A book that champions Arsenal’s 1989 title-winning game at Anfield against Liverpool might not be an obvious choice for a bestseller on Merseyside but Jason Cowley’s new publication is much more than ‘Gooner’ triumphalism.
A highly-respected print journalist, Cowley’s memoir attempts to place the highly-significant Liverpool v Arsenal Championship-decider in the context of the Hillsborough disaster and the significant impact that both events have had on English football over the following 20 years.
Cowley said: “Arsenal fans often celebrate the 1989 title-winning game in isolation of Hillsborough but I have attempted to contextualise it with what happened in Liverpool’s ill-fated semi-final a month earlier.
“For different reasons, both of these events ushered in landmark changes in our game.
“After Hillsborough everything changed and had to change.
“That goes for English football as a whole, the Liverpool fans and the city.
“I think that some changes had begun already at the time.
“The move away from hooliganism and the constant fear of violence at games from earlier in the 1980s had started to be replaced by the fanzine movement and more wittier banter.
“There was also the beginning of the rave scene in the summers of love in 1988 and 1989 which brought about a more ‘spliffed-out’ rather than drunken atmosphere amongst some fans.”
As one of the closest title battles in history, the climax to the 1988-89 First Division Championship race was also ideally suited for a live television spectacle.
Having already won an emotional second all-Merseyside FA Cup Final in four seasons against neighbours Everton a week earlier, Liverpool were the better placed of the two contenders to finish the season on top of the table.
Kenny Dalglish’s reigning champions went into the game three points ahead of George Graham’s side and even a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal would have been enough for them to retain their crown on goal difference.
Liverpool fans won’t need reminding that with just seconds to go, such a scenario was in place with the Gunners leading thanks to an Alan Smith header but still not doing enough to pip their rivals.
However, a last-gasp strike from future Liverpool FA Cup Final hero Michael Thomas broke Kopites hearts on this occasion as he popped up to give the Londoners the title on goals scored after both sides finished equal on both 76 points and a goal difference of plus 37.
Cowley said: “The way football was broadcast was also changing. Sky Television had launched in 1989 and six million people watched the title decider on ITV.
“It was a great piece of television sporting drama and showed just what could be done with big football matches.
“This was followed by England’s march to the World Cup semi-finals the following summer complete with Paul Gascoigne’s tears plus the return of English clubs to European competition and suddenly there was a different feel about the game and a new audience.”
Although Arsenal had enjoyed a healthy lead at the summit earlier in the campaign, Liverpool had approached the finish line in tremendous form winning 13 out of their previous 14 league fixtures, including a period of nine consecutive victories, a run punctuated only by a goalless draw at Goodison Park in their first competitive game after Hillsborough.
Cowley said: “Liverpool were playing fantastically. There was an incredible energy in the club and they were all grieving after Hillsborough.
“After the Cup Final, they’d beaten West Ham 5-1 at Anfield ahead of the Arsenal game which had just done enough to edge them ahead of my team in regards to goal difference.
“Although there was always going to be a winner and a loser on the night when it came to the title race, I remember this occasion as being one of great sportsmanship from both sets of players and fans.
“The Arsenal team came out wearing black armbands and laid a floral tribute to the victims of Hillsborough which was applauded.
Having already won an emotional second all-Merseyside FA Cup Final in four seasons against neighbours Everton a week earlier, Liverpool were the better placed of the two contenders to finish the season on top of the table.
Kenny Dalglish’s reigning champions went into the game three points ahead of George Graham’s side and even a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal would have been enough for them to retain their crown on goal difference.
Liverpool fans won’t need reminding that with just seconds to go, such a scenario was in place with the Gunners leading thanks to an Alan Smith header but still not doing enough to pip their rivals.
However, a last-gasp strike from future Liverpool FA Cup Final hero Michael Thomas broke Kopites hearts on this occasion as he popped up to give the Londoners the title on goals scored after both sides finished equal on both 76 points and a goal difference of plus 37.
Cowley said: “The way football was broadcast was also changing. Sky Television had launched in 1989 and six million people watched the title decider on ITV.
“It was a great piece of television sporting drama and showed just what could be done with big football matches.
“This was followed by England’s march to the World Cup semi-finals the following summer complete with Paul Gascoigne’s tears plus the return of English clubs to European competition and suddenly there was a different feel about the game and a new audience.”
Although Arsenal had enjoyed a healthy lead at the summit earlier in the campaign, Liverpool had approached the finish line in tremendous form winning 13 out of their previous 14 league fixtures, including a period of nine consecutive victories, a run punctuated only by a goalless draw at Goodison Park in their first competitive game after Hillsborough.
Cowley said: “Liverpool were playing fantastically. There was an incredible energy in the club and they were all grieving after Hillsborough.
“After the Cup Final, they’d beaten West Ham 5-1 at Anfield ahead of the Arsenal game which had just done enough to edge them ahead of my team in regards to goal difference.
“Although there was always going to be a winner and a loser on the night when it came to the title race, I remember this occasion as being one of great sportsmanship from both sets of players and fans.
“The Arsenal team came out wearing black armbands and laid a floral tribute to the victims of Hillsborough which was applauded.
“But there was applause too from the home crowd even after Arsenal had nicked it.
“To see your team lose the Championship with virtually the last kick of the season must have been particularly galling for the Liverpool supporters and you might imagine that they have booed or just walked out en masse but they stayed and clapped.”
Sportsmanship from the fiercely passionate and partisan Merseyside football crowds has often proved a pleasant surprise to outsiders like Cowley who added: “Do I think the reaction would be the same if it happened now? Yes.
“Liverpool fans have always been regarded as being very sporting.
“I remember Jurgen Klinsmann talking about his astonishment of the warm reaction they gave him and his Tottenham team-mates after they knocked Liverpool out of the 1995 FA Cup quarter-final.
“Also, Thierry Henry also regarded the Liverpool fans very highly when he was at Arsenal.
“I think there’s a magic there at Anfield, especially on those European nights or at other big games.
“There’s a certain spirit at the club which has resonated from Bill Shankly, through to the likes of Bob Paisley although I think it was lost somewhat during Graeme Souness’s tenure.
“I think a lot of it’s down to the unique Scouse attitude that Liverpool embodies.
“I’ve not had the same feeling from Everton although my friend James Corbett, a staunch Evertonian tells me that his team are actually ‘The People’s Club’ on Merseyside and that viewpoint is expressed in the book but he’s got his standpoint and I’ve got mine.
“I still love coming to the city whether it’s for football or not.
“It’s great to see how Liverpool has reinvented and revived itself since the blight of the 1980s.”
Cowley also believes that the game also ended the Anfield outfit’s dominance of the English game.
He said: “It was the start of something fresh for Arsenal who had not won the title since 1971.
“They were champions in 1991 and since then there have been the successes of Arsene Wenger’s French revolution.
“However, it was the end of an era for Liverpool.
“It didn’t end their dominance overnight, they went on to win their last League Championship to date the following year in 1990 but their own players admitted that something had been lost that night that they never recovered.”
A highly-respected print journalist, Cowley’s memoir attempts to place the highly-significant Liverpool v Arsenal Championship-decider in the context of the Hillsborough disaster and the significant impact that both events have had on English football over the following 20 years.
Cowley said: “Arsenal fans often celebrate the 1989 title-winning game in isolation of Hillsborough but I have attempted to contextualise it with what happened in Liverpool’s ill-fated semi-final a month earlier.
“For different reasons, both of these events ushered in landmark changes in our game.
“After Hillsborough everything changed and had to change.
“That goes for English football as a whole, the Liverpool fans and the city.
“I think that some changes had begun already at the time.
“The move away from hooliganism and the constant fear of violence at games from earlier in the 1980s had started to be replaced by the fanzine movement and more wittier banter.
“There was also the beginning of the rave scene in the summers of love in 1988 and 1989 which brought about a more ‘spliffed-out’ rather than drunken atmosphere amongst some fans.”
As one of the closest title battles in history, the climax to the 1988-89 First Division Championship race was also ideally suited for a live television spectacle.
Having already won an emotional second all-Merseyside FA Cup Final in four seasons against neighbours Everton a week earlier, Liverpool were the better placed of the two contenders to finish the season on top of the table.
Kenny Dalglish’s reigning champions went into the game three points ahead of George Graham’s side and even a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal would have been enough for them to retain their crown on goal difference.
Liverpool fans won’t need reminding that with just seconds to go, such a scenario was in place with the Gunners leading thanks to an Alan Smith header but still not doing enough to pip their rivals.
However, a last-gasp strike from future Liverpool FA Cup Final hero Michael Thomas broke Kopites hearts on this occasion as he popped up to give the Londoners the title on goals scored after both sides finished equal on both 76 points and a goal difference of plus 37.
Cowley said: “The way football was broadcast was also changing. Sky Television had launched in 1989 and six million people watched the title decider on ITV.
“It was a great piece of television sporting drama and showed just what could be done with big football matches.
“This was followed by England’s march to the World Cup semi-finals the following summer complete with Paul Gascoigne’s tears plus the return of English clubs to European competition and suddenly there was a different feel about the game and a new audience.”
Although Arsenal had enjoyed a healthy lead at the summit earlier in the campaign, Liverpool had approached the finish line in tremendous form winning 13 out of their previous 14 league fixtures, including a period of nine consecutive victories, a run punctuated only by a goalless draw at Goodison Park in their first competitive game after Hillsborough.
Cowley said: “Liverpool were playing fantastically. There was an incredible energy in the club and they were all grieving after Hillsborough.
“After the Cup Final, they’d beaten West Ham 5-1 at Anfield ahead of the Arsenal game which had just done enough to edge them ahead of my team in regards to goal difference.
“Although there was always going to be a winner and a loser on the night when it came to the title race, I remember this occasion as being one of great sportsmanship from both sets of players and fans.
“The Arsenal team came out wearing black armbands and laid a floral tribute to the victims of Hillsborough which was applauded.
Having already won an emotional second all-Merseyside FA Cup Final in four seasons against neighbours Everton a week earlier, Liverpool were the better placed of the two contenders to finish the season on top of the table.
Kenny Dalglish’s reigning champions went into the game three points ahead of George Graham’s side and even a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal would have been enough for them to retain their crown on goal difference.
Liverpool fans won’t need reminding that with just seconds to go, such a scenario was in place with the Gunners leading thanks to an Alan Smith header but still not doing enough to pip their rivals.
However, a last-gasp strike from future Liverpool FA Cup Final hero Michael Thomas broke Kopites hearts on this occasion as he popped up to give the Londoners the title on goals scored after both sides finished equal on both 76 points and a goal difference of plus 37.
Cowley said: “The way football was broadcast was also changing. Sky Television had launched in 1989 and six million people watched the title decider on ITV.
“It was a great piece of television sporting drama and showed just what could be done with big football matches.
“This was followed by England’s march to the World Cup semi-finals the following summer complete with Paul Gascoigne’s tears plus the return of English clubs to European competition and suddenly there was a different feel about the game and a new audience.”
Although Arsenal had enjoyed a healthy lead at the summit earlier in the campaign, Liverpool had approached the finish line in tremendous form winning 13 out of their previous 14 league fixtures, including a period of nine consecutive victories, a run punctuated only by a goalless draw at Goodison Park in their first competitive game after Hillsborough.
Cowley said: “Liverpool were playing fantastically. There was an incredible energy in the club and they were all grieving after Hillsborough.
“After the Cup Final, they’d beaten West Ham 5-1 at Anfield ahead of the Arsenal game which had just done enough to edge them ahead of my team in regards to goal difference.
“Although there was always going to be a winner and a loser on the night when it came to the title race, I remember this occasion as being one of great sportsmanship from both sets of players and fans.
“The Arsenal team came out wearing black armbands and laid a floral tribute to the victims of Hillsborough which was applauded.
“But there was applause too from the home crowd even after Arsenal had nicked it.
“To see your team lose the Championship with virtually the last kick of the season must have been particularly galling for the Liverpool supporters and you might imagine that they have booed or just walked out en masse but they stayed and clapped.”
Sportsmanship from the fiercely passionate and partisan Merseyside football crowds has often proved a pleasant surprise to outsiders like Cowley who added: “Do I think the reaction would be the same if it happened now? Yes.
“Liverpool fans have always been regarded as being very sporting.
“I remember Jurgen Klinsmann talking about his astonishment of the warm reaction they gave him and his Tottenham team-mates after they knocked Liverpool out of the 1995 FA Cup quarter-final.
“Also, Thierry Henry also regarded the Liverpool fans very highly when he was at Arsenal.
“I think there’s a magic there at Anfield, especially on those European nights or at other big games.
“There’s a certain spirit at the club which has resonated from Bill Shankly, through to the likes of Bob Paisley although I think it was lost somewhat during Graeme Souness’s tenure.
“I think a lot of it’s down to the unique Scouse attitude that Liverpool embodies.
“I’ve not had the same feeling from Everton although my friend James Corbett, a staunch Evertonian tells me that his team are actually ‘The People’s Club’ on Merseyside and that viewpoint is expressed in the book but he’s got his standpoint and I’ve got mine.
“I still love coming to the city whether it’s for football or not.
“It’s great to see how Liverpool has reinvented and revived itself since the blight of the 1980s.”
Cowley also believes that the game also ended the Anfield outfit’s dominance of the English game.
He said: “It was the start of something fresh for Arsenal who had not won the title since 1971.
“They were champions in 1991 and since then there have been the successes of Arsene Wenger’s French revolution.
“However, it was the end of an era for Liverpool.
“It didn’t end their dominance overnight, they went on to win their last League Championship to date the following year in 1990 but their own players admitted that something had been lost that night that they never recovered.”
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