Highbury
Stadium
Highbury Stadium has been part of the fabric of Highbury and Islington since
the 1930's and when I turned up there at the end of Arsenal's penultimate season
at Avenell Road, it was like going back in time. Many of those selling Arsenal
memorabilia used to set up their stalls in the small front gardens of the surrounding
terraces and for well over an hour before the match, Avenell was packed with
supporters, who did their weekly socialising in front of the main art deco
East Stand facade.
At the timer the new Arsenal Emirates Stadium was taking shape in the background, and the Emirates Stadium is pretty spectacular. But nothing will compare to the glorious Highbury, which was arguably the last Premiership icon of football's past, when it was the sport of the people. Such was the magnetism of the place that I even know Man United and Villa fans who bought tickets for the final season (in the home stands), just to make a sort of pilgrimage to football's glorious past which is sadly no longer present. In terms of what English football used to be, it didn't get better than Highbury and now that money rules everything in sport, those days will not be coming back.
The picture
to the right is from the night of 25th April 2005, when Arsenal played
against Tottenham Hotspur for the very last time in a Highbury night match
(they won 1-0). Modern football grounds can be something of an illusion,
relying as they often do on glowing match night-light to give their concrete
and breeze block structures some life and this picture focuses on the jostle
of the East Stand turnstiles and the simple brick work. This print is a
favourite picture of most football fans who see it, reflecting as it does
the buzz of the match night atmosphere. It was taken from the upstairs
window of one of the houses across the street, which at the time was being
decorated (I promised the decorator who let me in to the house a print,
but, to my shame, I lost her address). Some girls in fancy dress had been
collecting for charity down below me on the pavement prior to the match
and as the game kicked off, a police van pulled up beside them. A copper
wound down the window and someone in the back shouted 'go on then...show
us yer t*ts'.
The pretty girl dutifully obliged and I cursed my lack of a flash gun to snap
another classic picture.
Irrespective of the direction, if you travel in to London by train on any given Saturday, you'll see shirts of many colours, as both home and away fans head off to football grounds for their weekly dose of idol worship. Passing recently through Paddington Station, on my way to the Emirates Stadium, I wasn't sure about the tube stop for Arsenal's new stadium, so I tagged on behind the first Arsenal shirts I saw and followed them onto the London Underground.
The Arsenal shirts belonged to a dad and his young son, who was about 5 years old, and as they walked hand-in-hand down the steps and onto the train, they became a sort of metaphor for the best of football. They also reminded me of match days with my dad and the unforgettable smell of tobacco smoke that rose up with the roars from a thousand working men's pipes.
My first
stop wasn't the Emirates Stadium but Arsenal's but Highbury, which I hadn't
visited since 2005.
When I first learned of the development of the old stadium into the Arsenal
apartments, I didn't foster much hope for Highbury famous East Stand façade.
But having now seen the development, I have to concede that the way the general
shape of the stadium has been incorporated into the Arsenal apartments' design
(or rather how the development has been shaped entirely around the old stadium)
is very impressive. What kind of apartment you get for upwards of £350k,
I wouldn't know (nor will I be finding out!). But I'm sure the communal gardens
being developed on what was the Highbury pitch will be better appreciated than
concrete, and the art deco East Stand façade is just as gorgeous as
ever. Whilst it was a little eerie standing on a deserted Avenell Road listening
to the team announcements echoing out of the distance, it is a far more dignified
end for a piece of social history than the hideous retail park that was once
Burnden Park, for example.
The Emirates Stadium is another well-worked piece of design and, unlike the hideous retail park that encircle many new football grounds, it has been built in surroundings in which it can take root... but it will never be another Highbury.
Emiraes
Stadium
Highbury Stadium has been part of the fabric of Highbury
and Islington since the 1930's and when I turned up there at the end
of Arsenal's penultimate season at Avenell Road, it was like going back
in time. Many of those selling Arsenal memorabilia used to set up their
stalls in the small front gardens of the surrounding terraces and for
well over an hour before the match, Avenell was packed with supporters,
who did their weekly socialising in front of the main art deco East Stand
facade.
At the timer the new Arsenal Emirates Stadium was taking shape in the background, and the Emirates Stadium is pretty spectacular. But nothing will compare to the glorious Highbury, which was arguably the last Premiership icon of football's past, when it was the sport of the people. Such was the magnetism of the place that I even know Man United and Villa fans who bought tickets for the final season (in the home stands), just to make a sort of pilgrimage to football's glorious past which is sadly no longer present. In terms of what English football used to be, it didn't get better than Highbury and now that money rules everything in sport, those days will not be coming back.
The picture
to the right is from the night of 25th April 2005, when Arsenal played
against Tottenham Hotspur for the very last time in a Highbury night match
(they won 1-0). Modern football grounds can be something of an illusion,
relying as they often do on glowing match night-light to give their concrete
and breeze block structures some life and this picture focuses on the jostle
of the East Stand turnstiles and the simple brick work. This print is a
favourite picture of most football fans who see it, reflecting as it does
the buzz of the match night atmosphere. It was taken from the upstairs
window of one of the houses across the street, which at the time was being
decorated (I promised the decorator who let me in to the house a print,
but, to my shame, I lost her address). Some girls in fancy dress had been
collecting for charity down below me on the pavement prior to the match
and as the game kicked off, a police van pulled up beside them. A copper
wound down the window and someone in the back shouted 'go on then...show
us yer t*ts'.
The pretty girl dutifully obliged and I cursed my lack of a flash gun to snap
another classic picture.
Irrespective of the direction, if you travel in to London by train on any given Saturday, you'll see shirts of many colours, as both home and away fans head off to football grounds for their weekly dose of idol worship. Passing recently through Paddington Station, on my way to the Emirates Stadium, I wasn't sure about the tube stop for Arsenal's new stadium, so I tagged on behind the first Arsenal shirts I saw and followed them onto the London Underground.
The Arsenal shirts belonged to a dad and his young son, who was about 5 years old, and as they walked hand-in-hand down the steps and onto the train, they became a sort of metaphor for the best of football. They also reminded me of match days with my dad and the unforgettable smell of tobacco smoke that rose up with the roars from a thousand working men's pipes.
My first
stop wasn't the Emirates Stadium but Arsenal's but Highbury, which I hadn't
visited since 2005.
When I first learned of the development of the old stadium into the Arsenal
apartments, I didn't foster much hope for Highbury famous East Stand façade.
But having now seen the development, I have to concede that the way the general
shape of the stadium has been incorporated into the Arsenal apartments' design
(or rather how the development has been shaped entirely around the old stadium)
is very impressive. What kind of apartment you get for upwards of £350k,
I wouldn't know (nor will I be finding out!). But I'm sure the communal gardens
being developed on what was the Highbury pitch will be better appreciated than
concrete, and the art deco East Stand façade is just as gorgeous as
ever. Whilst it was a little eerie standing on a deserted Avenell Road listening
to the team announcements echoing out of the distance, it is a far more dignified
end for a piece of social history than the hideous retail park that was once
Burnden Park, for example.
The Emirates Stadium is another well-worked piece of design and, unlike the hideous retail park that encircle many new football grounds, it has been built in surroundings in which it can take root... but it will never be another Highbury.
