Part 1: Arsenal '89: The Game That Changed Football Forever
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2024
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to the latest episode of The Overlap’s football history podcast, It Was What It Was.
Hosted by journalists Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper, we continue our series with a game regarded as one of the biggest in English football history as Arsenal snatched the First Division title from Liverpool at Anfield through Michael Thomas's late goal in a 2-0 win on the final day of the 1988/89 season.
In part one of two in our special, Rob and Jonathan set the scene to that famous finale; delving into Arsenal's rebuild under George Graham, Liverpool’s European dominance alongside the historical, social and TV context of the late 1980's.
Join us for part two on Thursday 16th May to hear the events of the one of the biggest matches in English history and what the aftermath meant for the game.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just a few seconds away now, Pekanyard Gleish. |
| 0:09.0 | Arsenal comes streaming forward now in surely what will be their last attack. |
| 0:14.0 | A good ball by Dixon, finding Smith. |
| 0:17.0 | For Thomas, charging through the midfield. |
| 0:20.0 | Thomas, it's up for grabs now. |
| 0:21.9 | Thomas! |
| 0:22.9 | Right at the end. |
| 0:24.6 | An unbelievable climax to the league season. |
| 0:27.9 | Well into injury time. |
| 0:29.9 | The Liverpool players down, absolutely abject. |
| 0:32.7 | Aldrich is down. Barnes is down. |
| 0:35.1 | Taglisha stands there. |
| 0:36.9 | Nichols on his knees, McMahon's on his |
| 0:38.8 | knees. Suddenly it was Michael Thomas bursting through, the banks fell his way, he flips it wide |
| 0:44.8 | of Grobblah, and we have the most dramatic finish, maybe in the history of the football league. |
| 0:50.5 | This is, it was what it was, I'm Jonathan Wilson, and with Rob Draper, |
| 0:57.3 | and those with allegedly words of the ITV commentator Brian Moore have a climax to the 1988-89 league season |
| 1:01.1 | when Arsenal went to Liverpool for the final game |
| 1:03.8 | needed to win 2-0 to clinch for title |
| 1:05.9 | and got their vital second goal in stoppage time. |
| 1:09.3 | Now, you can argue whether that's the most dramatic |
| 1:12.0 | getting into a season, but quite apart from immediate excitement, it was a hugely significant game. |
... |
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