If you were, thank you for listening to Untold on Radio 5, but if not, there’s still a game today.

 

• So here we are, the final moments of a seasn never to be forgotten – and a statue.
• Palace v Arsenal: who cares what happens – it is just a fun afternoon out.

By Tony Attwood

Thank you to everyone who heard me do my bit on BBC Radio Five Live this morning, nattering about what made this championship so important.   The answer of course was that we won the League in the 100th season of playing in the top division.  A unique achievement, and I’m rather pleased the BBC gave me a platform to announce a 100-year celebration the club didn’t seem to care about.

But then I thought we all know Arsenal are champions and we are all rather happy about that.   ‘Yet it is still worth asking the question: what sort of Champions?  I mean, are Arsenal Champions in an easy-going season where anyone could have made it to the top because there was no standout team?  Or have they been brilliant champions, performing at a level rarely seen in the Premier League across the years?

According to the media, this has been a so-so Arsenal campaign, mostly marked by the fact that Arsenal haven’t won the league in 22 years.  As for what happened 22 years ago, and why 22 years ago was important, we don’t get any information.  And now, since you are here, I shall reveal the reality.

So Arsenal won the league 22 years ago – but it wasn’t any old win of the league – it was something very, very special – which most commentators forget to tell us (or maybe the AFC researcher couldn’t be bothered to look it up, or maybe they didn’t want to say anything positive about Arsenal. One never knows.)

Anyway, I got my chance to talk about this anniversary on the BBC this morning, but of course I couldn’t do the whole story.  But the fact is that 22 years ago – the last time Arsenal won the league, that was the UNBEATEN SEASON.  Yes, that most amazing, most spectacular, most unbelievable season.

The fact is that Arsenal moved to the Emirates in May 2006 – just after the last time Arsenal won the Premier League (in 2003/4).   And the reason that Arsenal didn’t then go on and repeat their extraordinary achievement of winning the league year after year is that the money that otherwise might have been spent buying players all went into paying off the debts incurred in creating the new stadium.

Of course, Arsenal did buy some new players, but mostly, Arsenal were looking to bring youngsters through.  And other clubs in the league knew this, so if they saw Arsenal bidding for a player, they’d go in with a higher offer, just to stop Arsenal buying.   Quite often, they would then pull out of the offer because of something mysterious revealed in the physical or mental assessment of the player, and by then, it would be too late for Arsenal.

The miracle was that for years thereafter Arsenal managed to come third and fourth in the league, meaning that the club got into Europe each season, while the anti-Wengerians, cheered on by their allies in the popular press, launched the “Fourth is not a trophy” campaign to try and get Wenger out.

But Wenger kept Arsenal in the Champions League and so kept the money flowing in, which in turn meant that Arsenal repaid the debts of building the stadium sooner than might otherwise have happened.

But now Arsenal are coming back to the front (as it were) with a vengeance.  Because if you study any of the figures relating to Arsenal’s performances in recent years, you will see how the club is getting closer and closer to the figures of the unbeaten season.

This season, Arsenal are just four goals behind the total scored in the unbeaten season.  The number of goals conceded this season has been the same as the number of goals conceded in the unbeaten season.

Now, yes, I do fully recognise that this season Arsenal are eight points behind the points tally of the unbeaten season, but I am not claiming that Arsenal are already there.  I am saying Arsenal is pushing forward on the journey towards creating a side that becomes the equal of the unbeaten team, and which might well win the league not just this year but several times in the next few years.

The defence as noted, is already as good as the unbeaten defence in terms of goals conceded, and the attack is only four goals short of what was achieved in that magic campaign.  So we are not far away.

My point overall is that the 22-year wait is irrelevant since, during this time, Arsenal has built a new stadium.  We are scoring goals as before, and we are winning the league again.  This team, I am suggesting, is getting close to the Invincibles.

Fortunately, none of the rest of the media has noticed, and even if they read this blog, they don’t take any notice of my ravings.   So when I suggest we are on the edge of another astounding Arsenal run, they don’t care.   I’m just this guy who pops up every now and then on BBC Radio 5 Live and who writes a blog.  Which is fine by me.

So why did Arsenal not go on and win the league the following year and the year after that, and …. well, you know.

The reason was, of course, the cost of building the Emirates Stadium.  But that is all over and done.   So now we are free to look ahead to 2026/7 with the team that has just won the league.  I think that could be rather good.

If you were able to catch my little chit chat on BBC Radio 5 this morning, thanks for listening.   I know it wasn’t particularly profound, but it helps keep their attention on the club we all love.