1983 Arsenal v Swansea City 3-0
1985 Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur 1-2
1985 West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers 1-3
1986 Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur 0-0
1987 Arsenal v Wimbledon 3-1
1989 Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur 2-0
Sunday, January 6, 2013
31 December
1983 Arsenal v Southampton
New Year's Eve and I'm making the trip to North London. And why not. We are shit, we sacked our manager not too long before and we had struggled at home to Birmingham City days earlier. Why would anyone want to stay home.
Grim times at the Arsenal and the crowd of 27 and a half thousand witnessed a 2-2 draw with terrace hero Charlie Nicholas scoring from the spot. It was his second pen in two games at Highbury and indeed his second goal at home all season.
The terraces were filled with kids sporting their latest Sergio Tacchini, Pringle and Fila as the casual craze went from a bunch of thugs nicking them off clothes lines to parents buying them for their sprogs.
Odd, isn't it, what sticks in the mind?
1988 Aston Villa v Arsenal 0-3
I loved going to Villa no matter what day it was. We;d take so many it was almost like a reunion you'd keep bumping into familiar faces.
The thing with the Arsenal support back then was it was very splintered at home games. You had lads on the North Bank, the Clock End or in the seats. But come away games we were all thrown together and I gotta say we had a pretty impressive away following back then both numbers and noise. The fact we were splintered at home meant Highbury was much quieter.
But come away games we'd pile on the motorways or trains and head off for the Arsenal and it was what it was all about. Indeed there have been a number of times when I just blew home games off and saved the cash, or went elsewhere, preferring the buzz on the road.
And they didn't get much better or bigger than Villa. Nice stadium, nice and easy to get to and we usually got a good result like this day with a supreme chip from the late, great David Rocastle we still talk about to this day.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see the Arsenal win away. Christmas was over but the song still carried meaning.
New Year's Eve and I'm making the trip to North London. And why not. We are shit, we sacked our manager not too long before and we had struggled at home to Birmingham City days earlier. Why would anyone want to stay home.
Grim times at the Arsenal and the crowd of 27 and a half thousand witnessed a 2-2 draw with terrace hero Charlie Nicholas scoring from the spot. It was his second pen in two games at Highbury and indeed his second goal at home all season.
The terraces were filled with kids sporting their latest Sergio Tacchini, Pringle and Fila as the casual craze went from a bunch of thugs nicking them off clothes lines to parents buying them for their sprogs.
Odd, isn't it, what sticks in the mind?
1988 Aston Villa v Arsenal 0-3
I loved going to Villa no matter what day it was. We;d take so many it was almost like a reunion you'd keep bumping into familiar faces.
The thing with the Arsenal support back then was it was very splintered at home games. You had lads on the North Bank, the Clock End or in the seats. But come away games we were all thrown together and I gotta say we had a pretty impressive away following back then both numbers and noise. The fact we were splintered at home meant Highbury was much quieter.
But come away games we'd pile on the motorways or trains and head off for the Arsenal and it was what it was all about. Indeed there have been a number of times when I just blew home games off and saved the cash, or went elsewhere, preferring the buzz on the road.
And they didn't get much better or bigger than Villa. Nice stadium, nice and easy to get to and we usually got a good result like this day with a supreme chip from the late, great David Rocastle we still talk about to this day.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to see the Arsenal win away. Christmas was over but the song still carried meaning.
30 December
2007 Persija v Semen Padang 4-0
Given the flood of games on 29/12 it does seem odd that only one game has featured on this date and I had to wait almost four decades to catch it.
Comfortable game for Persija but don't remember too much about it too be honest. Maybe, just maybe I had been in the pub before kick off.
Semen Padang are a company club owned by cement company based in, yep, you guessed it, Padang. Wait, you never thought semen meant...oh I say.
I did meet a guy who seemed to be linked somehow with the club as a supporter's representative and he gave me his name card which was on the headed thingy of the company, not the football club.
The company is a state owned enterprise unlike similar clubs in Germany but they still share one problem common with many Indonesian clubs...they never have any money!
There may have been a game in Australia on this particular date but I am having difficulty tracking down accurate stats for the National Soccer League era.
Comfortable game for Persija but don't remember too much about it too be honest. Maybe, just maybe I had been in the pub before kick off.
Semen Padang are a company club owned by cement company based in, yep, you guessed it, Padang. Wait, you never thought semen meant...oh I say.
I did meet a guy who seemed to be linked somehow with the club as a supporter's representative and he gave me his name card which was on the headed thingy of the company, not the football club.
The company is a state owned enterprise unlike similar clubs in Germany but they still share one problem common with many Indonesian clubs...they never have any money!
There may have been a game in Australia on this particular date but I am having difficulty tracking down accurate stats for the National Soccer League era.
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