0 ARSENAL 3 MIDDLESBROUGH

April 14, 2001 Premiership Middlesbrough fan, Louis Dixon

“I drove down to London from Boro with my dad Ian and best mate Lee. The closer we got to Highbury, the more our optimism grew, and I can even recall Radio 1 predicting a 1-0 win for Middlesbrough.

In the pub you could feel all of the excitement building and fans belted out Boro songs outside the stadium.

We went 1-0 up and the away end roared, before uniting for a rendition of ‘Ei, Ei, Eio’. Soon it was 2-0 and we sang ‘Roll on Valencia’, who Arsenal would play in the Champions League the following Tuesday.

During half-time, fans were taking pictures of the scoreboard. ‘It won’t look like that at full-time,’ I thought, expecting the inevitable comeback.

The second half was a bit of a blur, thanks more to an Arsenal onslaught than anything alcohol-related. Just before the hour, a delicate Alen Boksic backheel fooled Tony Adams, allowing Hamilton Ricard to score with the finest of toe-pokes. No chance would we lose from 3-0 up, surely? Arsenal fans headed to the exits but a few near the away end clapped, saying, ‘Enjoy your day.’

When David Seaman took a goal-kick we would all shout, ‘Ohhhhhh porn star!’ due to his horrendous ponytail.

Right at the death, it could have been four – Dean Windass had an open goal but blazed the ball over the bar. There was still time for Boro anthem ‘Pigbag’ and a bit of ‘Ohh Terry, Terry, Venables’.

The car trip home – back in time to see Match of the Day – was silent for several hours before I said, ‘Did we just win 3-0 at Highbury?’ We were still in total shock – since when do Boro go and do that?!”