HIGHBURY

[REB]

7 years ago today saw its last game first went with my dad in 1980 and sat in the west stand, couple of years later I was left go by myself and moved onto the northbank which as some can testify was a scary at times I couldnt get a ticket for the wigan game which I regret to this day and tbh the bowl we have now no matter how comfortable just does not have the same feel to it.


such a beautiful place and is sadly missed

[QuartzGooner]

Sat in the West Upper for the Wigan game, which was only about the third or fourth time I had ever sat there.

Started 1978 in West Lower, move to stand on North Bank by mid 80's then moved back to West Lower late 90's. Swapped tickets for final game to let a mate bring his son.

It had a magic that the new stadium does not have.
The stands were closer to the pitch, and for many years it was cheap and you could turn up at 2.30 and stand with your friends.

The club is now a corporation, not a family business.
But most changes to our club and new stadium are "football-wide' rather than Arsenal specific.

The new place does feel like home though, and it has advantages Highbury did not, especially the Club and Box levels which are a lot of fun if you ever get the chance.

My usual seat at the new place is a far better view than I ever had at Highbury (used to have to look round a pillar ), lower tier East Stand, though costs about twice as much.

[Herd]

It's still Home to me and I miss it more than almost anything else that I've lost along the way .
I remember as a wee nipper living in Drayton Park (No.54b) and used to watch the crowds come and go from the gate pillars with my sister on a Saturday afternoon.
When My dad took me for the first time I was astounded that the stadium appeared to be in between two houses when on the telly it looked so huge.
As we wound our way up the stairs of the Upper West I was puzzled until I suddenly saw the lush green turf in an explosion of colour and the multitudes assembling for the Game.
I was hooked from then on !
Even after the last game the stadium stayed intact for a while but when they demolish the clock end I was gutted and had to avoid walking past the old girl for some time .
I mourn Highbury like I would a close relative !

[Clash]

Like Quartz, I first went there in 1978. First time for a reserve game where the terraces were empty then a few weeks for a first team match.

This video shows the Highbury that I imagine a lot of us on here will have seen when we went for the first time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-04GKvf ... A&index=39

It changed quite a bit before we left but it was still beautiful and I miss the place so much. Like Herd says, it almost compares to losing a close relative. When you have a place like Highbury you do not let it go. Money cannot buy what we had there. I will never accept the reasons we left and that isn't just being said with the benefit of hindsight .

[donaldo]

Remember we moved from that wonderful stadium to compete.............................with the Spuds for 4th place

[DB10GOONER]

I wish we'd never left the old girl.

To trade such an iconic stadium for the soulless corporate bowl that is the Conglomerates Stadium is shameful. And the fact we did it on the pretence of "competing financially on the pitch with Europe's elite" is nearly as shameful. Probably the biggest fucking lie ever rammed down so many people's throats in the history of the entire world.

[robbo10]

My first game was against Bristol City in maybe 77-78? I remember my Dad asking the lovely old chap on the door if we could see the Marble Halls,While in there my Dad spoke to a Bristol City player while I gazed in amazement of the place,When we left to go into the ground my Dad said "That was Joe Royal"....What ever happened to him eh?.

That was me hooked,From then on it was home games with Dad and when I was old enough to go with my cousins we would stroll from Balls Pond Road to the ground,Home games or free youth team games,I don't think I ever got over the buzz from walking round Lucerne Road into Avenell Road and seeing that flash of green between the stands,especially under the lights of a night game,My pace would quicken towards the ground every time,even after over 20 years I would still half run from Lucerne Road just to turn that corner and see Highbury,no matter how shit the team were in them days the ground was still an awe-inspiring sight to me.

I'm so grateful my 2 daughters got to see Highbury and go to games there,they even had a similar experience to me one night in the Marble Halls after the Newcastle game a few years ago,thanks to a very nice young security guard,except he let them go down the tunnel and didn't mind one bit as they ignored the "KEEP OFF THE GRASS" sign and went onto the hallowed turf under the floodlights,while I stood there and thought of the players I had seen walk out this tunnel.Even writing this I realise I miss that place more than I had remembered,it was a massive part of a very happy childhood for me.

[markyp]

march 83 v forest was my first match,i was 9 years od,me and my dad did the whole london tourist thing that day before the game.went many many times there after,used to love the clock end.highbury was magical,like walking into a cathedral,it really did feel like our spirtual home.i wish we were still there,everything that Arsenal stood for was left behind when we moved to the souless space ship down the road

[clockender1]

huge mistake leaving.

which was partly the fans fault. people were blinded by success.

its the thing i'm most bitter about as i was strongly against it and I used to give the signatures guys a hard time back in 99 / 2000...

it wasn't just an ordinary football ground that had gone by the by, it wasn't the baseball ground, ayrsome park, the Dell, or even Maine rd.

it was Highbury FFS, a world icon, truly the Home of Modern football, The two main stands were listed buildings...

you wouldn't ever believe that Anfield, OT, the Camp Nou or Bernabeu would become a block of flats would you ???

but when Le Professor said he was sad to leave but the club must move forwards, we blindly gave in and sold our soul.

Back then, I knew we'd end up one day trophyless in a half filled bowl, back to the 26 - 28,000 crowd we had from the early 70's to 1996.

i'm gutted i was right, and I'd do anything to get Highbury back, but she's gone forever. As i've said before, i can't even bring myself to go see her.

a modern Tragedy.

[Dan_85]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9peugPafIY

[tel]

A great thread! My 1st game was as an excitable 6 year old in 1977 and was hooked. I loved the noise of the crowd when we scored, the songs especially those containing what I was told was football language. I loved getting a bag of peanuts and been held on a crash barrier as a child when there was 50k plus in there. As soon as I was 12 I started going in my own and moved between North Bank and the schoboys enclosure. Yes there was a risk of trouble but generally avoided it. We saw football which veered between the outright rubbish (81/82) and the downright brilliant (89-91) & Wengers early years. I sang myself hoarse when we were shit and when we were great.

I was sceptical about the move but finally came round to the idea after enduring the Villareal semi final from the back row of the east lower which was the equivalent of watching through a letterbox. I cried at when it came to leaving Highbury at the end of the parade. Little did I know the concrete bowl and the majority inside it would suck the life out of me, I go to a few games a season but that's only to catch up with mates. My kids will never know or experience Highbury which is very sad.

[flash gunner]

Went to my first game in '79 an FA cup game during the run when we eventually won it

Miss Highbury wish we'd never left. Have stood in the Northbank and Clockend sat in every stand lower and upper too. I've been to a few stadiums round the country and Europe in my time and nothing ever compared to Highbury though

[northbank123]

The earliest game I remember vividly was the 3-2 against United in late 1997 - I remember everything about that day. Other great memories were Wrighty breaking Bastin's record, Henry's wonder-goal against United, beating United 3-1 when Barthez had a stinker, Reyes scoring twice against Chelsea in the FA Cup, the Leicester game to complete the Invincible season and the Juventus game in 2006, although there are far too many to even think about recalling.

I can't really describe how grateful I am to have had the chance to go to this wonderful ground for 9 fantastic seasons. Most memories fade but as long as I live I swear I will never ever forget what it was like stepping out into the stand on the North Bank with the explosion of colour and tens of thousands of people there to support the Arsenal. The anticipation going through the turnstiles and up the stairs. Never forget the smell of the cigar smoke, the harmless muppets that sat in front of us that were like the Three Stooges and the one token unnecessarily foul-mouthed bloke that sat a few rows back on the other side of the steps. Never forget the feeling of the ground actually bouncing beneath your feet on a few special occasions. Never forget the pre-match routine of the pub and then a few drinks on 'The Wall' on the road perpendicular to the East Stand.

I get to games far less now and although I still really savour and enjoy it, it just doesn't compare to Highbury. Some of it is inevitably linked with success but I just don't feel I really have an emotional connection with the stadium. As we park over the other side of the new stadium I hadn't been around the old stadium since the Wigan game. After the Barcelona game in March 2010, I found myself with a few hours to kill the next morning, so I thought I'd have a wander around the area. Seeing it then was the most gut-wrenching thing I've witnessed in my life by a long way.