So Long Highbury

Well, that's that then.

After 93 solid years of football that ranged from total domination in the 30s led by Cliff Bastin, to the boring boring regime of Georgie G, and now the pure genius of Thierry Henry, the time has come for us to bid goodbye to one of the oldest and best grounds in England.

Highbury.

I can't comment on the atmosphere or how the comfy the seats were or how good the grub was, coz unfortunately, the economy did notallow this lifelong Gooner the opportunity to watch a game there. But what I can recall is what I've seen on TV throughout the years supporting the Arsenal, and these are some of the most memorable things about Highbury for me.

The Stadium
If you're not sure if Arsenal is playing at home or not, all you need to do is see the size of the players on the screen. If they're big, we're most certainly playing at home.

Unlike the rugby field/concert hall at Old Trafford, and the bitc-I MEAN-"beach" at the Bridge, we take pride in our pitch. There's no freaking way we ever allowed a dodgy, red-haired, mop top called Smelly Red belt out dodgy pseudo funk numbers on our turf!! Without fail, our pitch has always managed to replicate the top of a snooker table which accomodates our sleek passing game and can even make Bolton look good.

The Players
My first ever favourite player was this Swedish dude, Anders Limpar, but Highbury has been graced by many great players over the years I supported the team. Players such as Paul Merson, Alan Smith (not the rubbish one up north), David Platt, Ray Parlour, Marc Overmars, Manu Petit, Paddy Vieira, Ashley Cole, Freddie Ljungberg and of course the legendary back four of Adams, Bould (later Keown tha man), Dixon and Winterburn. In the early 90s, we bought this tough little git of a striker by the name of Ian Wright Wright Wright, who most memorably put Schemeichel in his place (red nosed Danish cvnt!).

And then there was Bergkamp. I can remember clearly THAT goal against Newcastle, where he made Dabizas look a complete fool... Well he was already a confirmed fool la, but foolier than usual that particular day (er, was that at Highbury?).

And Henry. What can I say? The hattrick last night against Wigan practically sums up his 8 years at Highbury in one word. CLASS... And I can only hope and pray that he doesn't leave us.

Of course we've also got a few duds over the years such as John Jensen, Remi Garde, Kaba Diawara (who?), Christopher Wreh (who who?) and Doofus Cygan, but sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

Well, its been a great 93 years at Highbury, of which I have had the privilege to follow this team at this stadium for the past 17 years. But here's to the future at (ugh) The Emirates... No no, I will refer to the new stadium as Ashburton Grove... (Imagine if Chelsea moved to the Samsung Stadium).

p/s : Teddy Sheringham is on the take.