(1996/97)

Having only made a single league appearance for Arsenal during three seasons with the club, Lee Harper joined Queens Park Rangers of Division One in the summer of 1997 for £125,000. In his first season at Loftus Road, he established himself as first-choice goalkeeper and made 36 league appearances for a Rangers side that mathematically escaped relegation on the final day of the league season. During 1998/99, the second successive league season in which Rangers escaped relegation on the final day, Lee lost his place in the team following the arrival of Ludek Miklosko in October 1998 and only made 15 league appearances throughout the campaign. He re-established himself as first-choice goalkeeper during 1999/00, making 37 league appearances, in a season where Rangers finished in a comfortable position of tenth. A further 29 league appearance followed during a fairly dismal 2000/01 season in which 'The Superhoops' failed to preserve their Division One status. Having been released by the club at the end of the season on a free transfer, he joined First Division Walsall in the 2001/02 pre-season.

(1994/95-1996/97)

Having failed to maintain a regular first-team place at Highbury due to the highly successful strike-partnership of Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, John Hartson joined West Ham United for £3,200,000 in February 1997. He was one of three signings that kept the club in the Premiership during a relegation-threatened 1996/97 campaign; the other two being Paul Kitson and Steve Lomas. John scored 24 goals in 60 league games for 'The Hammers' during his stay and finished the 1997/98 season as the clubs top goal- scorer with 15 league goals from 32 games. In January 1999, John joined Wimbledon (49 league appearances) in a £7,000,000 deal, but only managed 2 goals before the end of the season as the club finished in sixteenth position when Europe had once looked a possibility. John scored 9 Premiership goals for Wimbledon during the clubs 1999/00 relegation campaign, when 'The Dons' failed to beat Southampton away on the final day of the season to end their 14-year stay. During 2000/01, he scored 8 goals for Wimbledon before joining Coventry City on a 'Pay As You Play' basis in January 2001, with the hope that he could preserve the clubs 34-year status in the top-flight. For each appearance that John made for Coventry, Wimbledon received £15,000. Despite scoring 6 goals in 12 league games, John suffered relegation for the second successive season. In the summer of 2001, John signed for Scottish Premier League side Glasgow Celtic in a £6,500,000 deal.

Martin Hayes (1985/86-1989/90)

Martin Hayes left Arsenal for Scottish Premier League side Glasgow Celtic during the summer of 1990 in a £650,000 deal. He spent two and-a-half years at the club, failing to score in 7 league appearances, and joined forces with the former Arsenal players, Charlie Nicholas and Liam Brady, who was manager at Celtic between 1991 and 1993. Martin signed on loan for Wimbledon during 1992/93, making 2 league appearances for 'The Dons' where he failed to score, and moved to Swansea City of Division Two in January 1993 on a free transfer. He scored 8 goals in 61 league appearances for Swansea over a two and-a-half year period and helped 'The Swans' capture the 1994 Autoglass Trophy. Martin made his final appearance in the Football League for Swansea in a 1-0 victory at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, April 22, 1995. During the 1995/96 pre-season, he had a trial period with Second Division Wycombe Wanderers but it never resulted in a permanent move and he ended up joining Dover Athletic of the Football Conference at the beginning of the 1995/96 season on a free transfer. Martin spent the 1995/96 season with Dover, Irish Premier League side Cliftonville and Beazer Homes League Premier Division Crawley Town, whose manager at the time was former Arsenal player Colin Pates. Martin joined Collier Row and Romford of the Isthmian League Division Two at the beginning of the 1996/97 season, the clubs first season following a merger between Collier Row FC and Romford FC. Martin had a brief spell with Ryman League Premier Division Purfleet at the start of 1998/99 but returned to Romford, a division lower, shortly after. Incidentally, the club had changed its name back to Romford even though they were occupying Collier Row's position in the Isthmian League Division Two during 1996/97. He joined Bishop's Stortford of the Ryman League Division One in February 1999, becoming their player/manager in November 1999 and is still registered as a player during the 2001/02 season. Since his retirement from league football, Martin has also been working as a car salesman in Croydon.

Neil Heaney (1991/92-1993/94)

After only making a single league appearance for Arsenal during the 1993/94 season, Neil Heaney left to join Southampton during March 1994 in a £300,000 deal. He was guaranteed first-team football more regularly at Southampton, the club who were battling against relegation on the final days of 1993/94 and 1995/96, and made 61 league appearances throughout his stay. In November 1996, Neil completed a £500,000 move to First Division Manchester City, joining up with his former Arsenal team-mates, Paul Dickov and Eddie McGoldrick. Seasons 1996/97 and 1997/98 can be looked upon as transitional seasons for City and after only making 3 league appearances for the club during the latter, he joined Charlton Athletic on loan for the rest of the season in March 1998. Neil helped Charlton (6 league appearances) on their way to the Premiership after a penalty shoot-out win over Sunderland in the final of the First Division play-offs. The loan move to Charlton never resulted in a permanent transfer and Neil stayed at Manchester City, where he was out of favour. Having failed to make a single league appearance for 'The Blues' during 1998/99, he signed for Bristol City (3 league appearances) on loan but could not prevent the club from being relegated to Division Two. Neil transferred to Darlington on a free transfer in the 1999/00 pre-season, where he made 36 league appearances, and helped 'The Quakers' reach the final of the Third Division play-offs but they were defeated 1-0 by Peterborough. In the summer of 2000, Neil joined Scottish Premier League side Dundee United for £175,000. He featured for Dundee United on 12 occasions in the SPL during 2000/01, a season in which the club narrowly avoided relegation by finishing five points behind relegated St Mirren.

(1994/95-1996/97)

Glenn Helder left Arsenal for Dutch club NAC Breda for an undisclosed fee in October 1997. He stayed at NAC Breda until moving to Chinese side Dalian Wanda in February 1999. Glenn returned to NAC Breda shortly after, due to financial problems where he was not being paid, and the Chinese Club refused to pay NAC Breda the transfer fee for Glenn because he left the club. He initially had a transfer to the Hungarian side MTK Budapest cancelled in the summer of 1999, as he was not able to play for any football club until FIFA had sorted out the mess between the two clubs. His transfer to MTK Budapest finally went ahead in the 1999/00 pre-season when the situation had been cleared with FIFA. In the summer of 2000, Glenn was released on a free transfer and joined Dordrecht '90 on a trial contract shortly after. It never resulted in a permanent move and in June 2000, he joined the Dutch club, RBC Roosendaal, on a one-year contract.

(1990/91-1996/97)

David Hillier left Arsenal in October 1996 for Portsmouth in a £250,000 deal. He joined up with his former Highbury team-mate, Jimmy Carter at the First Division club who reached the heady heights of seventh during 1996/97. David made 61 appearances for Portsmouth during his stay on the South Coast before completing a £15,000 move to Second Division Bristol Rovers in February 1999. He made 13 league appearances for Rovers during 1998/99 and a further 30 came during 1999/00, with the club being denied a place in the Division Two play-offs on the final day of the league season. Rovers suffered relegation to Division Three during 2000/01, with injuries restricting him to make only 4 league appearances throughout the campaign.

(1994/95-1999/00)

Stephen Hughes joined newly-promoted First Division side Fulham (3 league appearances) on loan during the 1999/00 pre-season but returned to Highbury before the deals scheduled completion date so he could fight for a first- team place. He only appeared for Arsenal on two occasions in the league after his loan spell at Fulham, and transferred to Everton during March 2000 in a £500,000 deal. He made 11 league appearances before the end of the season with his new club, although they did slip to thirteenth place in the latter weeks of the season when Europe had once looked a possibility. During the 2000/01 season, Stephen turned down a loan move to Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League and had also been linked with a return to London with West Ham United. On the pitch, Stephen figured in 18 Premiership games throughout the campaign in what was another relegation- threatened season for 'The Toffees'. He was out of contract at Goodison Park in the summer of 2001, in which time he sealed a move to First Division Watford on a free transfer.

© Richard Tufft & ArseWeb 2001