Highbury - The Final Salute (No spoliers)

[Gooner14]

So tomorrow marks the final ever game at The Arsenal Stadium. Yes thats right Arsenal Stadium, not Highbury . Thankyou Archibald Leitch you have given me some of my fondest memories. Nothing has come close to the first time I saw the pitch from the East stand upper. I've been lucky enough to see some of the best players in English League and Arsenal history, Wright, Adams, Rocastle, Henry, Vieira, Bergkamp and Seaman.

Tomorrow will also be the last competitive game in an Arsenal Shirt for Bergkamp, arguable the greatest player to ever play for the club and in imo the best foreign player to play in England

It may not be the most modern stadium, but it still takes your breath away, from the marble halls, to the changing rooms to the directors box.

Highbury memories
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4862840.stm

Liam Brady's thoughts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4960572.stm

Charlie George's thoughts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/4963204.stm

BBC Photos
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/photo_galleries/4965788.stm

More Photos
http://www.awimb.com/cgi-bin/emAlbum.cgi?c=show_thumbs;p=Highbury

Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_Stadium

Expect pictures from the game tomorrow as I'll be armed with a camera, but no spoilers to be post in this thread. Goodbye, and I'll look forward to Ashburton. I'll try not to shed a tear

Ashburton Photos
http://www.awimb.com/cgi-bin/emAlbum.cgi?c=show_thumbs;p=Ashburton Grove

I just hope Ashburton comes close

 

[Vandle]

End of an era , from what Ive seen of Ashburton it looks great.
Glad its not one of those flatpack ikea stadiums ala Derby , Southampton , Boro , Bolton etc.

Vandles thoughts:
Only been once , got spannered 5-0 , good ridance.

 

[Matallica]

Farewell Highbury, I will miss the dodgy camera angle which looked low down when they played on tv

 

[Big Kev]

It's been a big part of my life over the years, especially since 1986 when I got my first season ticket, for the North Bank and cost me £50

It'll be emotional tomorrow, but times moves on.

 

[vanpeebles]

as much as i dislike the current arsenal, highbury is a lovely old ground with bags of history and atmosphere. i think they will struggle for a while at the new ground while the atmosphere is refound.

 

[Psycho Ned]

Always looked like a great little stadium on TV (never been myself) one of the few remaing couldron type grounds with the fans right on top of the pitch.

The other week when the groundsman picked up some award i'm sure sky said that the pitch has been down since sometime in the 80's thats pretty damn impressive when most teams cant keep one for a year let alone 15-20! Bet they will make a pretty penny selling bits of it after tomorrow (if the fans dont pinch it all!)

The new stadium looks superb though (with superb prices to match!) will be the best facilites in the league I should think.

 

[Hlebio]

Gutted, absolutely gutted...

I love the camera at Highbury, how it's much lower down than everybody else's in the Premiership. Dunno, just seems to make our football look even better, even more free-flowing. Any chance of it being like that at the Grove?

Possibly Thierry's last Prem game too?

I expect Bergkamp will start tomorrow, and if not at least get a large portion of the second half. Fitting if he scores, which I expect he probably will.

A nice 7-0 to sign off would be brilliant.

 

[Steedie]

I really dont like arsenal at the best of times but despite all this, im gonna miss highbury, any ground with that much history and background behind it is gonna be missed in the game.

Also Bergkamp, amazing player and a player like him just doesnt come often, at his age to be able to pull off some of the stuff he still does is nothing short of incredible, gonna be such a shame to see him go

And i really dont wanna see Henry leave, as much as a pain he is to play against, he is magic, and the premiership wont be the same without him.

Saying all that, i dont like the new ground though, think it looks quite boring and naff

 

[MR_Punk]

Im gonna be really sad tomorrow, glad i got my chance to visit last year. Its gonna be worse saying goodbye to a Legend in Dennis Bergkamp, I will still get his name on my shirt just out of respect!

+44

 

[cheets64]

I went to the ground for the Carling Cup Semi Final.

I loved the ground and was impressed how clean and nice it looked, I missed most of the match due to coming into London the wrong way. Walked passed the Highbury clock and the whole night was a superb.

 

[BaJ]

Chuffed to bits that I got tickets in the ballot for tomorrow, didn't imagine i'd attended enough home games this season to qualify but must have done

There's a running order of events after the final whistle on the webby:

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?...tle=Highbury+Closing+Ceremony+-+running+order

 

[gadgey55]

Seen pictures of the Emirates Stadium in a magazine. Looks Awsome.

 

[Weebull]

Fantastic stadium, completely unique and full of character. I only wish I'd been to more games there.

Looking forward to Ashburton though, will be a fantastic place.

EDIT: Also, YGM G14.

 

[Vandle]

Chuffed to bits that I got tickets in the ballot for tomorrow, didn't imagine i'd attended enough home games this season to qualify but must have done

There's a running order of events after the final whistle on the webby:

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?...tle=Highbury+Closing+Ceremony+-+running+order

Sounds great
Tbh , Id rather be in the boozer.

 

[Nedved11]

Such a small pitch but makes it fast paced. The bigger ground will be different, might take getting used to.

 

[MR_Punk]

Such a small pitch but makes it fast paced. The bigger ground will be different, might take getting used to.

Im suprised they didnt keep the same size pitch. I suppose it wouldn't really make sense as the crowd would be far away and it would just look odd!

+44

 

[Mad old tory]

Gutted that I never managed to catch a game there, something I aim to change with the new stadium.

 

[alx]

Such a small pitch but makes it fast paced. The bigger ground will be different, might take getting used to.

Isn't highbury's pitch technically too small for them to play in the UEFA Cup/Champions league but UEFA let them anyway?

 

[Ciba]

The new pitch isnt that much bigger anyway - 4x3 meters extra.

 

[HangTime]

Arsenal's style of play would arguably benefit from a wider pitch