FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF YEAR
Arsenal's Thierry Henry was named second best player in the
world at the FIFA World Player Gala on December 20. Thierry
finished just behind Barcelona's Ronaldinho in the poll of
national team managers and captains across the world. It's the
second successive year he has finished as runner-up. Thierry racked
up 552 points, with Ronaldinho on 620 and Andriy Shevchenko, who
finished third, on 253. We will have a full break down of the
results in a forthcoming programme, including details of which
players each national coach and captain voted for.
GET WELL SOON VIC
Everybody at the Arsenal Football Club would like to
wish Vic Akers a speedy recovery, after he was taken ill recently.
The club, on behalf of Vic, would also like to pass on thanks to
all those supporters who sent get well messages to our First Team
Kit Manager and Ladies Team Manager.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Board of Directors, players and coaching staff
at Arsenal Football Club would like to wish all of our supporters a
very happy New Year.
The Club would also like to remind all supporters that our next
fixture at Highbury is on January 4, against Manchester City,
kicking-off at 7.45pm.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR
The European Footballer of the Year (Ballon
D'or) was presented to Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko on
Monday, December 13. The AC Milan forward finished ahead of Deco
and Ronaldinho, and also Thierry Henry, who came fourth. It's
the third time Thierry has been placed in the top four of the
award, after coming second last year behind Pavel Nedved.
BBC COACH OF THE YEAR
Arsène Wenger was honoured at the recent BBC Sports
Personality of the Year with the Coach of the Year award. The
Gunners boss was rewarded for guiding Arsenal to a record-breaking
49-game unbeaten run in the league, and taking the team to his
third English championship. Arsenal were beaten to the Team of the
Year award by the British Four Man Olympic Rowing team.
FA YOUTH CUP DRAW
Arsenal's Youth Team have been drawn at home to
Preston North End in the Fourth Round of the FA Youth Cup. After
seeing off Crystal Palace in the Third Round, Steve Bould's
Under-18 team will tackle Preston at Barnet FC on January 17.
JOHN SPICER SEALS PERMANENT MOVE
John Spicer has completed a permanent transfer to
Football League One side AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee.
Midfielder Spicer, 21, became a scholar at Arsenal in the summer of
2000 and signed professional forms in July 2001. He made his
first-team debut in the Carling Cup tie with Rotherham United last
season, converting a penalty in the shoot-out. The England Youth
International made more appearances (25) for Arsenal's reserves
than any other player last season.
DANNY KARBASSIYOON JOINS TRACTOR BOYS
Danny Karbassiyoon this week joined Championship side Ipswich Town
on loan for one month. The 20 year-old has enjoyed a good run in
the Reserves since the start of campaign, to date playing in all
bar two of the Club's 14 fixtures. Danny has operated mainly at
left-back this season, and played in all three Carling Cup matches
this term, scoring against Manchester City. Danny previously played
for American side Roanoke Star before joining Arsenal in August
2003, and he has gained international experience with both the USA
Under-18 and Under-20 teams.
STUART TAYLOR STAYING ON AT LEICESTER
Stuart Taylor has extended his loan spell with Championship side
Leicester City until January 22, 2005. At the time of writing, 24
year-old goalkeeper Taylor has played five times for the Foxes,
keeping two clean sheets.
GIANT NEW YEAR PROGRAMME FAIR
Football memorabilia collectors can kick-off their
new year at London's Giant New Year Programme Fair on Sunday,
January 2, 2005. Tens of thousands of programmes, tickets, books,
badges and a myriad of other collectables will be eagerly pounced
upon by collectors all ages and tastes. The long-established,
annual event takes place at the Royal National Hotel, in Woburn
Place WC1 - just two minutes from Russell Square Station. It opens
from 10.30am until 4pm and admission is just £1.50.
HALF-TIME PRESENTATION
At half-time today a group from Crisis, the charity
for the homeless, will be presented with their medals for taking
part in a penalty shoot-out at the stadium earlier today. Please
give them all a warm round of applause as they take to the
pitch.
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Arsenal supporter Jon Baron recently climbed to the
top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and has so far raised more than
£13,000 for charity. Climbing with 11 others, Jon reached the
summit, Uhuru Peak at 5,895m at 7am on October 7. Once at the top,
Jon removed two layers of clothing to reveal his Arsenal shirt.
Jon's motivation to reach the highest peak in Africa was his
chosen charity, Teenage Cancer Trust, which will benefit from his
achievement.
CHRISTMAS CARD AUCTION RAISES £1,000
Arsenal Football Club's Spanish striker, Jose Antonio Reyes,
helped the Club's Charity of the Season, ChildLine, to raise
nearly £1,000 by personally signing Christmas cards which were
auctioned on Arsenal.com. The nine signed Christmas cards by
Arsenal's number nine went up for auction on Wednesday,
December 15 and closed five days later, with a total of
£979.50 raised. The highest bidder pledged £250 to the
Club's Charity of the Season and bids came from as far away as
Australia.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW MADE
Arsenal will face Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions
League. As group winners Arsenal will play the second leg at home.
Confirmed dates and kick-off times for the two legs are as
follows:
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
UEFA Champions League
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Kick-off: 7.45pm (GMT)
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
UEFA Champions League
Wednesday, March 9, 2005
Kick-off: 7.45pm
The rest of the draw for the First Knock-out Round is:
Real Madrid v Juventus
Liverpool v Bayer Leverkusen
PSV Eindhoven v Monaco
Porto v Internazionale
Barcelona v Chelsea
Manchester United v AC Milan
Werder Bremen v Lyon
