An Almost Perfect Day
There was a video doing the rounds on social media in the wake of Manchester City clinching an unprecedented (in men's football) fourth consecutive English league title. It features an Arsenal fan walking the gauntlet outside Stamford Bridge, proudly wearing his team's colours while being goaded by jumped-up Chelsea fans who were clearly buoyed by securing 6th place and a *checks notes* Europa Conference League spot after a mere 1 billion pounds spent. The Arsenal fan is unphased, a beacon of calm among the rabble, strutting along with his head held high as a grown man donning a "LAMPARD 8" shirt prances around behind him. Social media rarely mirrors reality but this represented a real life parallel of the scene played out online following the final day of the season as rival fans screamed from the rooftops that Arsenal had 'bottled it', desperately looking for a reaction but only serving to rile themselves up in the process.
If it weren’t for the fact that Bukayo Saka's calf is hanging by a thread while Ben White's knees are on the brink of disintegration, most Arsenal fans would want next season to start tomorrow. This was another season of progress, just as the case was in 2023, 2022 and to a degree 2021. In each of Arsenal's four full seasons under Arteta, they have improved on the points tally set in the previous season. 56 points became 61 points; 61 became 69; 69 became 84; and 84 became 89. A club record 28 Premier League wins; 91 goals; an all-time record goal difference of +62, in short, one of the most impressive campaigns in the club's history, wasn't quite enough, as is invariably the case when going head-to-head with football's answer to Lance Armstrong[1].
There were less than five minutes on the clock at Emirates stadium on the final day of the season when news filtered through that Phil Foden had fired Manchester City into an early lead, but Arsenal supporters already knew the score. The tone of the day had been set when Son Heung-Min scuffed his one-on-one with City reserve keeper Stefan Ortega with 85 minutes on the clock the previous Tuesday. This was the moment that effectively confirmed that the gunners would go into the final day needing a miracle. For the first time in 20 years, the Gunners went into the final day of the season with a mathematical chance of winning a title, but not a realistic one. Not that you'd have known it based on the scenes on the streets of North London before kickoff on the final day.
Carnival
I arrived at the Bank of Friendship pub at around quarter past one, or, to be more specific, I joined the queue to get into the Bank of Friendship at quarter-past one. I'd never experienced having to queue to get into the pub a little under three hours before kickoff before, but then again, I'd never attended a game in which Arsenal had a chance of ending the day as champions. If there was ever a day to savour the pre-game atmosphere, it was today. I arrived via Holloway Road underground station, walking past both Highbury, the scene of Arsenal's last Premier League title win, and the Emirates, which will someday be the scene of the next.
I took a moment to gaze at what remains of Arsenal's former home, as the Art-Deco façade gleamed in the mid-may sun. 100 or so yards away, on the Blackstock Road, I could hear the distant din of football chanting. Like a toddler following the noise of a rattle, I was drawn towards it, the volume dial being turned up with every step until I was eventually submerged in a sea of sound and colour. I was only passing the Gunners' Pub (which is just around the corner from the BoF) but it provided an instant snapshot of the carnival atmosphere of the day. The beer garden was overflowing, any ship that was trying to get into that particular pub had long since sailed. On the pavement, punters had resorted to a plan B as old as time: street drinking. One part of the spectacle that I regrettably missed, was a visit from the fire brigade as one person decided to chuck a flare onto the pub roof. Better than trying to stick one up your arse, I suppose.
By the time I got into the BoF, the next ninety flew by; in stark contrast to the ninety minutes that we were all, in theory, here for. I say in theory because, in truth, this was a day of celebration disrupted only by the minor if inevitable inconvenience of the Premier League trophy being lifted in Manchester while the one hidden away within the bowels of Emirates Stadium was left untouched. We all knew what was going to happen once the football itself got underway, so all the excitement of the day existed in the hours that preceded 4pm, where the remote dream was still possible.
En route to the stadium, we revisited the scene outside The Gunners, which by now had changed from one of singing on the streets to revelry on the road, as the sheer mass of people inevitably overflowed as two and a half hours before kickoff became one hour before kickoff. There were cans, there was chaos. The only time I could remember seeing similar scenes to this was in 2018 and 2019 when, as a student living in Liverpool at the time, I had ventured into the city centre to soak up the party atmosphere on the day of Champions League finals that Liverpool were involved in (one of them was against Spurs, so I had my excuses). I guess what I'm saying here is that Liverpool can add setting off smoke bombs and drinking in the streets to the list of things they've invented. In short, the streets, let alone pubs, of North London were PACKED, for the 60,000 inside the Emirates, there was probably another 60,000 who wanted to be there, in the local area – just in case.
Pride
It took Phil Foden 80 minutes to burst the bubble. News filtered through to the Emirates thanks to the magic of 5G and Arsenal fans knew the game was up. The circumstances that surrounded the game made the whole fare an unusual spectacle. 60,000 stared at their phones hoping for a miracle that would never come, the events at the Etihad deeming the football match taking place in front of them inconsequential. The biggest cheer of the day wasn't for either of Arsenal's goals in their 2-1 win against Everton, but for Mohammed Kudus's goal for West Ham to peg Manchester City's lead back to a single goal and offer the faintest glimmer of hope.
It wasn't until injury time, by which point City were minutes away from clinching the title, that Arsenal fans finally accepted their fate and switched their attentions towards giving their team the outpouring of love that it deserved. At City, a half-arsed pitch invasion which meant that the players had to run away from supporters to the safety of a cordoned off area, was the response to winning a fourth consecutive title. With an October date for the hearing into the 115 charges levelled at the club, it might just be the last.
At Arsenal, the Emirates was as loud as it was before kickoff, as 20 years without a league title ticked up to 21. Arsenal didn’t quite reach their destination in 23/24, but their supporters are enjoying every step of the journey.
[1] I would say, "just ask Liverpool fans", here, but approximately 637 of them have tweeted "We finished second with 97 and 92 points!" in the time it's taken me to type this
What a day... I can see myself in your picture of BOF :) Imagine the scenes when we actually do win it.