On This Day – 1st February
It was on this day in 2006 that Arsenal lost their last match at Highbury, 3-2 to London rivals West Ham United.
This game won’t be remembered for what happened on the pitch but more for what happened off it.
The 2005/06 season was an emotional one for Arsenal fans as it would be the last to be played at their beloved Highbury stadium. It was the place that they called home for 93 years and no one wanted to leave the place.
The traditional ground was to be converted to flats after the club moved out to their new stadium around the corner in the summer.
West Ham United were the visitors on Wednesday 1st February and Arsenal were the favourites to get the three points on the night. With Thierry Henry firing in goals up front and the team powering forward with blistering pace, West Ham were expected to be swept aside with ease.
West Ham took the lead at Highbury after Sol Campbell sliced an easy pass and let Nigel Reo-Coker through to score past Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal.
A second defensive slip from Campbell in the heart of the Arsenal defence gave Bobby Zamora the chance to double the lead.
Zamora easily out-muscled Campbell, leaving the Arsenal defender on his backside on the Highbury turf. He then curled the ball into the far corner to double the Hammers lead to shock the Highbury faithful.
Thierry Henry fired in a customary goal just before the break and that is where things took a strange turn.
Sol Campbell walked out of Highbury during the interval and didn’t return to the field for the start of the second half. Youngster Sebastien Larsson replaced him on the pitch but Arsenal were unable to turn things around, losing the game 3-2. It was to be their last ever defeat at Highbury.
When asked after the game of Campbells’s whereabouts, he replied that his centre back been “down” and felt “guilty” for the first half goals. The Frenchman described Campbell’s situation as a “weakness in his life” and gave him a few days off to recover and recuperate.
Whatever happened on that bleak February night for Campbell was forgotten weeks later as he powered in a header to give Arsenal the lead in the Champions League Final against Barcelona. Sadly, it wasn’t to be Arsenal’s name on the trophy as Barcelona fought back with two late goals.
Campbell also made Sven Goran-Eriksson’s 22 man squad for the World Cup in Germany that summer.
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