‘We got chased down the street’: When Arsenal won the Premier League at White Hart Lane in 2004

A lot is made of online polls and how Arsenal’s fanbase weaponise to manipulate them. But when they voted unanimously for a 2-2 draw as one of their greatest Premier League matches, it made perfect sense.

They have had many better results and performances. Some that, unlike this match, saw them win comprehensively. Others, unlike this match, in which they did not relinquish a 2-0 lead to a side comfortably in the bottom half.

But profligacy and spurned points didn’t really matter here. For this match back in April 2004 not only confirmed Arsenal’s 13th league title, and third of the Premier League era, but did so at the home of their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

This was not the first time the Gunners have had such celebrations at White Hart Lane. The 1971 triumph was more dramatic: the 88th minute wait for Ray Kennedy’s winner making Bertie Mee’s side work that little bit harder. There’s a temptation to suggest that 0-1 was a little bit sweeter. But really, it did not matter.

It will be the 19th anniversary of this gloat-worthy day on Saturday and the novelty of it has not worn thin, certainly for Arsenal fans. But it can be universally agreed – can there be a greater statement of dominance over a bitter rival than to win the league at theirs?

What keeps it in perspective is not just the rarity of the points tally and fixture list aligning but the opportunities that have gone begging since.

Just over two years ago Manchester City missed the chance to inflict an almighty dunk on Manchester United at the Etihad. After years of being punched down upon by those in red, they had forced down the sign at Old Trafford tallying the years since they had won a trophy in 2011. A year later, in the most dramatic of finishes, a first Premier League title was secured.

Yet with the league-confirming win in their grasps – like Arsenal they were 2-0 up at half-time – Paul Pogba (with a brace) and Chris Smalling saw it finish 2-3. United fans at least had the temporary joy of delaying the festivities. Mostly the joy was in not having front row seats to your adversary’s glory. City would end up winning the league when United lost at home to West Bromwich Albion a week later, but it was not quite the same.

They were set to be on the bitter end of this situation a few weeks ago in a match where points of any kind for Liverpool would have confirmed a first league trophy since 1990 or, maybe even worse, forced the title-holders into a guard-of-honour for the champions-elect at the Etihad. Once lockdown is lifted and sport gets the green light to return, it may come to pass. But it won’t feel the same, especially if fans on both sides won’t be there to embrace or endure it respectively.

That contrast of emotions was truly what made 2004’s encounter.

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There’s always enough emotion to go around in a London Derby, even one which followed a police warning to Arsenal’s players to try and keep celebrations to a minimum if the result went their way. To a man they agreed, but all it took was Mauricio Tarrico’s over-zealous celebrations after Robbie Keane’s stoppage-time penalty to scratch that agreement.

Thierry Henry, who carried the ball 70 yards for the first of Arsenal’s two goals in the opening 10 minutes, was particularly riled by the Argentine’s goading and reminded him the single point was enough for their party to begin. He hammered that home with some guttural screams at full-time before leading the charge towards the corner of Arsenal fans, shirt billowing above his head like a flag in battle.

Many of those Gooners had supped from this particular cup before, as had those on the field. Sylvain Wiltord’s tuck home at Old Trafford on a May evening two years before this one. That time, like this one, required just a point to pop the champagne with games to spare. The main difference were the moods before and after the match.

Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were contenders and this iteration of Spurs were very much not. There was even a mathematical possibility of relegation which the point eased. For home fans with family ties to the club, this was an inopportune experience previous generations had never wished upon them.

“My Spurs supporting dad was there the first time in 1971, working as a turnstile man,” says Adam Powley, an author who co-wrote Steve Perryman’s Autobiography “A Spur Forever” and was in the stands in 2004. “He had to park his car miles away from the ground that night due to the heaving traffic and battle through the crowds to get to his gate on time. So I grew up with that dread of it happening again.”

As such, the mood around the ground after full-time was tense. Arsenal fans travelled expected to celebrate – the 34th game of what would be the Invincibles season – and anticipated a spicy pre and post-match reception at odds to the comical notion doing the rounds at the time that the home fans would applaud a job well done. Leaving the ground well after the final whistle required quick thinking and feet.

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“We’d been in there for an hour or so,” remembers Tim Payton of the Arsenal Supporters Trust. “So there was a sense Spurs fans had stayed around and we knew it was going to be a bit spicy. You always used to feel a bit on edge leaving the ground at the old White Hart Lane because you’d come out on a corner and feel very exposed. We ended up getting chased down the street!”

Payton, like many, ended up taking a very different route away but they all reconvened later on at more welcoming boozers to toast a satisfying win.

Many of them shared photos from that hour when White Hart Lane was to themselves: of Henry plating an inflatable league trophy into the centre spot as if claiming the ground as their own, and of course, Arsene Wenger’s iconic post in front of the supporters with “ARSENE KNOWS” on a banner behind him.

“It felt like a cup final,” remembers Payton. “You have your corner of the ground and when you’ve won and the opposition have left, you get the whole ground. It’s all yours. You feel like you’ve earned it. And for it to be their gaffe, that always make it much sweeter.”

Arsenal may be a long way from those glory days. But at a time when nostalgia is working overtime, they will have every excuse to indulge the memories of that sunny afternoon. Some will even point out that Arsenal’s 1971 and 2004 exploits are as many as Tottenham’s own league celebrations at White Hart Lane.

Petty and boastful, perhaps. But if you could choose a way to win trophies, doing so against the ones you hate most takes some beating.