The Capital One Cup returned to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening as the team met Southampton in the third round. To celebrate, we invited a group of Junior Gunners to join us behind the scenes and be part of the excitement.
The JGs and their parents won the chance to welcome the team as they stepped off the bus before watching the game from the lower tier.
Twelve more young fans went one stage further, forming a ‘Guard of Honour’ to welcome the teams onto the pitch for kick-off. The group were also surprised when they met Arsène Wenger himself, as well as Mathieu Flamini and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who gave them all high fives.
One lucky JG competition winner joined pitch-side presenter Nigel Mitchell to assist with the pre-match entertainment. Thirteen-year-old Billy was chosen following his fantastic video competition entry that really impressed Nigel and the judges. Billy announced the team ahead of the game and helped interview former Arsenal defender, Andy Linighan at half-time.
The Gunners may have been lost 2-1 by Southampton but the JGs really helped bring the stadium to life, cheering and chanting from their seats, especially following Alexis Sánchez’s incredible goal.
After the match, another group of JGs were given a behind the scenes tour of Emirates Stadium by Gunnersaurus himself. They were taken pitch side just moments after the final whistle and went past the changing rooms too, where they got the chance to meet Olivier Giroud.
The Club also continued its traditional League Cup policy of offering under-16s tickets from £5 for the match and once again had a sold-out stadium.
Check out our image gallery of the evening below.
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