Arsenal launched their new museum on Thursday evening and I was fortunate enough to attend this function. It is located in the basement of the flats located near the North Bridge of the Stadium. As we descended the stairs there was no foyer with an open topped London bus to be found as previously but there to greet us instead was a life sized model of Herbert Chapman. The museum wasn’t as vast as I’d anticipated but was very cleverly set out and packed with historic Club related gems.

Pleasingly, and I suspect even more so for Junior Gunners, there are far more screens and interactive facilities than were evident at the old museum in the North Stand of Highbury. The first one I tried was an old telephone which offered a choice of managers whose voices could be heard at a press of the appropriately labelled button. However, on an evening where I got to chat with such legends as John Radford and Paul Davis and drank too much wine, I didn’t try very many of the interactive exhibits. Which of course means I can look forward to that pleasure when I go back with a full morning or afternoon to spare and can really take it all in.

Any Arsenal memorabilia addicts will be in seventh heaven with the great displays of replica trophies, medals, shirts, signed shirts, player awards, opposition pendants, letters, tickets, footballs, boots, golden boots, photographs and numerous artefacts such as Mr Chapman’s bowler hat. They are all clearly labelled and many offer an unexpected wow factor. Quite how Charlie George might explain the life size replica of his ’71 Cup Final celebration would certainly be worth hearing.

We were also treated to a stadium tour which at one point our guide described as ‘here at Highbury’, clearly still learning his lines at his new home. If there is such a thing as six-star luxury then that has to be the Diamond Suite, it is quite simply gob-smackingly stunning. The smell that wafts from the leather chairs, the detailing on the wooden panels and glass, the eye-catching display of glass trophies, the replica Clock End clock and the sumptuously stocked bar are all quite amazing. As are the armchairs in which the members view the match.

No photographs can do it justice you just have to be there and experience the opulence. Impressive is just a massive understatement and I could bang on for hours about the dressing rooms in a similar vein. There can surely be none better in any of the world’s great stadiums. When the Club finish the lower concourse to this same incredibly high standard the whole stadium will just be beyond belief.

Walking down the tunnel and emerging into the playing area made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle and the vista which greets you there looks truly amazing at night, not to mention awesome. In fact to my eyes the Stadium looks better with every visit and I can tell you that the place is absolutely beautiful as seen from Mr. Wenger’s seat. The only down side of a fabulous evening was the site of those still bare concrete bands and the total lack of any visual Arsenal identity within the stadium bowl.

So was the museum good and how was the tour? Let me just say I fully intend enjoying both of them again in the near future, only next time I will definitely be taking my camera.