Farewell to Highbury

The sun is setting on Highbury

The Final Salute - Our alternative message 'wall'

At the start of this historic season, Arsenal Football Club put up a new wall in the fabled Marble Halls at Highbury. They invited current players to write messages of farewell to their famous old ground. Arsenal.com has taken a slightly different tack. Just before the final competitive game at this stadium, we have invited well-known people connected with the Club and the area, in whatever capacity, to pay their tribute.

We will be adding to them as the days go on.

"Highbury brings so many brilliant memories flooding back. Personally I miss the famous glass dug outs - I spent a lot of time in there! Best of luck to Arsenal in their new home but Highbury will be hard to match."
Niall Quinn, player

"My first visit to Highbury would have been around 1959 or 1960 and when I walked into the dressing rooms and the marble halls I realised how classy the place was. Arsenal's ground was way ahead of everybody else's and it wasn't ostentatious at all. It was built early in the 20th century but still looks terrific right up until the present day. Thanks to all the fans, and thanks for all the memories."
Frank McLintock, player

"It's the greatest club ground in the country and it was my home for 43 years. Without Arsenal there would be no Bob Wilson."
Bob Wilson, player

"Highbury will be, along with the Stade de France, always the biggest and best stadium for me in terms of passion, commitment, the link between the club and the players along with the link between the players and the fans. It will be that way for me until I die."
Emmanuel Petit, player

"You travel around the country and the world visiting football stadiums and while some are bigger, some are newer and some are architecturally superior, none has the atmosphere or the emotional power of Highbury. It is sometimes as if the history of football is there in front of you every week, all the feats of the past, of a thousand games, and of a millions fans' memories. It's immensely sad to leave, but the game has moved on and so too have Arsenal. But Highbury will always be our true home."
Paul Chronnell, journalist (Islington Gazette, England)

"Like many journalists, I love Highbury. There is always a warm welcome from the ladies and gentlemen who look after us and even the squeeze to get into the press box is somehow friendly. Having been a paying North Bank customer on the night when the place held its lowest-ever league crowd - the match was against Leeds and I think Arsenal fans were aghast at the standard of performances under Billy Wright in the mid-1960s - I have seen the stadium improve greatly during the George Graham and Arsene Wenger eras. As for the football, I'll never forget the European nights: Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus would be the favourites. Thierry Henry is not a bad player. But in recent years no performer on the pitch has deserved more credit than the groundsman Paul Burgess. What a surface! If he can do as well at the Emirates Stadium, plenty more super football can be expected."
Patrick Barclay, journalist (Sunday Telegraph, England)
 
“It is going to be like saying goodbye to an old friend. One that you have shared tremendous times with and some disappointments with, even fallen out with very briefly. But over the years the friendship has lasted and will be sorely missed.”
Paul Burrell, Arsenal Stadium announcer

"There is just a special feeling as soon as you walk through the doors of Highbury as a youngster and see the bust of Herbert Chapman in the Marble Halls. It will be a sad day on Sunday but we have many great, great memories of Highbury and hopefully we'll have many more in the new stadium."
Charlie George, player

"Highbury? My favourite ground in England and not just because, thanks to Arsene Wenger, it has been the scene of some of the finest football you could have seen anywhere in the world for the last decade. There are bigger, brasher and certainly louder places to watch football but none where you could imagine wanting to live for years to come."
Matt Dickinson, journalist (Times, England)

"Sunday will be a highly emotional day for everybody linked with Arsenal whether as a player,supporter or employee.We will all think of what has passed at this fantastic stadium and have our own special memories. Mine are simply that I was given the opportunity to represent the club and I will be forever  grateful to have spent those years at Highbury."
Sammy Nelson, player

"I will always remember the first night I entered Highbury: it was a UEFA Cup game against Auxerre in the mid 90's. I hardly watched the game, I was so taken aback by the ambiance, the architecture, the fans. I was in the Temple. I smelled football everywhere."
Xavier Rivoire, journalist, (France Football)

"Picture the scene, Nick Hornby's incredibly accurate description of the emotions he went through on his first ever visit to Highbury, especially on taking his seat for the match. I am sure I'm not the only one who's experience mirrors his perfectly. There can be very few places in life that after 30 years still bring a tear to the eye. Although I will try hard to hold them back, I'm sure those very tears will flow for one last time on Sunday. My home from home and the one and only place that allows me to completely forget the problems life throws up. Leaving for the last time will be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do."
Frank Stubbs, Arsenal.com Fan's Diarist

"Everybody knows about the Marble Halls and the underfloor heating in the dressing rooms. These sorts of things impress you. You are bowled over by the history of the place when you walk through the doors."
Brian Marwood

"My main memory of Highbury will be winning the Fairs Cup. I was only a kid then but up to that point it was all about what the great sides of the 30s had done. It was such a high that the players who had come through the ranks could put the old photographs away."
Pat Rice

"It had a certain aura and the Marble Halls were very impressive. It has always been a grand place, shall we say. When I was there the atmosphere was great. I always had a great rapport with the crowd."
Alan Sunderland

“When I came to Highbury, [manager] Billy Wright met me at the front step. I was a 21-year-old student going through the Marble Halls and everything was Art Deco. He took me on a tour and did a very clever things. He left going down the tunnel and out on the pitch until last. When I walked out my mouth almost dropped open. I was amazed at the height of stand that had been built as long ago as 1933 and 1936. I still say to people it was not a football ground to me it was cathedral. It is still a cathedral to me. It is one of the most magnificent buildings.”
Bob Wilson

"There have been so many games there, particularly under floodlights. I am totally biased. Once an Arsenal man, always an Arsenal man, I say but the people have made it the way it is. It was a sheer delight to work with such wonderful people."
Terry Neill

"When I was a kid, one day we got a knock on the door from an Arsenal scout. He invited me down to Highbury and I went on my own, the first sight I got was from the train."
John Radford

"I first walked into Highbury in May 1973 and I fell in love with the place straight away. I am very proud to have played there."
David O’Leary

“I have been playing for Arsenal Ladies since 1996 and have had some very memorable experiences both playing and watching games at Highbury. I am lucky to say that I have won the league on this hallo turf and that this unique stadium has been the teams venue for training over the years and I couldn’t have ask for a more inspiring backdrop to motivate me to achieve my footballing dreams.”
Faye White, Arsenal Ladies and England captain

"Thanks to Archibald Leitch, Highbury remains one of the great homes of English football."
Mark Perryman, London England fans representative

"When I remember Highbury I think about my father taking me down there as a youngster and hearing all the grown men swearing around me on the terraces! I was brought up down the road in Islington and it will be a shame when Arsenal leave there, although the new stadium looks great. I'm going to try and get to Paris for the Final, I fancy us to win it."
Phil Tufnell, cricketer and fan

"It has always been a pleasure to work with Arsenal as it first became of immense Swedish interest during Anders Limpar's heyday, followed by the short stay of Stefan Schwarz and all the excitement - past and present - around Freddie Ljungberg. I'll miss Highbury and the surroundings greatly, as I took its genuine footballing atmosphere to my heart from my first visit in the 1980s."
Henrik Skiöld, Football correspondent — TT (Sweden)

"My first time at Highbury was Chelsea's first game after winning promotion to the old First Division - it was a morning kick-off, the ground was packed and I was playing against one of idols, Pat Jennings. As a coach it will always hold special memories. When you walk into the ground and see the bust of Herbert Chapman, the history and nostalgia of the old place hits you. Arsenal will always be a special club to me, I wish everyone there well and all the best for the Champions League Final."
Eddie Niedzwiecki, Blackburn and former Arsenal coach

"Highbury is a great stadium and will always be special for Arsenal fans. The club have moved with the times and it could be wonderful that a club with class could move to their new stadium as European champions."
Paul Hetherington, chairman, Football Writers Associations (England)

"What I find about the Club is that it's like a little community. There's a really friendly environment, regardless of whether it's a matchday or a normal working day when the staff are there. Everyone knows everyone, from the security guards on the door to the directors. I have so many good memories of Highbury, and I guess the best one is winning the league there. The men's team had just played their game and many of them stayed behind to watch our game from the stands."
Emma Byrne, Arsenal Ladies goalkeeper

“It's a shame to say goodbye to Highbury which is a stadium steeped in history and the scene of so many great Arsenal victories - and from my sport Muhammad Ali v Henry Cooper. It would have been my dream to fight for the world title at Highbury but perhaps I can be the first to do it at Emirates Stadium.” Danny Williams, Commonwealth heavyweight boxing champion and fan

“Highbury is special, it always has been, so when the final whistle blows on Sunday it will be a very strange feeling. The memories are sure to come flooding back: making my debut against Liverpool in front of 55,000, celebrating our title win in 1991 and racing up to the top of the old North Bank in training on a Tuesday. Unforgettable times at an unforgettable place.”
Alan Smith, player

“What an honour and a privilege to have played at such a special and unique stadium.  Wonderful memories from sweeping the terraces as a trainee (and running up and down them!), the feeling of scoring a goal there, watching and playing in big games, European nights and the list goes on. Thanks for the memories that I'll treasure forever. Wish I could have been there for the last game!”
Steve Morrow, player

“I have nothing but magnificent memories of my time at Highbury. Unlike many grounds, Highbury has remained a wonderful stadium; still stylish, stately and atmospheric. It will forever be remembered as the greatest architectural stadium built in England. I will miss it but never forget it.”
Stewart Robson, player

"It is the end of the Highbury era, so many fantastic memories.  I am sure we will do as well at the new Stadium."
Frank Warren, boxing promoter and fan.

"It is my favourite place in the whole wide world. Whenever I think of Highbury I will think of happy days, and life-long friends."
Amy Lawrence, journalist (Observer, England)

[ Wednesday, May 03, 2006]

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