Andreas Kokkinos
(Ed’s note – The new issue of The Gooner out on Sunday v Man Utd is an extra thick 64 page special with a £3 cover price. However, we did not have room for every article we wanted to run in it. After Bayern Munich’s 4-0 thrashing of Barcelona last night, here’s a piece reflecting on the possibility of better times returning written after Arsenal won in the Allianz Arena last month, which we did not have room for in the new issue…)
“Don’t know where, don’t know when…” So goes the Vera Lynn song; if anyone heard Johnny Cash’s rendering of the song on American IV, you’ll get it as a song of hope, a reunion with a loved one. I’m using it in the context of the Premier League trophy. As we are soon to enter the tenth anniversary of the last time we had the trophy in Marble Halls, we are currently as far away from meeting it again as we were 18 years ago.
I remember the first time I saw it. It was a sunny day in May 1998. After patiently pressing the re-dial button for two and half hours I managed to get a ticket. It must have been the last one available as my seat was on the back row at the very top of the old North Bank stand. At the conclusion of the wonderful trouncing of Everton it was brought on to the pitch, military style. Not sure if that was an Arsenal thing but it added a bit of authority to proceedings. There it stood glistening in the North London sunshine, waiting for our rejuvenated captain to proudly hold it aloft. These were the days when being the captain of The Arsenal meant something, not the prelude to a mega transfer to one of our so-called competitor clubs.
That was supposed to be the beginning of a relationship which should have seen that trophy become part of the furniture; for some reason it didn’t go to plan. Oh yeah, we sold three of the players that made that first Premier League triumph possible. It was another four years before it returned. I missed that reunion. Each time it returned, however, I had my photo taken with it, and as a consequence (some say foolishly) I taunt my Liverpool supporting neighbours with “I’ve had my hands on that trophy more times than a Liverpool captain”.
I sure as hell didn’t miss its last visit. That was a day not even this great Barcelona side have witnessed, a day we were crowned the Invincibles, the day Wenger held aloft the comical Arsène T-shirt, printed after he’d declared his Arsenal team would go the season unbeaten and for which he was mocked relentlessly for a whole year. I miss that guy; what happened to him? After we beat Bayern Munich in Germany, I became reflective about former domestic glories. I’m not sure if it was the stoic, confident performance, or the way the team fought for each other, or the colour of the shirt Wenger wore, but I caught a glimpse of a team that was on the verge of tempting that trophy to return to our neck of the woods. It seemed that the team had found itself. The victory may have been in vain this time round but this team know they can beat anyone on their day.
Whilst that grand trophy will reside again in the Manchester for another year at least, I hope this team can remember the level it found on a German night and keep it going. “Yes, I’ll know we’ll meet again some sunny day”.
