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Like a lot of fans I've occasionally kept press cuttings of some of our team's big games but now I no longer bother. The reason being that Dave does it all for me, he collects a full season's press cutting and then edits the entire season together into a single magazine style volume. It's just so much neater than a pile of newspapers, which will eventually get demoted to my loft or spare-bedroom to be rediscovered when I next move house. This annual collection is always interesting to browse through and it's also a very good reference source that can answer a few arguments about what happened in games past. It's especially a joy in a season where we win something as we did in 2004-5 and there's proportionately more on the final of course than the lesser matches.
The latest edition has 100 packed pages if you include the front and back covers and has about twenty pages of colour photos. The style is an A4 magazine type format. Essentially it's a book of newspaper clippings, which have been thoughtfully collected and collated to produce a memorable record of the season's highs, lows, headlines and as is usually the case, records. So now you can once again relive our recent Cup winning season that climaxed in Cardiff. Not only are all the matches covered but also included are lots of additional background articles, which act as a reflection of what was going on off the pitch as well as on it. The ‘red tops' and self styled ‘quality press' all get a look in here and the total package gives you the players, the pictures, the passion, the play, the plot and all the principle stories doing the rounds in 2004-5.
Any of these headlines ring a bell? ‘Escape to Victory' ‘Champs face kit rumpus' ‘Vieira is the big worry' ‘Gol-den wonder' ‘Wenger is hit by Sol K O' ‘The curse of leaving Arsenal' ‘Quick return for Arsenal swagger' ‘Arsenal enter the history books in irresistible style' ‘Bergkamp sets up Gunners goal rush' ‘One flash of Henry's genius is just enough' ‘Cole provides Wright answer' ‘Thierry's virtuoso show' ‘Rooney topples the invincibles' ‘Van Persie saves Gunners' ‘Gunners on cloud nine' ‘Spurs left reeling as reds win thriller' ‘Arsenal youngsters punch above their weight' ‘Red mist descends as Arsenal hang on' ‘No Arsene, this IS a crisis' ‘Jens axed' ‘Almunia back in the drop zone' ‘Arsenal rescued by rear gunner' ‘Gunners splash £1m for Eboue' ‘Stelios silences Gunners' ‘Arsenal cut Oakes down in the end' ‘Caught! Chelsea tap up Cole' ‘Vieira and Keane may face action over tunnel clash' ‘Villa overwhelmed by Arsenal backlash' Henry lights touch-paper for Palace demolition' ‘Bergkamp red sparks uproar' ‘Arsenal star sent to jail' ‘Freddie refocuses Arsenal ambition' ‘Van Persie turns from sinner to saviour' ‘Henry indulges his brilliance' ‘Bloody brilliant' ‘New ground will put Arsenal back at No1' ‘Reyes puts the party on hod' ‘Big hits of the seven tease' ‘Henry still a doubt for the cup final' ‘Final chance to salvage season' ‘Wenger shows gift of the gag' ‘Lehmann of Steal' ‘Arsenal punish United mistakes'
Brings back all sorts of memories doesn't it and a lot of them are good ones. Well that's the idea and at £9.95 I'd say it's quite a fine way to do it.
Available from: Memorabilia Stall (on the corner of Gillespie Road and Avenell Road opposite the chip shop, Highbury) on matchdays, or by mail from D Bissmire, 237 Wendover Road, Aylesbury, Bucks HP21 9PB (add £1 per edition for postage and packing, £2 EU, £3 rest of the world). If you've not come across this particular volume before you may also be pleased to hear that some previous editions of ‘The Arsenal Reports' are also still available – for further information contact: david.bissmire@ntlworld.com