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The last time Arsenal played at St James’ Park was six months ago, Martin Ødegaard leading a 2-0 win that cut Manchester City’s Premier League lead to a single point, the title race back on. Or was it? Mikel Arteta’s side promptly lost to Brighton and Nottingham Forest, tying the sky-blue ribbons to a trophy they had kept one hand on since the Human Rights World Cup break. Oh, Arsenal! Mind, the Gunners have not suffered much of a hangover. They still haven’t lost in the league since that day at the City Ground, winning seven of their 10 games despite not yet hitting that fast, fluid, near-unplayable attacking fifth gear they found last season. Perhaps that’s because Ange Postecoglou popped in and asked to borrow it, and he’s such a nice bloke that you just can’t say no.
Re: Springfield Park (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition). The first match I ever attended was Wigan Athletic v Manchester City there in 1965, a friendly arranged because Latics bought the old floodlights from Maine Road. Your photo reminded me that the ground remained pretty much unchanged for the remaining 44 years of its existence. The most (in)famous feature being the grassy bank at the away end which became a mud-slide on rainy days, producing great scenes like this“ – John Caley.
As a long-time contributor to one of the world’s biggest-selling monthly music titles, may I set Noble Francis’ mind at rest that Mojo is as much a 1990s music magazine as The Guardian is an 1820s newspaper (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). In fact, Mojo has just celebrated its 30th birthday. Its first issue came out on 15 October 1993 – a couple of days before my team Sunderland were thumped 4-1 by Boro in the second tier. Fast forward exactly three decades and – a few days before Mojo lit the candles on its virtual birthday cake – SAFC, in a cruel but entirely predictable attempt at symmetry, once more conceded four to our Smoggy pals from down the A19 in a second-tier match. That’s just the way it is, as one 1980s American rock musician once put it. Things very much stay the bleedin’ same” – Stephen Worthy.
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