No matter how much Russian money Chelsea have stashed in the Stamford Bridge safe the biggest football game in London is always an Arsenal v Tottenham match. Believe me, Arsenal and Spurs fans really do hate each other and I’m probably like thousands of fans of both clubs, the first result I look for is Arsenal’s, the second is Tottenham, hoping they’ve been stuffed, vice versa for them.
I first went to an Arsenal/Spurs game in the 70s when I was a young kid. It was an evening game and Highbury was packed with around 60,000 fans, probably half of which were standing behind both goals. Crammed in like sardines, about 20 minutes before kickoff there’s a massive roar from one side. The Spurs fans have sneaked into the North Bank, met up and are now going to try and ‘take it’, basicially a mass charge, kicking and punching anything in sight hoping it’ll get them somewhere near the middle.
I was there with a bunch of school friends but in about five seconds everyone was separated for the night, I ended up down at pitch level and though the cops moved in to try and keep the fans apart, for the rest of the match there was a constant stream of injured or arrested people brought out and marched along the side of the pitch.
Arsenal’s recent record against Spurs is pretty good, as far as I can tell we haven’t lost at home to them since 1993 and or away since 1999. This is tempting fate because we hadn’t lost to Fulham for 40 years until they beat us this week and the wheels have started to get very loose on Arsene Wenger’s wagon in the past few games, but I’ve got to believe they’ll turned it round on Saturday.
The games a 12.45pm kickoff so get to a pub early, these games are always lively, on and off the pitch. Below’s a video of the Arsenal/Spurs game at Highbury from November 2002 with a memorable goal from Thierry Henry. After scoring he runs the length of the pitch to round off his celebration in front of the Spurs fans in the Clock End, brillant.
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Agreed. A classic derby that every football fan should go to at least once in their life.