The match quality didn\’t matter.
What matters is there is a trophy at the Emirates Stadium, eight years after arriving.
Now history is embedded in the steel and concrete.
People banged on about nine years without a trophy, but as Charlie George told me once, the Emirates is crying out for a trophy to bed it down and give the place some tangible history. He said the staff were feeling it big-time.
On a personal note, I had been to four Arsenal finals and they lost all four. So it was a bit like: ‘one thing to do before you die\’: see your team win the Cup Final.
If any negativity is to be expressed, it is for the national stadium. A lot of fans were stuck outside entrance P, despite queuing for an hour due to a malfunctioning ticket entrance system. Police on horses came round. Fans were getting tetchy. Some ran round desperately to try and get in other entrances.
After getting in late, the mood was one of disbelief, turning to anger after the two Hull goals. Some fans were still angry at half-time. One said it is unbearable, another, it is like torture, others, same old.. same old..
The German guy next to me said the match was like a Shakespearean drama, and in some ways he was right. An act of will to overcome difficult, albeit self-inflicted odds, which made it all the more dramatic, with a ready-made hero, who has fought against the odds, including a broken leg.
My late father (besides raving about Alex James) used to recount a lot about being at Wembley when his cousin scored the winner in a cup final in extra-time in the thirties.
What it will mean to Aaron Ramsey and Arsenal shouldn\’t be underestimated.
19 May 2014