My favourite Highbury moments.

The first game i ever went to was Arsenal Leicester in 1995. Goonerboy was very much a boy back then, and had been excited for weeks in advance. My Dad and I were in the North Bank and this was barely weeks - if I remember properly - before Georgie Graham was sacked. I remember staring in awe at the jumbotrons when I got in the ground: these were still quite the novelty back in '95. Leicester were bottom of the league, and Arsenal weren't exacly soaring above them. That season, when i received my Highbury baptism, we finished about 13th, lost in the ECWC final due to that goal, and Graham was sacked due to taking a bung - although I was too young to understand what that meant. Pretty bleak times. But I was at Highbury!

Only 30,000 fans had turned up, and Georgie came on the screen before the game to thank us all for coming, and that he was happy so many people had turned up. Hard to imagine a premiership game not selling out nowadays at Highbury, but that was the state the club was in.

The game was a fairly scrappy affair. It was pelting down with rain, and my Dad and I were sitting right in the front row or so in the lower North bank. After being drenched in the first half, I'm pretty sure he must have downed a pint at h-t - I remember being so thrilled that the plastic pint glasses had Arsenal badges on them. The stand was empty enough that we were able to sit further back in the second half. It was about 10 minutes or so in that Merson - who was my favourite player, even more than Wrighty, and even after the disillusionment of his multi-addiction frontpage scandal - broke the deadlock. Bliss.

But it was not to be, and Mark Draper equalised with a free-kick - a player we were being strongly linked to at the time. The game eventually finished 1-1, but I was happy. My first game at Highbury and it had been magic. And we hadn't lost!

After that I wasn't so lucky. I remember seeing Arsenal getting beaten 2-1 by Everton during Rioch's year in charge. It was our only last home league defeat before we went on some huge home undefeated run, pretty much summing up my luck. I think after that I saw three draws, two of which were 0-0s.

It was only after about half a dozen games over 3 seasons that i finally saw Arsenal win, A 1-0 against Sheffield Wednesday. I had my view partially obscured by a pillar, but the catharsis was palpable. Dennis, who i still can't believe is also going this year (sob), got the winner and before the match he was presented with some form of European player of the year award thingy. I was so proud to see that. I think he may just have come third, but to see a player like that play for us, at Highbury and to score when i was there...magic.

My best Highbury moment was in the '98 season. We beat Wimbledon 5-0, and we could have scored 10. Petit finally scored his first goal for Arsenal, and the win made it look like we could actually catch United. I remember walking out the ground and everyone singing how we were gonna win the league, and it actually seemed plausible. Within a month, we were champions, and it seemed that I had been there, at Highbury, when it all began to fall into plac. I know that probably wasn't the case - but that's how I've remembered it, and it's a truly treasured memory.

The first actual time I went to Highbury was also pretty magic. We were living in Wales at that time and my family had come up to London for the weekend. My dad decided to take me to Highbury just so I could have a look at the stadium. As we were passing, a tour group went in, and my dad did the old foot in the door routine.

So during my first visit to Highbury, I strode in through the front entrance and into the Marble Halls. Not bad, eh? Saw the dressing rooms, sat in the dugout, secretly took a blade of Highbury grass, marvelled at the spankingly opulent toilets, and saw the FA cup - i think it was the real one, we had won it the year before- in the trophy cabinet. My secret hope that the Arsenal first team would swagger in unannounced as part of the tour did not come to fruition, unforunately.

Ah, memories: in a few days, these will be all that remain of our beloved Highbury. The bricks and mortar will soon crumble, and only the thoughts that we all have indelibly marked on our minds will be left.

I can't wait to see my first match in the Emirates next season, but I'll never forget Highbury. I think it's the most beautiful stadium I've ever been to, because it's not a stadium. Its soul, its history, and all the players and the fans made it far more than that.

So, goodbye Highbury. I'm going to miss you. Thanks for the memories and all the happy times.