‘North London forever’ – the goosebumps moment that captured the spirit of Arsenal past, present and future
By Amy Lawrence
Louis Dunford, an Islington boy in a sunshine yellow parka and flat cap, leaned over the barrier overlooking the Emirates lower tier and braced himself.
To be honest, the whole week had blown his mind, and all of a sudden he was there watching thousands of fans, arms aloft, belt out the chorus of his song, “The Angel”.
“North London forever
Whatever the weather
These streets are our own
And my heart will leave you never
My blood will forever
Run through the stone…”
Spine-tingling was an understatement. Dunford wiped a tear from his eye. His family and a couple of friends were there with him, proud as can be.
Suddenly, authentically, beautifully, this one looks like it is sticking. Arsenal have found themselves an anthem which has struck a chord. For decades it was “Good Old Arsenal”, their 1971 FA Cup song, but once that became a bit dated the club tried out Elvis Presley’s “The Wonder Of You” and in more recent times the dreadfully ubiquitous “Sweet Caroline”.
The thing about anthems is they cannot be forced, or foisted, upon a crowd. How do you find something that feels perfect, that connects, that represents? “The Angel” appeared as if by magic — created by a fan, welcomed by the entire Arsenal diaspora. From the manager, staff, ex-players, and supporters far and wide, it was one of those things that created instant goosebumps.
“Wow. It was really emotional,” Mikel Arteta told Arsenal’s official website after the game. “The team were making comments in the dressing room that hearing the song with the spirit and emotion, it was unique. I never experienced that here. It was the first time and I really enjoyed it and hope the fans enjoyed it too.”
The rare beauty of “The Angel” is twofold. Firstly an emotive, rousing, chorus about the local neighbourhood. Secondly this song won Arsenal hearts organically. It just took off. It went viral in a beat. A clip on social media took off and the song was immediately adopted by planet Arsenal.
The musician was invited to the training ground at London Colney where he met with Arteta and several players, and then to the Leeds match to see if the social media enthusiasm caught fire inside the ground. So it did.
Dunford has a troubadour spirit and has been writing songs for about 10 years. He recently got to go on tour. It was these events that made him realise how powerful “The Angel” was, with crowds singing his heartfelt chorus back to him. There is a poetic kind of universality — about your manor, your people, the characters and characteristics.
“It’s in the roots that we inherit
When a generation ends
It’s in the ruins of your youth
And the faces of your past
Cause the manor might be changing
But the people always last…”
The lyrics felt poignant on a day that Arsenal welcomed the veterans of their legendary 1971 double winners for a reunion. They had lunch together in a box before the game. There was Bob Wilson, Charlie George, Eddie Kelly, Sammy Nelson and Peter Marinello at the table, George Graham and Pat Rice sat on the sofa sharing jokes, Frank Mclintock held court around the room — once a captain, always a captain.
The spirit of Arsenal past, present and possibly future was in the air at the Emirates. The new anthem captures some of that inherent “Arsenalness” that Arteta wants to harness and utilise to push his team to meet their goals, to write their own chapters of the club’s story.
It felt important, somehow, as the team did what was necessary (just about) to maintain their quest for a Champions League return ahead of the monumental north London derby on Thursday night. The old 1971 boys won the league in that particular fixture in their day. Today’s team know they can take a huge step and seal Champions League football with a win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this week. They will have to play considerably better than the second half against Leeds, though, when the tension noticeably gnawed and skewed their game.
Allowing 10-man Leeds back in, having been two goals ahead at half-time, was unhelpful, and having looked at one stage as if they could win 5-0, Arsenal almost managed to draw 2-2. But at this stage of the season, results — any kind of three points — are solid gold. The rest is ephemeral.
Eddie Nketiah continued to enhance his case for a new contract with the two goals that won the game for Arsenal. He played with sparky movement and on the scent of chances. Ian Wright used to be a mentor and Nketiah has developed some of that attitude Wright had of always being ready to gamble, always being alert to the possibility of an opponent making a mistake, always being on his toes to capitalise.
Gabriel Martinelli could barely believe he didn’t take any of his multiple chances, Martin Odegaard came close, and the other curiosities of note were Takehiro Tomiyasu playing left-back to keep an eye on Raphinha, while at one stage in the second half it was mystifying to see Granit Xhaka drifting to left wing and even centre-forward.
Arsenal are not perfect, but they continue to focus on trying to do enough game by game. They are feeling it. North London forever… Whatever the weather…
https://theathletic.com/3300095/2022/05/08/north-london-forever-the-goosebumps-moment-that-captured-the-spirit-of-arsenal-past-present-and-future/
‘North London forever’ – the goosebumps moment that captured the spirit of Arsenal past, present and future
By Amy Lawrence
Louis Dunford, an Islington boy in a sunshine yellow parka and flat cap, leaned over the barrier overlooking the Emirates lower tier and braced himself.
To be honest, the whole week had blown his mind, and all of a sudden he was there watching thousands of fans, arms aloft, belt out the chorus of his song, “The Angel”.
“North London forever
Whatever the weather
These streets are our own
And my heart will leave you never
My blood will forever
Run through the stone…”
Spine-tingling was an understatement. Dunford wiped a tear from his eye. His family and a couple of friends were there with him, proud as can be.
Suddenly, authentically, beautifully, this one looks like it is sticking. Arsenal have found themselves an anthem which has struck a chord. For decades it was “Good Old Arsenal”, their 1971 FA Cup song, but once that became a bit dated the club tried out Elvis Presley’s “The Wonder Of You” and in more recent times the dreadfully ubiquitous “Sweet Caroline”.
The thing about anthems is they cannot be forced, or foisted, upon a crowd. How do you find something that feels perfect, that connects, that represents? “The Angel” appeared as if by magic — created by a fan, welcomed by the entire Arsenal diaspora. From the manager, staff, ex-players, and supporters far and wide, it was one of those things that created instant goosebumps.
“Wow. It was really emotional,” Mikel Arteta told Arsenal’s official website after the game. “The team were making comments in the dressing room that hearing the song with the spirit and emotion, it was unique. I never experienced that here. It was the first time and I really enjoyed it and hope the fans enjoyed it too.”
The rare beauty of “The Angel” is twofold. Firstly an emotive, rousing, chorus about the local neighbourhood. Secondly this song won Arsenal hearts organically. It just took off. It went viral in a beat. A clip on social media took off and the song was immediately adopted by planet Arsenal.
The musician was invited to the training ground at London Colney where he met with Arteta and several players, and then to the Leeds match to see if the social media enthusiasm caught fire inside the ground. So it did.
Dunford has a troubadour spirit and has been writing songs for about 10 years. He recently got to go on tour. It was these events that made him realise how powerful “The Angel” was, with crowds singing his heartfelt chorus back to him. There is a poetic kind of universality — about your manor, your people, the characters and characteristics.
“It’s in the roots that we inherit
When a generation ends
It’s in the ruins of your youth
And the faces of your past
Cause the manor might be changing
But the people always last…”
The lyrics felt poignant on a day that Arsenal welcomed the veterans of their legendary 1971 double winners for a reunion. They had lunch together in a box before the game. There was Bob Wilson, Charlie George, Eddie Kelly, Sammy Nelson and Peter Marinello at the table, George Graham and Pat Rice sat on the sofa sharing jokes, Frank Mclintock held court around the room — once a captain, always a captain.
The spirit of Arsenal past, present and possibly future was in the air at the Emirates. The new anthem captures some of that inherent “Arsenalness” that Arteta wants to harness and utilise to push his team to meet their goals, to write their own chapters of the club’s story.
It felt important, somehow, as the team did what was necessary (just about) to maintain their quest for a Champions League return ahead of the monumental north London derby on Thursday night. The old 1971 boys won the league in that particular fixture in their day. Today’s team know they can take a huge step and seal Champions League football with a win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this week. They will have to play considerably better than the second half against Leeds, though, when the tension noticeably gnawed and skewed their game.
Allowing 10-man Leeds back in, having been two goals ahead at half-time, was unhelpful, and having looked at one stage as if they could win 5-0, Arsenal almost managed to draw 2-2. But at this stage of the season, results — any kind of three points — are solid gold. The rest is ephemeral.
Eddie Nketiah continued to enhance his case for a new contract with the two goals that won the game for Arsenal. He played with sparky movement and on the scent of chances. Ian Wright used to be a mentor and Nketiah has developed some of that attitude Wright had of always being ready to gamble, always being alert to the possibility of an opponent making a mistake, always being on his toes to capitalise.
Gabriel Martinelli could barely believe he didn’t take any of his multiple chances, Martin Odegaard came close, and the other curiosities of note were Takehiro Tomiyasu playing left-back to keep an eye on Raphinha, while at one stage in the second half it was mystifying to see Granit Xhaka drifting to left wing and even centre-forward.
Arsenal are not perfect, but they continue to focus on trying to do enough game by game. They are feeling it. North London forever… Whatever the weather…
https://theathletic.com/3300095/2022/05/08/north-london-forever-the-goosebumps-moment-that-captured-the-spirit-of-arsenal-past-present-and-future/
