I’ll be celebrating the 18th anniversary of that incredible night at Anfield on May 26th with like-minded people at the AISA Gala Dinner at Ashburton Grove. Alan Smith, Michael Thomas, Kenny Sansom, Paul Davis, Perry Groves and Bob Wilson are all expected to be in attendance which should ensure it’s a memorable evening, so if you’re interested in joining the party, tickets are still available - contact Paul Matz on 07850 920899 for details.

Eighteen years! It’s been three years since our last title and some people are finding that hard to handle, so imagine how you’d feel if we hadn’t won the title in 1991 (one defeat all season), 1998 (Wenger’s first double season), 2002 (his second) or 2004 (the ‘invincibles’)? If you can picture that, then you’ll know how Arsenal fans were feeling in 1989. We hadn’t won the title (or even gone close if truth be told) since the first double season of 1970/71, so there were a fair proportion of fans (myself included) who didn’t know what it was like to be champions and certainly didn’t expect success in the way that so many Ashburton Grove regulars do nowadays. A successful season for Arsenal back then was finishing high enough up the table to qualify for Europe the following season and perhaps enjoying a decent cup run or two, so the 88/89 season was the stuff of fantasies… at least it was until the last couple of months of the season when it threatened to become a nightmare.

We’d been 19 points clear of Liverpool at the end of February (albeit that they had games in hand), but a failure to beat the likes of Millwall, Nottingham Forest, Charlton, Derby and Wimbledon, all at home, combined with Liverpool’s relentless winning habit (14 of their last 15 before our trip to Anfield), meant we’d all but thrown away our chance of glory by the middle of May.

And so it came down to that last game with the top two going head-to-head and everything still to play for, although as long as Liverpool avoided defeat by two clear goals, they’d be champions. There’s never been a finish to the season like it before or since despite Sky’s best efforts to concoct one. It was quite amusing to see them having to completely re-brand the Chelsea vs Man United game this week having spent weeks building it up to be the ultimate title decider!

So, back to Anfield and 1989. Whilst plenty of fans have claimed that they were there, only 4000 Gooners can say it truthfully, some of whom had got tickets at the last minute from mates who, to their eternal regret, decided it was a lost cause and chose not to go. Have they ever been able to forgive themselves?

I won’t pretend that I can remember every minute of the day because I can’t, but those bits which I do recall are vivid. I was late getting to the ground because of traffic jams on the M6 and missed the Arsenal team presenting flowers to fans at the start in respect for those who died at Hillsborough. It was a class act and one which I know has been remembered by many on Merseyside.

Bould had a header which grazed the bar after ten minutes, but the first half passed without too much incident. However, the second period didn’t take long to spark into life when Alan Smith glanced home a Nigel Winterburn free-kick to give us the lead. Predictably, the Liverpool players found something to complain about – they really had it down to an art form – although I’m not convinced any of them knew what they were complaining about. Was it offside? No. Had the ball gone straight in from an indirect free kick? No – the smudge on Smith’s forehead proved that. Perhaps Arsenal had too many players on the pitch? Shut up!

If it wasn’t tense before that goal, it certainly was now. A common view is that Liverpool didn’t know whether to stick or twist at this stage – hang on for a one-goal defeat which would be enough to crown them champions or go for the goal which would kill us off. From where I was standing, it certainly looked like the latter because for much of the last half hour, the tide seemed to be in one direction only – towards our goal! The one attack of ours which I do remember was when the ball broke to Mickey Thomas inside the penalty are and he scuffed a feeble shot straight at Grobbelaar. Thomas had been out of sorts for much of the second half of the season, but in those days, squads were much smaller than they are today – Arsenal’s more than most – and he had kept his place because of a lack of alternatives. There was certainly a feeling on the terraces (yes, we still had those back then) that that had been THE chance and the fat lady was ready to warble.

However, unlike a disgracefully large percentage of the crowd at Ashburton Grove this season, no-one was heading for the exits, not even when Steve McMahon made it clear to his team mates that there was only one minute left to play during a stoppage for Gary Lewin to treat an exhausted Kevin Richardson.

And the rest as they is history. We’ve all seen the goal a thousand times and every time I see it or even hear a snippet of that infamous commentary, a shiver goes down my spine. Whether the feeling of elation can ever be bettered is debatable, although I’d have liked the chance to compare it with Paris a year ago had the final twenty minutes turned out differently!

Things have been pretty good ever since, although you wouldn’t think it to hear some of today’s fans. It’s been said before and it’ll be said again, we’ve become spoilt by success and I think that’s a great shame. It’s worth pondering for a moment or two what it would be like not to win the title for 18 years and how you’d feel. Then, when you’ve got used to that idea, imagine what it would be like if your team hadn’t won the title for 46 years and thank you’re lucky stars you’re not a Spurs fan!

If this has whetted your appetite, you can see highlights of the game exclusively “not” live on ESPN Classic (Sky Channel 442) on Saturday 12th May at 7pm and repeated on Sunday 13th at 8.30pm. This is just one of many glorious Arsenal victories which you can enjoy again on ESPN Classic – click on the link to the left of the screen for a summary of the very best.