Anfield 26th May 1989

[augie]

I hate the fact that these days we Gooners spend much of our time recalling past glories (invinceables, wembley 79, keown v horseface etc) because it reminds us that we have fcuk all current to celebrate Having said that, this game is the exception for me and it is and always will be the happiest moment ever as a Gooner. No champs league success will ever dwarf that moment (esp now that the chavs became the 1st london club to win it ) and there are so so many reasons for that.

The wife wasnt part of my life back then but she loves looking back at the occasion now I have a full dvd of the game but she keeps pushing me to show our sons the movie Fever Pitch purely because it encapsulates the whole experience that fans went through back then - to date I havent showed it to them because I want them to be able to take in every single second of the movie so that they might grasp the enormity of the achievement and I'm not sure my youngest has the attention span needed. Was gonna chance it on monday night but as it was a school night I have decided to show them the movie for the 1st time this saturday

[Gunner Rob]

I hate the fact that these days we Gooners spend much of our time recalling past glories (invinceables, wembley 79, keown v horseface etc) because it reminds us that we have fcuk all current to celebrate

I can't wait for 2024 - the 10th year anniversary of our famous FA Cup win over Hull City

[GranadaJoe]

[quote="augie"]I hate the fact that these days we Gooners spend much of our time recalling past glories (invinceables, wembley 79, keown v horseface etc) because it reminds us that we have fcuk all current to celebrate

i think you're partially right. I don't think that it's just that we aren't as successful as we were, I think it's also about our style and character. I am nostalgic for the time when our players played as if their life depended on it, were determined and had a never say die attitude.

It's not what we did it's the way that we did it!

[northbank123]

It's the sort of script that would be rejected from a Hollywood film for being too far-fetched

[Clash]

It's the sort of script that would be rejected from a Hollywood film for being too far-fetched

I know what you mean mate but being just weeks after Hillsborough, Arsenal snatching the title wasn't in the script.
If Hollywood scriptwriters had written it they would have had Liverpool scoring right after Thomas's goal to make it 2-1.

As others have said though, I still think Thomas is gonna get tackled. He is excruciatingly close to leaving it too late. I have often wondered how we would have coped if he had been tackled or if his shot had hit the inside of the post and rolled along the line to safety. Would we ever have got over something like that? I reckon both fans and players would have been traumatised forever.

Anyway what some forget (or maybe didn't even know if they were too old) is that it wasn't only Friday night this took place on ... it was also half term the next week. I was 15 so it meant I could watch the game over and over and over. The only slight disappointment with it being half term was that all the irritating Liverpool fans at school (if you could call them fans) who had been taunting me that the title was over after they'd beaten West Ham 5-1 earlier in the week, got away without seeing me for a week. And lets not forget that vital 1 goal West Ham got at Anfield (Leroy Rosenior of The Football League show fame scored it) as without that we would have had to win by 3 goals.

If there is a negative, it is that ITV's coverage was pretty woeful as always. Elton Welsby was clearly gutted that his team lost (which was funny to see) but did they really need to rush off at the end to show fcuking Dempsey and Makepeace? (FFS! ). This meant missing the lap of honour which as far as I know wasn't even filmed to show in the future on DVDs etc. Not good enough ITV but better than the baffling lack of coverage of the 1971 title.

It also annoys me how they focus for so long on Dalglish's miserable face as I would have preferred to see the reaction of Arsenal players and our fans. Love watching the Liverpool kid who was distraught just behind the goal though. I hope he still has nightmares about that moment. And Aldridge too!

[Henry Norris 1913]

I was watching some old programme looking back at '89 and a liverpool fan said that the league was irrelevant that year because of hillsborough. Now my heart goes out to those fans of course, and it must have been a terrible tragedy to have witnessed and that police cover up was despicable etc but...fuck off. look at mcmahon and hansen at the end. gutted! think they ended up winning the cup that year too, and they didn't mind celebrating that!

[Clash]

I was watching some old programme looking back at '89 and a liverpool fan said that the league was irrelevant that year because of hillsborough. Now my heart goes out to those fans of course, and it must have been a terrible tragedy to have witnessed and that police cover up was despicable etc but...fuck off. look at mcmahon and hansen at the end. gutted! think they ended up winning the cup that year too, and they didn't mind celebrating that!

Yeah that's absolute bollocks they were desperate to win the league. They did win the cup too and it was before the Anfield game. An all Merseyside final so we had all that nauseating crap about fans mixing in together and one brother wearing red while the other wore blue.

On a different note I do remember shitting myself a few years after the 89 game when the Grobelaar match fixing allegations first surfaced because I feared that match would be named. That would have got rival fans discrediting our win whether there any truth in it or not but thankfully it never happened.

[StuartL]

It's the sort of script that would be rejected from a Hollywood film for being too far-fetched

I know what you mean mate but being just weeks after Hillsborough, Arsenal snatching the title wasn't in the script.
If Hollywood scriptwriters had written it they would have had Liverpool scoring right after Thomas's goal to make it 2-1.

As others have said though, I still think Thomas is gonna get tackled. He is excruciatingly close to leaving it too late. I have often wondered how we would have coped if he had been tackled or if his shot had hit the inside of the post and rolled along the line to safety. Would we ever have got over something like that? I reckon both fans and players would have been traumatised forever.

Anyway what some forget (or maybe didn't even know if they were too old) is that it wasn't only Friday night this took place on ... it was also half term the next week. I was 15 so it meant I could watch the game over and over and over. The only slight disappointment with it being half term was that all the irritating Liverpool fans at school (if you could call them fans) who had been taunting me that the title was over after they'd beaten West Ham 5-1 earlier in the week, got away without seeing me for a week. And lets not forget that vital 1 goal West Ham got at Anfield (Leroy Rosenior of The Football League show fame scored it) as without that we would have had to win by 3 goals.

If there is a negative, it is that ITV's coverage was pretty woeful as always. Elton Welsby was clearly gutted that his team lost (which was funny to see) but did they really need to rush off at the end to show fcuking Dempsey and Makepeace? (FFS! ). This meant missing the lap of honour which as far as I know wasn't even filmed to show in the future on DVDs etc. Not good enough ITV but better than the baffling lack of coverage of the 1971 title.

It also annoys me how they focus for so long on Dalglish's miserable face as I would have preferred to see the reaction of Arsenal players and our fans. Love watching the Liverpool kid who was distraught just behind the goal though. I hope he still has nightmares about that moment. And Aldridge too!

Never realised it was Leroy Rosenior that helped us out - I am related to him (3rd cousins or some such)

I rang talksport once when Wrighty was on and talked to him about the goal and said having seen it so many times, you start looking at the things going on in the background and that kid just makes me crack up laughing (maybe I am a sick bastard deep down)

Aldridge got off scott free for being such an ungracious loser, while Mc Mahon got abuse for years after Barnes should have got worse stick too, for his sly little handshake before Micky did it.

[SteveO 35]

Lets hope the dream is getting closer........Song is coming



Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, 26, has been told he can leave the Nou Camp, with Manchester United tracking the former Arsenal star. Talksport

[SteveO 35]

Lets hope the dream is getting closer........Song is coming



Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, 26, has been told he can leave the Nou Camp, with Manchester United tracking the former Arsenal star. Talksport

Oops....wrong thread ! Lets all laugh at Man United anyway

[Herd]

I went to the game with John Radford ,at the end David O"Leary stopped crying long enough to see him and nudged George Graham who seeing him beckoned for Raddie the King to come down and join the on pitch celebrations but John said no ,he had had his day says John and this is there day not mine !
Very Nice man !

[robbo10]

I went to the game with John Radford ,at the end David O"Leary stopped crying long enough to see him and nudged George Graham who seeing him beckoned for Raddie the King to come down and join the on pitch celebrations but John said no ,he had had his day says John and this is there day not mine !
Very Nice man !

Thats class for you,I cannot imagine Schezny or a c*nt like John Terry turning down the chance of an Instagram picture like that.....

[Eboue-Why?]

I went to the game with John Radford ,at the end David O"Leary stopped crying long enough to see him and nudged George Graham who seeing him beckoned for Raddie the King to come down and join the on pitch celebrations but John said no ,he had had his day says John and this is there day not mine !
Very Nice man !

You old name dropper you!! OK I'll see your John Radford and raise you with...... My name gets a mention on the official Up For Grabs DVD!!
Who wins?????

[SPARKSY]

I hate the fact that these days we Gooners spend much of our time recalling past glories (invinceables, wembley 79, keown v horseface etc) because it reminds us that we have fcuk all current to celebrate Having said that, this game is the exception for me and it is and always will be the happiest moment ever as a Gooner. No champs league success will ever dwarf that moment (esp now that the chavs became the 1st london club to win it ) and there are so so many reasons for that.

The wife wasnt part of my life back then but she loves looking back at the occasion now I have a full dvd of the game but she keeps pushing me to show our sons the movie Fever Pitch purely because it encapsulates the whole experience that fans went through back then - to date I havent showed it to them because I want them to be able to take in every single second of the movie so that they might grasp the enormity of the achievement and I'm not sure my youngest has the attention span needed. Was gonna chance it on monday night but as it was a school night I have decided to show them the movie for the 1st time this saturday

I was at Anfield that night and still follow our great club home and away. You are spot on when you say that nothing will ever beat that night, not even a European Cup win. Anyone who was there that night will agree.

[Herd]

Fever pitch Meh !
Whilst I like the book ,like the film, (after all it's my team), I'm sorry but Hornby was and is a plastic Arsenal fan who managed to not go for 3 years while he attended Cambridge (how twee) and never went away in the days before Latte's were invented !