It’s 2 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon in September. Middle aged men are playing a game of football. So what?
Well try asking this to nearly 60,000 gooners who attended the charity match at the Emirates on Saturday to watch the legends of years gone by.
A charity event organised by the Arsenal foundation saw Arsenal players of yesteryear take on the AC Milan equivalent.
Depsite the disappointing news that neither Bergkamp nor Henry would be able to attend, the fans were treated to a feast of legends of the game.
Robert Pires, Freddie Ljunberg and David Seaman to name a few took to the field for the Arsenal legends teams.
For Milan glorie players like Dida, Christian Vieri and one of the greatest right backs to have played the game in Cafu. Oh and some guy called Paolo Maldini attended as well.
The match itself had the feeling of a charity event, slow pace and at times a little laboured. Of course this was perfectly understandable considering many had been retired for over a decade.
But the sense of fun and enjoyment was captured perfectly throughout.
Kanu’s reluctance to sit on the bench had thankfully caught the attention of eagle eye Howard Webb and noted that Arsenal were a man up on the permitted 11.
Nigel Winterburn and Paolo Di Canio provided the best comedic moment though recreating Di Canio’s infamous shove on referee Paul Alcock back in 1998.
Despite all of the antics there was the serious business of a football match amidst all this. Kanu, when finally subbed onto the pitch grabbed himself a hat trick as Arsenal ran out 4-2 victors.
Arsenal’s 4th and final goal was perhaps the best. Following Kanu’s hat trick, Robert Pires found himself on the end of a wonderful Ljunberg cross. His simple finish was met with huge roars from the crowd who were once so familiar with that deadly combination.
Still a crowd favourite, Pires’ celebration showed it meant just as much to him as it did the fans. There may have been no Henry or Bergkamp, but with 4 goals and plenty of fun, gooners left the ground in high spirits.
The players too seemed delighted with the day’s work.
“To come back and get a reception like that was awesome. So thank you so much” David Seaman
Seaman himself had little to do for the 45 minutes he played, making an excellent instinctive save only to see the rebound headed in by Vieri.
Pantomine Villain Jens Lehman, yes remember him, fared little better in the 2nd half. Despite his best efforts to leap to his right and Save Veiri’s penalty he was unable to stop the same man following up with the rebound.
Not that the crowd cared much. This was a day to savour the past. One that for Arsenal was as rich as has ever been.
It’s remarkable to think many of the legends were title winners with Wenger over 10 years ago now. Overmars, Petit and Winterburn were all integral parts of Wenger’s first double in 1998 whilst Seaman, Keown, Parlour and Kanu were both lucky enough to complete the same feet 4 years later.
Even Kolo Toure, often a victim of heavy criticsm and cycnical remarks from fans, was cheered throughout. In his prime, Toure was a very competent centre back who was a member of the famous invicible team of 2004.
The game was never going to be a great spectacle. The laboured pace with which it was played at was all too apparent after 5 minutes. Anyone who dared to push their retired body too far was punished. Marc Overmars in particular pulling up with a hamstring strain and being forced to leave the field for good.
But the chance to see legends of the game back on the field once again was worth the admission money alone. Arsenal fans will forever be fond of these players. Perhaps more so than ever before after 10+ frustrating years of sparse success.
If anything it highlighted how the fans have lost the love for the players at the club. A lack of success and small history at the still relatively new Emirates stadium means that Arsenal’s identity has become blurred. This is demonstrated with the mixed feelings and views amongst the club’s fans about Wenger and how the club is run.
It may be fickle but legendary status is only achieved in the game with success. As I left the ground at the full time whistle I proposed this scenario to a fellow fan.
If we were to fast forward 10 years from now, who would make the Arsenal legends team?
Its a question we simply couldn’t answer….
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