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Arsenal’s dramatic 1989 title-sealing win at Liverpool remains one of the most iconic matches in English football history.

George Graham’s team travelled to Anfield for a Friday night clash at the end of a punishing 1988/89 campaign, for a title decider that had been put back after the Hillsborough disaster.

For the Gunners, the equation was straightforward: win by two clear goals and they would overtake Kenny Dalglish’s side and secure their first Division 1 title in 18 years.

Striker Alan Smith led Arsenal’s attack that night and can still clearly remember the tension and the decisive moments that produced one of the greatest title finishes of all time.

“There was a relaxed feeling within the team because nobody fancied us,” Smith tells FourFourTwo. “The papers and TV pundits had written us off – nobody thought we could go there and win by two goals. We just thought we’d give it a shot.

“George Graham’s team talks were fantastic, he sent us out with clear minds. He stressed the need to keep a clean sheet, which we thought was strange given that we needed two goals!

“At half-time, it was 0-0. We came into the dressing room and he lifted us again, saying, “This is perfect. We’ve kept the clean sheet, now we push on. We’ll soon get the first goal and then the second.” He even said we might get a third. We were nudging each other thinking, ‘What’s the gaffer on?’”

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Smith himself broke the deadlock eight minutes after the restart, heading in a Nigel Winterburn free-kick for a goal that did not sit well with the Liverpool defence.

“When my goal went in, and the Liverpool lads surrounded the referee and linesman, you naturally thought that it might be disallowed,” he recalls, before describing his part in Michael Thomas’ famous injury-time title-winning finish.

“For the second, as it was coming to me, I thought, ‘I’ve got to turn in one movement here, the whistle could go at any second.’ I took a chance with my touch and saw a yellow shirt – a bit of a blur in my peripheral – it was Mickey Thomas making one of those runs he’d made all night.

“Mickey never did anything before he wanted to, he was so laid back. We thought he was going to leave it too late and someone would get a tackle in.

“But he left it and left it – he said he was waiting for Bruce Grobbelaar to make his move – and just flicked it over him. The farther you get from it, the more special it becomes as it’s a game that will never be repeated: a standalone, head-to-head for the title when everyone else had finished.

“It was a special, special night.”

Mark WhiteContent Editor

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