script than that.
I was 15 back then, and watched it live on TV. Maybe due to my youthful naivety, I DID BELIEVE we had a chance prior to the match. that was not blind faith or wishful thinking. more a hunch. Or a hunch as a result of my faith into that side – I knew they would not give up without a fight.
I knew that because a couple years ago they had twice come from behind to beat Spurs and Liverpool to win the Littlewoods Cup (League Cup). when a team displayed a never say die spirit like that, it got you to BELIEVE.
Steve Bould could have given us an early lead in the first half with a header. Missed. but never mind, still plenty time to go.
Early second, Smith scored from a Nutty cross. now that made me even more nervous. as we needed to win by 2 clear goals, if we are going to lose the Championship that night, i would rather to get beaten by them than seeing our team winning 1-0 and end up one goal short.
right into injury time, one image i can still recall vividly is – Steve McMahon waving his finger, signalling to his teammates “ONE MINUTE, one minute to go”.
that’s the beauty of football, ONE minute could make a BIG difference! When Thomas was through, I could not believe what I see (that he’s really through one on one with the keeper right in the final minute!)…. before I even had time to think, Thomas coolly flicked the ball over the keeper into the net.
Nick Hornby was flat out on the floor of his friend’s flat at that particular moment, I was, like macmac, chicago G, jumping all over the place!
Hornby called it “the GREATEST MOMENT EVER”. u cannot come up with a better term to describe it had you ever experienced that MOMENT.
Arsenal can go on to win the CL, to win everything, but NOTHING, NOTHING will ever beat that MOMENT for me.
It’s every football fan’s greatest dream – seeing ur team, haven’t won the championship for 18 years, being the massive underdog, need to go out there to beat a massive odd, and NOBODY, NOBODY GIVE U A PRAYER…. and somehow ur team go out there and finish the job with a last minute goal. Fantastic!
two things i remember them most on that night was -
(1) how COOL and CLAM Michael Thomas, then still every much a youngster, scored that winner. He made it look like a shot attempt in a preseason friendly rather than a last minute title decider.
(2) and how COOL and CLAM afterward George Graham had shown. Deep inside his heart, he must be thrilled. He had to be. Arsenal is in his blood. Yet George celebrated winning the league title like celebrating a preseason friendly tournament trophy winning night.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
that casual backpass after we went 2-0 up was actually from Thomas, just as cool as the goal he scored!
like u, these days i got many friends who call themselves Arsenal fans. yet back in those days NONE of my classmates supported Arsenal. they were either Liverpool fans, Everton fans or United fans. i must be a freak in their eyes supporting a side who had won NOTHING (apart from a Littlewoods Cup) in God knows how many years. And a side who’s famous for being “boring”, “dirty”.
so i felt the same way the Arsenal team felt at that time “WE AGAINST THE rest of the WORLD”.
May 27th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
without George Graham, i probably would not get hook by Arsenal.
but IMO there’s a big irony of George:
The achievement he had over his reign was largely built on a foundation of his kids – Adams, Rocky, Hayes, Quinn, Thomas, Merse. Those kids had in fact already made their debut (Merson aside) before George’s arrival. So it’s like Wenger inherted George’s old back 4, George inherted the kids developed by a certain Don Howe, arguably the best coach England has produced in modern days.
Don Howe as a manager was an awful one. yet as a coach, he’s second to none in England. Tony and co learned their trade under him.
George’s faith in the kids was admirable as it was him who trusted them into the first team regulars. yet George himself had not really producing any bright young prospects for the club.
my biggest disappointment at him is not that he took the money from the agents and bought us some crap signings in his later years, but the fact that when he left, he left behind a mess – the same old back 4 still being the rock of Arsenal; virtually no promising youngster bar Ray Parlour; to go along with a bunch of journeymen.
in his final season, we dropped to as low as 12th place in the league, 6 points above relegation zone.
so yes, it’s George who revived Arsenal fortune back in the early 90s. but without Arsene, it’s unthinkable how Arsenal would have been today. 4th place finish, Champions League final 4 a failure? more like a major ACHIEVEMENT post Arsene standard. at least that’s the case when Bruce Rioch was in charge.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Oops. It was Thomas, wasn’t it. Richardson was the one on the deck with cramp.
And George Graham was the one telling the bench to calm down after the final whistle. Calm down? No chance.