Michael Veryard
The current issue of The Gooner has an interview with 80s centre-back Chris Whyte who will be signing copies of the fanzine before the game against Norwich on Saturday, at a stall outside 168 Drayton Park, just before the steps up to the North Bank Bridge (or the Ken Friar Bridge if you prefer), opposite the entrance to the club’s offices – Highbury House. Chris will be there before the game from 1.15 until 2.45
Prior to carrying out the interview we asked members of the Gooner 2 Gooner forum and followers of our Twitter account for questions to ask Chris and one game kept cropping up time and time again. This piece which originally appeared in issue 80 of The Gooner from September 1997 explains why.
Ah yes… the early 80s! We were sh*t and we knew we were. But hey, we still had fun! Or at least I did, standing on the Clock End in my mid-teens, free from the disillusioned cynicism which would come later with the acquisition of a season ticket and a seat in the East Stand.
If any single match summed up the frankly bizarre goings on during this spell in Gooner history, it was the one which took place during the 1985/86 season. At home. Versus Aston Villa. Chris Whyte played at centre forward for us.
That last sentence is the key here. Older readers may recall that Chris was very much a centre half and the type of player often described as lanky (occasionally followed by the phrase “streak of p*ss” depending on who you spoke to). By 1985/86 he was out of the first team picture, but fate took a hand.
Arsenal were in the middle of a familiar goal drought. Meanwhile Chris had played up front for the reserves (presumably for a bet) and hammered six goals past a gobsmacked Charlton Athletic. Now, can you see what’s coming or do I have to draw you a picture?
Come October 5th 1985, an expectant crowd of 18,8881 (no talk of stadium expansion in those days!) held its breath as Chris took to the field in the footprints of such greats as Cliff Bastin, Reg Lewis and John Radford.
The match itself turned out to be an unexpectedly lively affair. Twice Arsenal took the lead through Viv Anderson and Tony Woodcock. Twice Villa equalised. Amidst all of this excitement, Chris wandered about up front with the air of a man who, while quite enjoying the new surroundings, perhaps felt that he really ought to be doing something constructive. No worries. His time would come. Three minutes from full time to be precise.
An Arsenal corner was half cleared by Villa and Chris pounced like a tiger (a rather tall, slightly clumsy tiger admittedly, but let’s not split hairs). He swung his right boot and sent the ball flying past Nigel Spink for the winner.
His team mates mobbed him. I went barmy. My Dad lit a fag in celebration (he was not a man given to wild outpourings of emotion in those days). A new era apparently beckoned.
In fact, the new era was just around the corner, but Chris was not to be a part of it. He left the club on George Graham’s arrival and flitted around several clubs before, to his enormous credit, securing a championship medal with Leeds.
And Arsenal? Well, now we have to put up with the likes of Wrighty and Bergkamp leading the front line. I ask you. Where’s the fun in that?
In the interview Chris tells us how his chance up front came about (it wasn’t because of a bet after all), why he had his toes broken by the club doctor and how he came to meet Arsene Wenger. The current issue of The Gooner will be on sale outside the stadium for the games against Norwich and Everton.
It can also be bought online here. The Gooner is also available in digital form, through The Gooner App on iPhones and iPads, the Exactly App for Android devices and now Kindle Fire owners can also get their fix by searching the Amazon App Store for The Gooner. The Gooner app is free and you can download the first few pages of each issue as a taster before deciding to subscribe.
You can also subscribe at www.exacteditions.com and read it through your internet browser as well as receiving a code which will enable you to access issues on all the above devices. All digital subscriptions include access to our digital back issue library which dates back to August 2010.
PS – We’ve also been asked to do a final reminder about AISA’s matchday experience meeting this Thursday evening near Great Portland Street. To find out more and to register to attend, see here.
