AND EVEN THE ARSENAL CHEERED (MIND YOU, IT WAS WHEN BAYERN MUNICH SCORED)

article by Tim Cooper from p3 of the Evening Standard 27 May 1999.

(the day after Man Utd's historic and stomach-churning treble triumph, when all other papers were oozing in their sycophancy)

It was just an unhappy coincidence their European triumph should clash with the celebrations for a far more important occasion - the 10th anniversary of Arsenal's heroic, last-gasp victory at Anfield to win the league on 26 May 1989.

For the 250 Gunners fans gathered at Highbury for the party, the Barcelona game was just an inconvenience. We were much more interested in the historic night when we snatched the crown from under the noses of Liverpool; the one commemorated in Fever Pitch.

So there we were, taking a trip down memory lane while the rest of the nation was glued to Man U and Bayern Munich, and answering quiz questions like: "What was the surname of the linesman who the referee discussed the award of the first goal with before allowing it?" Up on the TV screen we, just like the Man U fans in Barcelona, went through agony as the Liverpool players tried to persuade the linesman in question to rule out Alan Smith's goal as offside.

There were ironic laughs as David Pleat commiserated with Arsenal's heroic failure as full-time approached with no winning goal in sight. And of course there was ecstasy as Brian Moore predicted: "It's up for grabs now..." - and Mickey Thomas scored the most memorable goal in league history, followed by Tony Adams lifting the championship trophy.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, we were keeping an eye on the game in Barcelona - with our hopes pinned firmly on the Germans. Or, as they are known from Maine Road to Highbury, the ABUs - Anyone But United. In a last-minute concession to demand, the organisers - Arsenal fanzines The Gooner and Highbury High - had reluctantly agreed to install a second TV with the European Cup final as a sideshow.

Things were looking good as "Super Mario" Basler put the Germans ahead after only six minutes and Highbury erupted in cheers as Schmeichel watched the ball shoot over the line. It was almost as if we had scored the goal ourselves.

As the clock ticked past the 90-minute mark there was a feeling we were within moments of a major celebration. We thought it was all over. Then along came Teddy Sheringham ... then it got even worse. Suddenly it really WAS over. And, like the Germans and Man City fans, we were gutted.

We'd started the evening hoping to enjoy that particularly English feeling of revelling in our rivals' misfortune and it had all gone wrong. At least they gave it a German name - schadenfreude.