As the sun set on the last-ever matchday at Highbury,
Thierry Henry was one of the last people to leave the pitch.
His love affair with the stadium began way back on August 7, 1999
when Henry was involved in the Frank Sinclair own goal which
clinched victory against Leicester. More than six years later,
Henry bid Highbury farewell with a delicate kiss of the turf after
completing his hat-trick against Wigan.
"My celebration said it all," said the ground's most
prolific striker. "I kissed the ground goodbye."
Having reluctantly walked off the pitch long after most of his
team-mates had gone home, Henry explained why the ground was a
little more special to the more senior members of the squad.
"I think it's was a bit strange everyone left like
that," he said.
"But at the end of the day I think some of the players in the
team are really young and haven't won a lot here, so maybe it
was less special for them.
"But Dennis [Bergkamp] is still here, I'm still here,
Ashley [Cole] was there. People who played a long time here were
sitting there enjoying it. Me and Ashley were saying to ourselves
'we don't want to leave'. Highbury is just a special
place."
But despite the overwhelming nostalgia of the day, Henry exhibited
one of the qualities that have elevated him to such star status -
his peerless professionalism.
"Party? No. I'm going to go home, to chill -
and now I'm definitely starting to think about the Champions
League Final," he said.
11/4 - Champions League Final - Arsenal to win in 90 minutes
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 8 May 2006
