Robert Exley
So in the two weeks that have passed since the Portman Road debacle Arsenal have managed three wins, scoring nine goals. Twelve days on from a side that could have played all day and night and not scored, Arsenal look a more confident outfit and once again hope springs forth that there is an end in sight for the six year trophy drought. However one should be warned of Paul Jewell’s open confession to ‘park the bus’ at Ashburton Grove and fight tooth and nail to keep their grip on their slender one goal advantage over the Arsenal. Jewell also has form in relation to putting one over Wenger – giving Arsenal their first taste of defeat this millennium back in February 2000, as well as his Wigan side eliminating Arsenal from the League Cup at the Semi Final stage six years later with a last gasp extra time strike by Jason Roberts. Also those who watch Arsenal week in week out know only too well that on their day Arsenal could potentially lose to any side in the world no matter what level of domination they hold over the opposition in relation to possession. One also cannot under-estimate the effect of the burden of expectation on the players to live up to the achievements of past masters wearing the famous red and white, and fans are only too quick to inform all and sundry of what they expect from the players. What few fans however wish to hear is that they too have a history to live up to and in recent years they too have fallen way below the threshold expected from a club with our history. Many are quick to point to how the cash nexus may well have destroyed the player’s sense of obligation to the fans and the club, however many fans are so lost in the resentment at having to part with so much of their hard earned cash that they too have long forgotten the role they can play in bringing trophies back to the Grove.
The commercialism that has swallowed up football over the years has turned us fans into passive consumers, expecting entertainment and achievement without adding anything – and after all why should we? As pointed out here by the very talented comic Lee Mack, people don’t expect to entertain themselves once they’ve paid their cash. This however is a great shame, as it is beyond doubt what a positive effect a fired up crowd can have on a result. The gold standard of this came 41 years ago and brought to a long overdue end a trophy drought that makes today’s spell look like a mere over-zealous mid-summer hosepipe ban from Thames Water. In April 1970 Arsenal were facing their third final defeat in three years. In 1968 they were drawn into a physical battle with Leeds and lost 1-0 to disputed goal. Twelve months on at Wembley, Arsenal looked like a mere shoo-in to bring the League Cup back to Highbury against a Swindon side then, as now, languishing in the third tier of English football. What resulted however was, along with Wrexham and Walsall, probably the club’s most embarrassing scoreline – a 3-1 defeat to Swindon at Wembley. On the day of ‘Lasagne-gate’ in 2006, Bob Wilson, speaking on Radio Five Live revealed that a similar thing happened to Arsenal that day in 1969, when nine players came down with food poisoning. And lest we forget in the 1960s Arsenal, like Spurs in 2006, were living in the shadow of their more successful neighbour.
In the first leg of the 1970 Fairs Cup Arsenal went down 3-1 to Anderlecht in Brussels. In an environment of great hostility, the Anderlecht crowd booed and jeered every Arsenal touch. Arsenal players through the press called on their support to return the favour, and so they duly did. The crowd, from both the North Bank and Clock Ends had been persistently chanting for the Arsenal, which never went unnoticed by the players. Frank McLintock stated that ‘The crowd was like the twelfth man that night. You could feel the hunger in the air. It got through to the players and energised us even more’. And it couldn’t have been more effective as Arsenal run out 3-0 winners on the night, sowing the seeds for the double success the following season. One of the Arsenal side that night – George Graham - was obviously taking notes on how a crowd can swing a result for an embattled side. See here George’s inspiring team talk in the wake of his side’s two point deduction for their part in the Battle of Old Trafford in 1990, causing them to fall eight points behind champions Liverpool. George clearly highlights the side’s need to get the crowd behind them, seeing it as ‘worth a goal start’.
Throughout this time the Arsenal crowd played their part, particularly at White Hart Lane in 1987. I once worked with a colleague who was present that evening as a neutral – he attributes the delirium which met Rocky’s last ditch goal to finally get through to a major final after seven years of crushing mediocrity as the most ecstatic he’d ever personally witnessed inside a football ground. A great quote which sums up the importance of nights like Anderlecht in 1970 and White Hart Lane in 1987 comes from Peter Swift, an Arsenal fan quoted in Jon Spurling’s ‘Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5’. In describing these two iconic nights he states ‘the team and the crowd just merged as one. It is the sort of occasion which happens once in a generation and you can sense the enormity of it all as the game unfolds. You could tell on that evening: This is it. It has to be the start of something’. Everyone knows that winning something would make an enormous difference to the confidence of this side, which this season is still in the running for all four trophies. For an historical precedent away from Highbury, see Liverpool at this very stage a decade ago who like Arsenal had just gone six years without a trophy. Having gone down 2-1 to a Crystal Palace side who, like Ipswich were playing in the 2nd tier of English football, the Scousers overturned the deficit to win 5-0 at Anfield, en route to winning three trophies that season.
Therefore there is every reason to go into Tuesday’s fixture with optimism, as well as to show full support to the side and avoid getting on their backs should this Ipswich side not break immediately. I myself am also optimistic that we should see the Arsenal crowd at their best, as the Carling Cup attendees are usually more vocal than Ashburton Grove’s regular clientele. We should also remember that Arsenal these days play less often in old-style grounds like Portman Road and therefore the environment favoured Ipswich. This however is the away game for Ipswich – few of their players will have run out in front of 60,000 people before. It’s our job as fans to make this experience every bit as daunting as it sounds for the Ipswich side. Like with Anderlecht in 1970, it’s our opportunity to return the favour.
Also getting back to the question of the cash nexus and why hard working Arsenal fans, at a time when the threat of a double dip recession looms large over the nation, should have to provide vocal force to aid a team of millionaires against Championship bottom feeders like Ipswich - it should be remembered that the most anyone is paying out to attend is £20. The ones closest to the pitch, within earshot of the players, are paying a mere tenner. To put this into perspective £10 is four lagers in a London Wetherspoons or three Big Mac meals. In essence it’s not that great an expense for top class entertainment in 2011 and Arsenal in recent years though not successful have never been short on entertainment. And should the worst come to the worst and Arsenal fail to progress against Ipswich on Tuesday, even with an atmosphere to match Anderlecht in 1970 or White Hart Lane in 1987, at least we as Arsenal fans can look future generations in the eye and say regardless of what the millionaires performed like on the pitch ‘We did our bit!’
