Henry Thierry - 89: Arsenals greatest moment, told in our own words

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Copyright Amy Lawrence 2019
Jacket images Andrew Cowie/Colorsport/Getty Images/Offside

Amy Lawrence has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in Great Britain by Century in 2019

www.penguin.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781473552661

As a Scot, George Graham always referred to his compatriot Alex Ferguson as Alec.

Brian Moores commentary from ITVs broadcast of The Match, 26 May 1989.

For Luca and Nico

If you just go for a run, as Michael Thomas put it, you might end up somewhere miraculous.

I HAVE BEEN an Arsenal supporter since 1953 when I was eight years old. A season ticket holder from 16. A tiny shareholder since I was 18. In 1971 I never missed a single game. I was at White Hart Lane when wed last won the league. My support for The Arsenal has survived two marriages.

In 1985 I started to miss games. I was developing an addiction to cocaine and heroin that ruined my life and those around me. By 1988 I was virtually homeless and no longer wanted to live. I somehow ended up in rehab in the West Country. I was lucky and came out of the rehab clean a week or so before the Liverpool game. I went into a tiny flat nearby.

I had lost interest in virtually everything, including my beloved Arsenal. I knew the game was on TV. In fact I had declined a ticket to the game a week or so earlier. I was too ashamed to meet up with my old Arsenal pals. Although I was clean I was not sure I wanted to live. I did not even want to watch the game on TV. Scared of all the feelings and emotions it would bring up. The good news about giving up drugs is that you get your feelings back. The bad news is that you get your feelings back.

I stared at my TV for an hour before kick-off. I imagined all my friends at Anfield, a ground I had been to many times. Eventually I plucked up courage. I watched the game. I cried, laughed and cried and laughed some more. In that moment Michael Thomas scored, I suddenly knew I wanted to live. I wanted to return to London, see my children and get back to a decent life. I also wanted to be at Highbury again. Watching the game gave me the greatest gift ever. A gift drugs could not give me and money could not buy. HOPE!

I have stayed clean ever since. I have truly had a life beyond my wildest dreams. But thats another story.

Anonymous

The values carried by the Arsenal players from 1989 who I got to know changed something in me massively. I arrived with my socks above my knees. Some of the guys were looking at me. Why are you going with that? Are you a ballet dancer? But that was me. I took everything that was needed to be taken in order to play at Arsenal even though I also wanted to be me.

I always say they kicked me into understanding what Arsenal Football Club was. Its a heavy shirt. Once you know your shoulders are OK to wear it then you can go on to do some amazing stuff. Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, David Seaman, Ray Parlour all of those guys told me what it was to play for Arsenal Football Club. That was very important because they know the history of the club, because they genuinely loved Arsenal. I remember when I arrived they knew the names of everybody at the training ground, at Highbury, and the name of the fans sometimes. I was like, What? You know that guy?

Yeah, yeah, they said. He used to travel all the time and is always there. So, it was a family club, but being a family club didnt mean less competitive. It was about winning and only about winning, and they were letting you know.

They had been part of something special. You can never say never but to be able to reproduce what happened that night in 1989 is virtually impossible. Everybodys watching that game. To have two teams going for a title. First versus second. The only game on TV. No one else is playing. You have to win 20 away at Anfield something that wasnt happening at the time. Even then you would only win the league because of the amount of goals you scored over the whole season. You thought you blew it. You come back to take it to the last day of the season. Its you against them. Nothing else. I dont care what people are saying, thats the best ending ever of any league Ive ever seen. Period.

When you watch the game you can clearly see that Arsenal thought that they could do it and that Liverpool were more thinking, lets not lose it. Its weird because you would like to think that the Liverpool side would know how to close the game out, especially at home. Anfield. Sometimes the fear of winning is bigger than the fear of losing. Anyone can get trapped in it.

People do forget that Alan Smith scored in that game. People remember Michael Thomas at the end, obviously, but to be able to score that crucial second goal you need to score the first one. When Michael Thomas goes through in stoppage time, with a situation of that intensity, the best thing is not to think about whats at stake. There was a ricochet and then he goes through. Hes in front of the goalkeeper. When you dont think sometimes its way better.

When I arrived at Arsenal I was always playing against these guys in training and at first I didnt understand what the boss was trying to do. I thought, is he trying to expose my weaknesses here? What is he doing? But then I soon understood that he wanted me to play against the best to get better. Those guys are not going to greet you with Oh hello, you won things before. Welcome. Do you want a cup of tea? No. Now were going to try to see who you are. Can you play here? We saw that you can play somewhere. Here is different. I remember some games where I wasnt putting my foot into challenges the way some of the senior players wanted me to. If I was in France it would have been all right but in England then it was not the right way to go into a challenge and so they were letting me know. At half-time. After the game. Pretty much in your face.

In training I had those guys playing against me and I said to myself, if you can deal with those guys you can deal with everybody. I took it as a challenge every day in training to be able to beat those guys and that was like a competition. They used to kick me. I used to look at them as if to say, you can kick me but it doesnt matter. Go on, you wont stop me.

The point is them playing at their best made me the player that I became. When I was waking up I knew Im going to face Lee, Martin, Tony, Nigel and you can add Sol Campbell a bit after that. You have to be ready. You have to wake up early and be ready for that one. I took it as a challenge. They were testing you. Can you play with us? Can you wear the Arsenal shirt? You find yourself in a situation where thats the only way you can find out. I think you always have to train in extreme conditions to be able to survive in the game and they were giving me every morning extreme conditions. Can you take an elbow in your face and are you going to moan about it or are you going to play? Im going to leave something on your ankle, or on your knee. Thats the way it is. Get up and fight and play.