Jon Brodkin gets some distinguished views as Highbury prepares to close its doors for the last time
Alf Fields 1936-52
The club put in the marble and heated floors, which were out of this world, in the late 30s. During the war the dressing rooms were used by air-raid wardens in case of attacks of mustard gas and the stadium was bombed. Home games were at White Hart Lane and I played there once when I came on leave but I was abroad for three and a half years. Playing at Highbury for the first time after the war was special. You were glad to be back home, never mind anything else.
Best moment: Being picked for the first team and playing in front of 60,000. The manager George Allison always had a team meeting before games and he analysed the side we were playing and gave me advice. I think I did all right. It helped to have George Male and Eddie Hapgood, international full backs, advising me.
John Barnwell 1955-64
The first thing that hit you was Herbert Chapman's bust. Jimmy Bloomfield and I used to travel in the same car from Southgate and Jimmy liked a cigarette. Every time we went in he put it behind Herbert Chapman's ear until we came out. The team trained at Highbury and I wouldn't say we were in awe but we were aware of the tradition and quality of the place. We used to train behind the Clock End on a shale pitch and come off with cuts and grazes and all sorts. On match day it became a car park.
Best moment: I remember playing the Real Madrid of Puskas and Di Stefano, and getting a goal against Juventus, who had John Charles. But my favourite memory is scoring against Manchester United when I lobbed Harry Gregg. As I was running back to the centre circle the roar from the stands was going backwards and forwards and it made my hair stand on end.
Terry Neill 1959-70
A lot of us travelled to Highbury by tube or, if someone had a car, they would pick up others. The ground was immense, a theatre really, and the atmosphere was superb. There was standing then and crowds of up to 60,000. I always felt the fans were nicely on top of you. You could take a corner and speak to them. Inside it was a cut above anywhere else, even Wembley.
Best moment: Scoring a penalty at the North Bank past Pat Jennings in a derby against Tottenham. It was an immense relief because you are either going to be a hero or villain. I played with Pat for Northern Ireland, we were friends and he had the audacity to try to save it. George Graham had got married in the morning and Terry Venables had been his best man and they played against each other in the match.
Bob Wilson 1963-74
Apart from the great football memories there are things like Muhammad Ali fighting Henry Cooper for the world heavyweight title at Highbury in 1966. I think Ali took over the bed in the middle of the home dressingroom. I had become big pals with Henry, who was an Arsenal fan. He had a cartilage problem when I had a broken wrist and we got fit together. My first sight of Highbury I'll never forget. I had bunked off studies at Loughborough University in 1963 and I remember coming down this tiny street opposite the main stand and thinking: "That's unbelievable". I had never seen a stand that big and there was the Art Deco exterior. The manager Billy Wright met me in the marble halls and took me on a tour. I have always said Highbury is a cathedral, not a football ground.
Best moment: I have to pick one save and one game. The game was winning the Fairs Cup against Anderlecht in 1970, getting a trophy after 17 years without one. We were 3-1 down from the first leg and won 3-0. It was extraordinary. The save was snatching the ball off George Best's toes in one of the first games of our double season. We were winning 1-0 against Manchester United and went on to win 4-0. George would have scored 99 times out of 100 and it set up my season.
Kenny Sansom 1980-88
Highbury has a very narrow tunnel and, if it had been me and Diego Maradona as captains, we'd probably have got stuck. It's an amazing feeling to be and play there. I do tours round the stadium now and a bloke said recently "You can smell the atmosphere in here" - and he's right.
Best moment: My first time back, with Newcastle in 1989, when 38,000 people sang my name. I got choked up a bit, raised my game and had a goal ruled out for offside when it should have stood. A month later Arsenal won the league on that famous night at Liverpool. If my goal had stood they wouldn't have been champions.
Lee Dixon 1988-2002
The biggest single change was when they put seats on the North Bank. Part of our training on Tuesday mornings had been to run up and down the terraces and the lads weren't too bothered about having to stop. Going all-seater changed the atmosphere because there's something special about terracing.
Best moment: The day we won the league in the 1998 double season. We had been however many points behind Manchester United, went on this winning streak and beat Everton 4-0 to clinch the title. Afterwards I remember looking up at the North Bank and seeing everyone jumping up and down and the stand swaying. I said to Tony Adams: "It doesn't get much better than this." "Maybe we should retire," he said.
Arsene Wenger (manager 1996-)
I did not think nine years ago that I would close Highbury. I did not think I would stay as long and I didn't think we would build a new stadium. Highbury is something special. It is an atmosphere that you can never recreate. It will be emotional on Sunday because you will know that, when you walk out, there is no way back. It will be destroyed.
When I walk into Highbury and see (the bust of Herbert) Chapman I have a lot of respect for him because he was not only a guy who came in and tried to win games. This guy had a vision for the club. He was above his period. There is a weight of history that creates a certain pressure on a manager who comes in there to achieve something.
Best moment: The first Championship, that Sunday afternoon (when Arsenal beat Everton 4-0 in 1998). We played fantastic football. There are happy moments when you feel a real fraternity between the players and the fans. ... Guardian Service
