The buzz began early on May 7, 2006. With heavy showers the previous day, the rain thankfully held off for our game against Wigan Athletic, the last match to be played at Highbury after 93 years.
Outside, there were television cameras everywhere. The Arsenal players were acutely aware that this wasn’t simply another match. In our 2007 interview, Robert Pires recalled: “You couldn’t avoid the sense of occasion. My mind flashed back to the first time I arrived at Highbury – the marble halls, Herbert Chapman’s bust, and the tradition. But we had an important job to do on the pitch.”
Beating Paul Jewell’s Wigan, who’d enjoyed a fine first season in the Premier League, wasn’t going to be easy. They were comfortably positioned in mid-table and had knocked us out of the League Cup in the semi-finals, winning on away goals following a 2-2 aggregate score. Meanwhile, we went into the occasion knowing that in order to qualify for the next season’s Champions League, we had to better Tottenham’s score against West Ham United. Arsene Wenger’s side were also in the Champions League final, and would face Barcelona 10 days after the doors closed for the final time at our N5 home.
At 4pm, the last match ever to be played at Highbury kicked off. Roared on by supporters clad in red and white t-shirts, we started strongly and eight minutes in, Pires slammed us in front. But Wigan were more than a match and goals from Paul Scharner and David Thompson flipped the script on its head. The travelling fans celebrated wearing the blue t-shirts that greeted their arrival in the Clock End.
Our players, clad in blackcurrant to commemorate the final Highbury season, were stunned, but then the talismanic Thierry Henry got to work. His divine intervention that afternoon will always be remembered by those who were inside Highbury one final time, and the millions who watched on television.
Henry levelled the scores with a trademark slide rule finish, and then early in the second half, he side-footed us ahead after a defensive error. Our record goalscorer then completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, and symbolically kissed the lush Highbury turf on which he’d scored so many priceless goals.
By now, with news that Tottenham had lost 2-1 to West Ham filtering through, the stadium was bouncing. Not only had we won their last Highbury game, but we qualified for the Champions League.
At precisely 6.29pm and 50 seconds, compere Tom Watt invited Wenger to lead the countdown of the last 10 seconds of Highbury. As the clocks hit zero, Highbury officially closed for business. Showers of red and white streamers rained down on the pitch, and fireworks were fired into the evening sky.
Our rich history at Highbury was over, and the thrilling 4-2 victory over Wigan, whose Premier League stay would last until 2013 when they also defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final, was a fitting way in which to bow out.
_Jon Spurling's book "Highbury: The Story Of Arsenal In N5", charting the history of our famous old ground 20 years since we departed, is available now_
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