Liam Austin
Sometimes football can throw up such circumstances of fate they can seem too bizarre, too unbelievable for the script. Think Anfield 89, the last day at Highbury, or even the last day at the Old Dell for the Saints (last minute goal by Le Tissier to complete his hat-trick and 0-2, 3-2 comeback)
On Saturday at the Cup Final, our family of gooners experienced our own surreal twist of fate which was 26 years in the making. In April 1988 my Father made an Arsenal flag out of a bed sheet and some red paint. Since that day it has travelled around the country and Europe (and Leicester), and seen a further 10 cup finals. It has become something of an institution in our household, complete with its own rituals; for example it is used as a duvet before a cup final, and when we win something, it is proudly installed in the front window for a few days in rain and shine. (hasn't had this experience for a while!)
In March it made the trip to Munich for our CL game at Bayern, and it was at this game I decided that this year would probably have to be its last. It was starting to look tired. Compared to the new modern flags on display, it had certainly began to show its age. It has never been washed, and has now been torn one too many times in efforts to tie it in position. When we made it to Wembley for another final, it seemed a fitting way for it to bow out for us.
It followed its usual routine before the final, and we took extra pictures of it up Wembley Way and inside the ground. Getting into the ground reasonably early, we were also able to hang it in a great position at the front of the lower tier. And of course, we won the game, so a lovely, victorious end to a 26 year career for 'the flag.'
That is not the end though! Amidst the celebrations after the game, Father turns to Son and, pointing at Bacary Sagna, says, "That looks like our flag!" Son squints at Sagna, and is astounded. "That is our flag!" Sagna had taken it from its watching post and proceeded to parade it around the pitch. He then passed to to Kieran Gibbs who wore it on his back whilst saluting the fans. Eventually it was rather unceremoniously left on its own near a corner flag, only to be retrieved via two stewards and a bemused Bob Pires.
So this bed sheet turned flag which started rather humbly at Cambridge station in 1988, retired rather gloriously on the pitch at New Wembley, with the players and the Cup. It topped what was already a fantastic day. It is another of those peculiar football stories that you could not make up.
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SOL CAMPBELL BOOK COMPETITION WINNERS
The winners of our recent competition to win signed copies of the recently released Sol Campbell biography were Ben Williams, Johannah Carroll and Makila Wheatley. They correctly answered that Sol joined Portsmouth after leaving Arsenal in 2006. Congratulations.
