Yearly Archives: 2015

Arsenal FA Cup Song – Out Now

The Arsenal and Me – Ann’s Story

1974 Not the year I was born but the year I came to live in Islington.

I watched the 1971 FA Cup final at home in Scotland and was enthralled that both my teams had won…Celtic in the Scottish Cup and The Arsenal in London. A few years later (1973) is was doing my A Levels and wrote an essay on lads and lasses who went to Highbury. The essay helped me get a credible B Grade.

A year later, I had moved down to Islington and into a flat share where everyone else hated football. On a Saturday in October 1974 I went to find The Arsenal.

Highbury Fields were empty, there was obviously no home game on. So I walked from Highbury Corner, up past the college, past the shops and down the hill. I couldn’t see The Arsenal but knew they must be here somewhere.

By chance I looked to the left and saw the white and red facade at the end of the terrace. I found The Arsenal. I quickened my pace and couldn’t wait to walk towards the stadium. At the bottom of the road, Highbury stadium. It was beautiful then and remained beautiful the day we played our last ever match there.

I went to as many matches as a civil service salary would permit. I checked the scores on a Saturday, longing to go back and watch live football when I was too skint.

My life changed. I married, moved East.

A few matches here and there, especially if the Hoops came for a friendly, which was often.

My comrades from Glasgow, a friendly bunch came for the day, drank the pubs dry and scared the local kids. They were good box office though!

Brian Talbot, Liam Brady, Jon Sammels, Kenny Sansom, Tony Adams, Rocky Rocastle, Sammy Nelson. I am honoured to say that I saw them all!

Life then changed again. My son was born. It was an era where a team of Red men played great football in a northern town and in Europe. He became a Liverpool fan and still is.

Then Hillsborough.

The horror, the lies the cover up, only fucking working classes, pissed up fighting with the old Bill. Would never have happened otherwise. Fans went to a football match and didn’t come home. I had been to Highbury and I’d always come home.

As a result of Hillsborough, The North Bank was then dismantled. The club failing to include an accurate representation of our supporters in the hoarding while renovations took place.

When the North Bank was rebuilt, everything changed. Seats, play stations, bands before the match (live, not marching). Modern football had begun

On the pitch, footballers like Wrighty, Overmars, Pires! Big Dave in goal, Tony Adams at the back. Times were good.

I started watching on a regular basis again around the same time Monsieur Wenger joined the club. We queued up Avenell Road for 4 hours on the days tickets went on sale but it was worth it. This was before the internet, before a membership scheme. Before the new stadium.

We watched Tony Adams score that fourth goal against Everton, “we won the league, look at us!!!” The one where he opens his arms to take the salute, the same pose that is now his bronze outside the new stadium.

Dennis Bergkamp, “an artist at work” I’d say to my son as we watched him dance and slide skilfully out of a defenders field of vision and over their trailing leg. His testimonial opened the new stadium. I was sad he was going but we saw him at his best.

With the new stadium came a season ticket, a cost.

Regular football watching. One of the chosen few who had a seat and a view.

Our team, our boys, the tourists came, the brand of Arsenal created in a Corporate image. Monsieur Wenger was part of building that brand.

Many cold European nights. Many shock defeat. Many dodgy decisions, but that’s football. What go’s around come’s around.

And it came around in 2014. After 9 years of suffering, I fulfilled a lifelong dream and The Arsenal made that possible. I watched from a seat at Wembley as they won the FA Cup. I sobbed like a child, sobbed loudly into my hands when the final whistle went. It meant so much.

It took me back to 1971 when I was so enthralled The Arsenal had won the FA Cup at Wembley.

Last weekend I went to the semi final to see my Arsenal. It was a strange game as the team laboured. But we won. And that is the important thing. At the end of May to try and retain OUR trophy.

2015 is my 60th year on this planet. The club I went looking for in 1974 moved across the road. I moved several times but I keep coming back.

Last Christmas, my son bought me a plaque and it’s on the stairs along with many other outside the North Bank. It says:

“Ann Gibson, Fan since 1974”

That is who I am.

Ann
Follow @AnnGibsonLondon

Who is Arsenal’s first choice right back?

2 Replies

Over recent weeks, Hector Bellerin has come on leaps and bounds. Since his shaky first start in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, the run in the team has seen him progress at a rate that nobody, including Arsene Wenger, could have expected.

When he played that game against Dortmund, he looked out of place, his inexperience showing. He looked lightweight, his positioning was poor and defending was shocking. He did not show any of the blistering pace, or attributes, that had got many people glowing about as he came up through the youths.

Since that first game, the improvement has been remarkable. Peaking in the recent performance against Chelsea where he had Eden Hazard in his pocket for the entire game.

He looks like a typical young Arsenal full back in the Cole, Clichy, Gibbs mould. Extremely quick, meaning he can make up for his defensive lapses, and happy to bomb forward.

Very rarely now do you see him use that electrifying pace to get back into position. Instead, we now see it going forward, which he does regularly, providing the width to the side with Ramsey dropping inside.

Yes, he can still improve, his crossing is relatively poor and he can still be beaten easily when someone stands him up, but his performances are going to give Arsenal a selection problem, both for the rest of this year and the start of next.

With Bacary Sagna leaving last summer, Arsenal signed Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle for £10 million. After just a few games, we as Arsenal fans were happy. Debuchy was performing, both at right back and as an emergency centre back. Then he got injured.

It was that injury, and poor form of Calum Chambers that gave Bellerin his chance. And boy how he has now taken it.

The question to ask now is do Arsenal now invest the time in Bellerin, give him the rest of the season, and develop him into Arsenal’s right back for the next decade, or do they return to Debuchy, bring back the experienced man, who looked shaky in the FA Cup semi final?

Of course, we need a squad, and as we are seeing at left back, you can carry two top class full backs. But will Debuchy be happy with that? At best competing with, at worst playing second fiddle to, a 20 year old full back.

Remember, Debuchy is a French international. Their first choice right back. And at the end of next season, the European Championships are to be held in his home country. Would he want to risk losing his Arsenal place, and therefore losing his France place?

We could see a scenario where Debuchy’s Arsenal career is over before it has even begun.

And what does this mean for Chambers? His star seems to have fallen. After starting the season with a bang, forcing his way into the England squad, he now seems to have slipped back. The signing of Gabriel means he is now 4^th choice centre back, and Bellerin has leap frogged above him as right back.

At £16 million and still just 20, it would be silly to write him off (why am I even typing that?) but you have to ask where Chambers will get his game time from. Maybe an option would be to loan him out to a Premier League side until January, where he can play week in week out at centre back.

As for Carl Jenkinson, I doubt we will ever see him in an Arsenal shirt again. It is sad to say as he is an Arsenal boy, through and through, but if you are not good enough, you are not good enough. And sadly Jenkinson is our 4^th best right back. After playing a full season at West Ham, he has proven he is Premier League, if not Arsenal quality. And a reported £10 million transfer fee is a lot of money, even for someone as cash rich as Arsenal.

To add to the scenario, what would happen if Debuchy decided to leave to a club to guarantee first team football? Would that mean Chambers staying, as a back up right back, meaning he would miss out on important development at centre back? Or would Arsenal sacrifice the £10 million for Jenkinson and keep him around as 2^nd choice. I am sure he would just as happily sit on Arsenal’s bench than start for West Ham.

The Arsenal right back conundrum is certainly a confuddled one. And all caused by the excellent for of a young Spaniard.

We certainly have a player on our hands. Hopefully, as Bellerin’s career progresses, he does not go the same was as Cole (greedy), Clichy (never improved) or Gibbs (injury prone). We maybe have our right back for the next decade.

Keenos

Follow @KeenosAFC