8 Years and We’ve Won Nothing

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Of late I have been thinking more and more about doing a series of write-ups about that song which other Premier League teams sing at us as we travel around their grounds.
The sentiment behind it implies that we have not been challenging or fighting for trophies, we have not been close in the league or finals, we have simply been doing enough to finish 4th and get by as a club.
This is false information as we all know, we have challenged and been close to winning the title, we have been in finals and have been closer than people know to collecting that coveted first trophy since the move to Emirates Stadium. I want to cover the seasons since that last trophy, the FA Cup win against Man United, to show how close we have become and what scuppered us in the final stages, where we fell down.

We are closer than ever this season to being able to win the league, we are fighting as a team in every game and showing we deserve to be in the run in, lets remind ourselves of past seasons where we did the same and see what went wrong.

Unfortunately after that opening to this review, the first season covered was not a competitive one in the league. 2005/06 was the first season after we won the FA Cup and we did well to scrape into the top 4 after a last day disaster for our North London neighbours at Upton Park.
It was the last season at Highbury and we had sold Paddy Vieira to Juventus with Thierry Henry taking over as captain.We had signed Alex Hleb and Nick Bendtner most notably in the summer, with Diaby, Adebayor and Theo coming in the January window.
It was an indifferent start to the campaign losing away at Chelsea in our 2nd game but being 2nd in the league after 5 games. Who could forget the infamous penalty attempt by Pires and Henry against Man City when they tried to replicate Cruyff and Olsen’s genius penalty for Ajax, it ended in disaster when Bobby touched the ball twice.
Our title charge ended before Xmas with 3 defeats in a row, the first time under Wenger that this had happened.
The main thing that grabbed me in scrolling back through the results for this season was our games against the other top 4 teams. Against Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea home and away we only won 1 game, against Liverpool at home, and drew at home to Man Utd. This is clearly not going to win you the league, especially when you are losing to teams such as Middlesbrough, West Brom, Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham.
We finished the season well losing only once in our last 11 games. The last day win at home to Wigan meant we finished 4th after Spurs had lost 2-1 at West Ham, the now appropriately named Lasagna-Gate controversy.

The one shining light was our Champions League run, we got to the final for the first time in our history, we went to Paris to see our team play in the most prestigious competition in world football. I was there to see it and ill never forget it, to see your team play in that game, to be in the stadium watching your club compete in that game is something special. I wasn’t distraught that we lost, I stayed and clapped Barca off the pitch but there are regrets there for me. I wish the ref would have let play go on and let them score instead of sending off Jens, keep 11 men on the field so we could compete in the game. Henry could have won us the game when we were winning 1-0, he could have put us up 2-0 and I think we would have held on but it wasn’t to be. I was proud to be there. In the run to the final we played some big teams and put them out, one of the most famous wins was Madrid away with Henrys goal, again I was there to see this and its simply something you will never forget, winning in the Bernabeu is a great feeling. It was ultimately the thing that kept our season alive, doing well in the Champions League gave us the momentum to finish the season strong and get into the top 4.

In the domestic cups we went out in the Semi Finals to Wigan and out in the 4th round in the FA Cup away at the hands of Bolton.

In Summary, it was the first season after we had won the FA Cup, we sold our captain and didn’t have a good league season only finishing 4th on the last days results. We got to the Champions League Final but lost, still had a chance at winning a trophy only the first season after winning our last.

Cheers for reading
Norby

The Origins of the Perry Groves Song (and why No.7 was Liam Brady?)!

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Whilst I search my memory banks for the latest update on my Arsenal story (Part I & Part II) I digress from this to disclose the origins of the Perry Groves World song!

Fans have always had  tongue in cheek songs for the players that were not A list or Category A to use a pricing theme over the years.

Willie ! Willie ! – for Willie Young.!
Whoops a daisy it’s Martin Hayes-ee! ( I’d like to know who started that one!)

But,the Perry Groves World is one that took off, and its popularity remains today, being sung at both home and away games on a regular basis.

So, where and when did it emerge? All can be revealed!

I’ll take you back to the 1980s and the English club ban from Europe following Heysel – the current 20 somethings are blessed with the European way trips every year whilst the 20 somethings of the mid 80s had that door slammed shut in our faces. It looks now a strange quirk that whilst the clubs were banned, the international team carried on, so the England fans still had their away trips (anyway, I digress)!

Others looked to Celtic or Rangers as an outlet for their wanderlust! For some of my Arsenal mates and myself, we of  the London Irish parish of the broad Arsenal church did Ireland away trips in Europe  during the interlull!

For those who have donned the international cap, a degree of decorum is required what when meeting your fellow country fans because they are not all Arsenal! But, what tended to happen at least in my experience is you left your club allegiances at the bar door and shared the commonality of away trips, away grounds, policing etc. We got on well with a number of cockney reds of Irish descent! Shock horror now regarding fraternising with Man United fans, but the Man United of the late 80s was not the one of today ,although they seem to be moving back that way!

These were good lads, proper football fans, not like the current breed. They knew their football history and called our North Bank  the Laundry End! (They were right!)

At the end of an evenings drinking a few club songs would break the general neutral détente!  But nothing too controversial! We sang in praise of the AFC and they matched this with a the sing a long pf “we all live in a Georgy Best world!” – A late 60s song. (City sang a version to a Colin Bell world! They went through the numbers, but when it came to no 7, they sang in praise of their captain Bryan (man of the match) Robson!

The song was a catchy and uplifting  football song! My mate (who shall remain nameless) in an inspired  drink fuelled moment of clarity thought of a take the piss response version.

Perry Groves, who was a fan, who gave his all. As a player, Groves was never going to be a Georgy Best in terms of ability, but more than a Best in terms of loyalty, so was sung in response! We sang it in fake Manc accents and we were of the vintage that Liam Brady just had to be No 7!!

The song was a hit in pubs on the Ireland way trips! In terms of Arsenal games, we were still of that age and clique that considered singing was for the barmys other than  “Be Jesus said Paddy!”

It took until May 1991 for the song to debut when we were in the Bank Of Friendship on the day that Liverpool got beat by Nottingham Forest to give us the 1991 league title before we played Man United later that evening. Thinking back on it, it was due to the occasion one rare time when all my AFC gang including the London Irish away trip ones were together!

We debuted the Perry Groves song to the pub as the drink and champagne flowed! It went down a treat. We continued on the celebrations the following Saturday when we had the Championship presentation after hammering Coventry 6-1!! We sang the song in more pubs and heard the song echo elsewhere!!!

Songs are often established on away trips! I have read before that the song was heard first at Vienna away in the European Cup the following autumn. Possibly! The song was on the fans singlist by then and none of my gang were in Vienna. I heard it first at a match  at the away game after our FA Cup disaster at Wrexham. We were at QPR away, me and a mate (who would always turn up following a bad defeat to show his support). Perry was warming up on the touch line and our way support sung Perry Groves World!

The song is still sung today. Although the “Liam Brady no 7” is forgotten by the present generation rather like the old Sicilian guy in The Godfather 2 trying to get  a young wedding  band to remember an old Sicilian tune!

As an aside to my older ears, all football songs are now sung too fast or in the case of the new Flamini song, out of tune Mrs Robinson!

“All Continue reading →

10 Reasons why we will beat Villa + starting XI

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OK well hands up I got the 10 reasons why we will beat Villa WRONG when we played them at home this season, in my defence this was pre-Ozil.. https://shewore.com/2013/08/17/10-reasons-why-we-will-beat-aston-villa/
1.. We have Ozil now, back after his winter break/shoulder injury

2.. We have a nice 9 day break from our last game, which was a fairly easy 2-0 win against some mongs from Middlesex.

3.. Despite what http://www.arsenal.com are saying about team news I would expect Giroud to play.

4.. We haven’t lost at Villa since 1998

5.. Villa have only scored 7 home goals, we have scored 21 away goals.

6.. Theo is out till next season, but we have Gnarby ready and willing to come off the bench.

7.. Koscielny is fully fit, him and the BFG have never lost a game they have played the full 90mins since 1901

8.. Diaby is injured, which is better than him playing.

9.. Rosicky, currently in the form of his life.

10.. Wenger knows, after the first game when Villa beat us we were rock bottom, a win tonight and we are, well we are top

Likely Starting XI – Chesney, Sagna, Kos, BFG, Monreal, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky, Ozil, Giroud

GC