The day started much like any other end of season game - the sun shining around Highbury, and lots of people coming out early to enjoy it. At 10am though, Avenell Road was much, much fuller than usual, and the whole ground had many people walking around, taking photos. The police cordons around the stadium made for a strange atmosphere, because only those with tickets were allowed onto the 4 streets around the stadium. As there is little to do there except walk around, or go into the ground, those streets were actually surprisingly empty from the time that the police cordon started.
One definite unique event was the number of programmes that people were buying - at one stage, I saw a forklift truck driving down Avenell Road to restock the programme sellers. People were grabbing programmes for everybody they knew, it seemed, and also for selling on eBay later.
On the way into the stadium for the last time, the talk was of the 10 Spurs players that had gone down with food poisoning - their attempts to get the game postponed had been unsuccessful, so they were to be forced to play with an ill team. With Arsenal needing Spurs to drop some points to get us into the Champions League, this was seen by all as a great opportunity.Inside the North Bank, there were many photo sessions going on, as people captured their mates on camera inside Highbury, for the last time. Before the game, the atmosphere was quite subdued I thought, lots of people being quite quiet as they reflected on their last trip to the stadium. Going up towards the seats before kick off, there were some teary eyes from some people, as the fact that they won't be coming back started to hit home.
We all saw the stadium looking brilliantly red and white, throughout the whole game, thanks to 38,000 "I was there" t-shirts given out by the club - it just looked fantastic. People seemed to be far more compliant than usual, so the vast majority wore their shirts and contributed to a great display. Of course, there were always the old tossers who put their unworn t-shirts on eBay afterwards (even proudly including the note saying "please wear this t-shirt"), but the vast majority joined in this time. Why you would buy an "I was there" t-shirt for £100ish, if you weren't there, I have no idea!
To be honest, much of the game passed by in something of a blur, which was a shame, as watching it again it looked like a good game. Lots of looking around at Highbury, full for the last time, and looking amazing in all red and white. Being towards the front, I had a great view of what turned out to be the final goal at the stadium - a Thierry Henry penalty that nestled beautifully in the bottom corner near to me. The kiss of the turf after it went in was fantastic!With Spurs needing to drop points (or rather, us needing Spurs to drop points), some ears were glued to radios, listening to the West Ham vs Spurs game. Towards the end of the game, Dennis Bergkamp made his entrance, to the usual standing ovation and whoops of applause. The cheer that went around the ground as he ran onto the pitch - sorry Dennis, it wasn't for you. West Ham has scored with 10 minutes to go, leaving a rapidly tiring Spurs team needing 2 goals to overhaul us for 4th. Oh well!!
Then, the final, final whistle went, and the Closing Ceremony began. A very well-run event, by the end of which I and many others were ready to leave the ground, having stood and reflected for just about long enough. The fireworks went off at about 6:30, and the party to remember our magnificent old stadium carried on into the evening. Goodbye Highbury, we loved you.
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