One-Nil to the Arsenal:  Part 7 - The Midfield Engine

0:06Arsenal journalist Amy Lawrence. That Paris Saint-Germain team had more flair at its disposal than Arsenal. So, you know, there was a contrast in styles. And that was part of the attraction of playing in Europe is that you knew you were coming up against a different style when you played people from different countries. it was yeah that was a very very it felt massive that semi-final a little like this one it felt like a huge amount was at stake for both teams who were you know craving European you know triumph and that what that would bring in terms of status and emotion and all sorts of extra stuff quite apart from the actual football and the other thing that was memorable about that game is that was the birthplace of the song 1-0 to the Arsenal.

1:01So at halftime of that game, basically the Paris Saint-Germain fans sang a song to the tune of Go West by the Pet Shop Boys, which went, which I think they still sing actually, possibly. And at halftime over the Tannoy, having listened to them singing that through the whole first half, they played the Pet Shop Boys song. at which point the Arsenal fans in their section just started up immediately with 1-0 to the Arsenal, which went on for the entire of half-time because the scoreline at the time was 1-0. And 1-0 to the Arsenal, as had been the case in Turin and as had been the case as Arsenal had become more of this cup team, felt symbolic.

1:48So that was where it all began. And little did anybody know how much they'd be singing that song around about a month or whenever it was further down the line in Copenhagen. On May 4th, 1994, Arsenal traveled to Copenhagen, undermanned and decidedly as underdogs, to face Parma in the European Cup Winners' Cup final. This is 1-0 to the Arsenal, the story of the 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup victory. I'm your host, Kent Malmros. Part 7, The Midfield Engine With a Tony Adams header at Highbury, the Arsenal squad found itself through to the semifinals of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994. The opponent, Paris Saint-Germain.

2:45Yes, when you see PSG in the semifinals of a major European tournament as an Arsenal fan after the 2025 Champions League, a sense of déjà vu now makes sense. Like the French team Mikel Arteta's crew faced, that PSG team in 1994 had attacking flair and great goalkeeping. As we've alluded to throughout this series, and as fans can deduce on their own, the parallels between George Graham's side in 1994 as it prepared for PSG and Mikel Arteta's side are eerie. Arsenal had a stout defense intending to neutralize that attack. It had discipline. It also had set-piece expertise. We know the 2025 UEFA Champions League run ended in Paris, but the 94 outcome was different.

3:39Arsenal podcaster Tim Stillman. There's so much in this tie. So first things first. The context of PSG, stop me if this sounds familiar, they have a lot of external funding. it's um it's from canal plus uh you know kind of tv empire they're equivalent of what would sky would be in in england and they and they you know psg get a lot of external investment as palmer do with palmer lat so we're basically dealing with two clubs and this is a very familiar feeling for current arsenal if you want a modern context we end up playing two clubs who are whose talent is inflated by external investment, shall we say.

4:21So PSG is this wonderful flair team, Ginola, George Weyers there. They have the Brazilian players, Haí and Valdo. Haí is a nickname that's Portuguese for king. So you can tell what kind of player he is. He's a very creative number 10. And actually, one of the reasons I really remember this whole tournament fondly is because it's really my first introduction into players from other leagues, which I never had any exposure to. And that is then exacerbated by the fact that we have the 94 World Cup in the US that summer, which England don't qualify for. And for me, like, you know, they always say the World Cup that happens between eight and 12 years old is like the World Cup you always remember.

5:07And for me, I'm 10 and England aren't in it. So I really remember watching it and just seeing all these wonderful players and all these names I'd either never seen before or I'd only heard of, but never had the opportunity to see. And the Cup Winners' Cup run, particularly at this stage, becomes like the gateway drug for that. So now I've heard of Ginela, who actually ironically doesn't play in the 94 World Cups. France don't qualify, for which he's kind of blamed. Actually, George Weyer doesn't play because Liberia don't qualify. um haiti is dropped by brazil in the group stages because they want to become a bit more george graham a bit more compact um so there are all these kind of storylines that bleed into the 94 world cup for me but the other context is the the chant the famous chant one nil to the arsenal is invented at the away game in paris and and ironically we don't win the game one nil we You actually end up drawing at 1-1.

6:04But they start playing Go West by Pet Shop Boys, I think, at halftime, and all the Arsenal fans sing 1-0 to the Arsenal. And that chant remains to this day. And that, by the way, shows you how, you know, you're talking about what was the contemporary impression. When Arsenal fans make their central chant 1-0 to the Arsenal, that tells you that we understood what was going on with the team. that would not have been a chant in 1991 or 1989. So you can see the fans do adapt to the context of the team at the time. The tie started in France on March 24th. Popular Arsenal midfielder David Hillier.

6:50Alan Smith:No, I travelled. I travelled. Yeah, I travelled. It was a great trip because we stayed in a hotel called the Trianon Palace. in in in paris um and it was the most flamboyant expensive hotel i've ever been in in my life even to this day it was just unbelievable you know it was just and it was the first taste of you know before that it was holiday inns and beef eater hotels and stuff like that but then this was like hold on a minute we're moving up now 44 ,000 strong packed the Parc de Prince to watch the first leg of the semifinal matchup. The stadium had originally been built for rugby and the ground was considered suboptimal for football.

7:37Between facing a fanatical away crowd and an informed PSG side, the Gunners were clear underdogs.

7:48Arsenal striker Alan Smith.

7:51Alan Smith:Yeah, it was a great atmosphere. Those Parisian fans, they've always made a noise and they did try to make it uncomfortable for us. We got the first goal, didn't we, with righty with a header. That was another free kick, wasn't it? Am I right in thinking that? We'd had one or two chances. I had a chance that I missed. I think the keeper saved it.

8:27Despite having to overcome a powerful French team that included the likes of David Ginola, Arsenal mustered many of the first half's best chances, including strikes from Paul Merson and John Jensen that went just wide and were saved respectively.

8:52That's going to run. Smith has balled off a little closer. So it's Alan Smith now for Arsenal. Good touch through there to Sally. A good, sensible ball play there by Sally. And a good shot on the far side by Paul Merson. At least I thought it was a good shot, but it just threw wide on the far post. There's some good movement there by Arsenal. Great build-up. Just listen to the statistics you gave us about the defensive record. It's not that bad an effort. That's quite a good effort halfway through the first half still no more Thumbs he Yes, I'm happy with The ball down the bedroom while they were arguing Arsenal good on it Right now Taking it from Winterburn's throw plays a good ball there to Davis Raining in quickly again Smith for a chance for Arsenal just for a moment at sea to be there to the instant Oh a terrific save and it's just right

10:01Finally in the 35th minute, Ian Wright broke the deadlock. Alan Smith drew a foul, earning a free kick, and Paul Davis stood over the dead ball in a very similar location to the one against Torino in the quarterfinals that yielded the Tony Adams goal. Davis executed again with perfection, but this time Wrighty got on the end of it, a bit further away from the net, and headed it into the bottom corner on the far post. Arsenal led 1-0.

10:50It's a free kick to Arsenal.

10:55Davis vooting it in, right with a header. And Arsenal score.

11:09you just felt there was a goal coming from Arsenal and they've been conceding on necessary free kicks and that's a lovely little glance. That's maybe a situation where the ground has actually helped him because he's actually got a very good slip of the ground. There is a snapshot in time worth capturing here. It is widely believed and understood that this is the moment that birthed the 1-0 to the Arsenal song that is so beloved today. the Pet Shop Boys version of Go West was playing at halftime in the stadium causing a spontaneous thought from Arsenal fans to use the tune Alan Smith

11:48Alan Smith:but we were doing pretty well and 1-0 up at halftime that was when the 1-0 to the Arsenal song originated because on the PA they played the Pet Shop Boys West End girls and our fans started adapting it to 1-0 to the Arsenal. So that was when it actually started. And I remember Ginola scoring from the corner. And then he wasn't like us to concede from a corner. And Boldy and Tony had been giving him stick for the entire first half. And Ginola scored at the near post and he's wheeled away to celebrate. But then he's remembered that he's been getting stick off Boldy and Tony. So he's gone back and given a few choice words of his own.

12:36Alan Smith:They both laughed about that afterwards. But, you know, again, 1-1 on their patch. You come away thinking, yeah, good result. The Gunners came out of halftime with the lead, but conceded on a corner in the 50th minute. Brazilian midfielder Valdo lined up over the ball and delivered a low-driven serve towards the near post that Ginola flicked home to tie the game.

13:17any these more

13:21Good to be corner I mean you really cannot believe that Arsenal will be beaten by something like that That once again shows the value of having a guy in both posts You know there's an argument You don't defend your post My argument against that is if the ball goes anywhere in the net from the corner, it'll be near one of the unguided posts. Down the near post, please that one out. Neither side would score again, and the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw. I'll have a final at all. It's important to hold on now. Indeed. Campbell plays it up to right. Just hold it on. He's giving it away.

14:14Ricardo. There's the final whistle. It's an excellent result for Arsenal. 1-1 with that take us away goal as well. Ian Wright, the scorer for Arsenal in the first half. Genoa scoring an equalizer for Mary Stachelard right at the start of the season. It all adds up to a ripping second leg at home in a more five-five. That meant Graham's side would have a chance to take care of business in North London. The return leg took place two weeks later on April 12th at Highbury. There was no other focus for the Gunners. The team's other cup runs were over. The league was well out of reach. And so when match weeks 35 and 36 ended with two more draws, just two days apart on April 2nd and 4th, it wasn't really a surprise.

15:02No one would blame the team for having its eye on PSG. And while the attack was underwhelming, with the Gunners scoring just one goal in each match against Swindon Town and Sheffield United, respectively, those goals were both, at best, tech rehearsals for what would come on the European trail. In the Swindon Town game on April 2nd, Alan Smith scored one of just three league goals that season in the fourth minute, and in the Sheffield game, Kevin Campbell headed home his equalizing goal in the 69th minute. For Campbell especially, it would serve as ideal muscle memory when PSG came to town eight days later for the deciding leg in the semifinal tie.

15:46Longtime Arsenal fan, Tim Stillman. The second leg is just really marked by a few really big memories. Obviously, my first midweek game at Highbury, you know, when you win stuff, it's one of the reasons these games are really magical in Europe because when you win cup finals you don't do it on your own ground and if you win the league I mean my experience of Arsenal winning the league has usually been them winning it on other people's grounds um you know the times I've seen it are really like at Spurs and at Manchester United which is great but actually those games where you do something meaningful in isolation at home are quite rare so winning a second leg of a European semi-final at home.

16:33That doesn't happen very often. In fact, it's never happened, I don't think. Yeah, 2006 is VRL away. 2019, when we get to Europa League final, that's Valencia away. And yeah, so it's never been repeated, yet to be repeated in my lifetime. So there's all that and all that tension. And obviously PSG, we go 1-0 up, as you say, and then we all know what's going to happen after that. and then you know and PSG have got these amazing attackers there's two things that really stick out one is Ian Wright getting the booking yeah so he is one booking away from being suspended for the final and he's said this many years in retrospect what on earth was I doing like it's a PSG defender be Alain Roche or someone like that and he just sides him down when the ball's coming out play for absolutely no reason.

17:27And Ian, very demonstrative, like immediately starts crying. He understands what it means, missing the final. And, you know, you talk about folklore earlier. The context for that is just four years earlier. So there's something very similar that happens to Paul Gascoyne, you know, very central figure in English football. And so for everyone watching in the crowd, that felt very immediate. It's like, oh, this is like Gaza in 1990 because Paul Gascoyne picks up a booking in the 1990 World Cup semi-final that means he'll miss the final if England go through and he cries his eyes out and so that that was very very enlarged televisual football moment for everyone watching so Ian Wright it's almost like mimicking history a little bit but obviously you've got this you're holding these dual concepts in your head of oh we might go to the final but we might go to the final against the best team in Europe without our best player and you kind of have to compartmentalize it.

18:27But another bit I really remember is we give PSG a ridiculous chance in the second half and David Seaman, he goes to throw the ball out and he completely messes it up and he throws it straight to, I think, Valdo, their Brazilian winger, and there's nobody back because everyone's gone forward because back in those days, everyone just boots the ball up the pitch so everyone's like gone forward and David Seaman goes to bowl the ball out to the fullback completely messes it up releases it totally the wrong time and so the nearest PSG gets to scoring a goal is through like a completely like boneheaded error really but it doesn't it doesn't happen but I think I really remember it's one of only two times at Highbury along with Real Madrid in 2006 I remember the final whistle being greeted like a goal like the final whistle being that release like where everyone just jumps up and down and goes crazy because you like i said you don't usually get that at home games like even if you get like a tense league win you kind of go oh thank god for that whereas like in this particular context like the final whistle is like a goal um you know PSG was on the front foot early.

19:51An uncharacteristic mistake by David Seaman almost turned into a goal for the visitors. But Tony Adams intervened, and the subsequent corner was volleyed just wide by PSG.

20:09Ginnon getting in behind them there but the ball up the skiddle from this it's raining here in North London sits them out five and four or a bad throw out by Seaman Valdo Ginnon's waiting in there and Rye didn't really get a firm touch on it but a dreadful mistake there by David Seaman arsenal was clearly on the back foot at that point in the game the gunners turned the momentum around quickly though lee dixon had a throw in deep in the attacking half the right back put it on the foot of smith who played it back to dixon his productive first touch set up across into the box where campbell redirected a header past bernard llama to give arsenal the seventh minute lead.

21:24Smith, Dixon, hoping to measure up a cross gets run in. It's a goal there! It's Kevin Campbell!

21:36A superstar for Arsenal!

21:42What a magnificent goal for the way I've seen it. We talked about the quality of the crossing, look at this. And the keeper thought it on the near post a little bit here. Kevin Campbell unmarked, picked the only spot that would have got him a goal. The Chief was very lucky though, on a great attempt, but a magnificent cross and a great finish. PSG went back on the attack quickly. Unsurprisingly, Gianola was the driving force and helped create a Patrick Colater chance that Seaman turned away. A few minutes later, PSG had a corner that was cleared by an Adams header. The ball settled on the foot of Ian Wright, who sprung to the counter, but when he was dispossessed by Alain Roche, frustration got the best of him.

22:24A cynical tackle attempting recovery led to a yellow card for righty.

22:48Valdo then with a corner again. A different one this time. Just knocked in there again. Here's Adams who was most alive to it. His header finds Wright. Now Wright trying to get away from Politea. And from Walsh. But Walsh, who's just back from injury, goes down and... Is this going to be a yellow cartridge in Wright? I think it is. And now Romini's out of the final. If Arskel go through, Wright doesn't want to look. But Peter Mikkelsen, the Danish referee, I think is going to show the yellow card to Ian Wright. Must confess, I thought he was a little bit hasty there.

23:31I think what he'll be saying here, Ian Wright, that he genuinely tried to hook the ball. Ah, look, you're on. Shades of Paul Gascoigne in 1990. And the important thing is now that's gone, that's history. He's got to now decline and get himself, compose himself and make sure Arsenal do get through to the final. The implication was immediate to everyone. He would be suspended for the final if the team beat PSG and went through.

24:01Long-time Arsenal physio, Gary Lewin.

24:05Alan Smith:The two or three things that stand out to me was the battle was between Lee Dix and David Ginola. That was brilliant because, I mean, Lee will put his hand up and say he kicked lumps out of him that game and got away with it. And David Giannullo really didn't like it. So that's a big memory for me. The second one for me was Kevin Campbell, who unfortunately lost recently, scoring the only goal. And going back to what I mentioned earlier in the interview, Ian Wright was on a booking. He got booked, I think it was after about 30 minutes. And I remember coming in the dressing room at half-time and the team were in the dressing room and George is saying like, where's righty?

24:44Alan Smith:Where's righty? And nobody could find him. And I, out of the corner of my eye, saw some movement in the shower room at the back of the dressing room. So I went through and Ian was sitting in the old fashioned big bath at the time was empty because they filled up in the second half, crying because he knew he was going to miss the final. And I remember climbing into the bath and hugging him and saying like, you've got to do it for the team now. You've got to do it for the team. They need you more than ever. we can still get to this final. And the second half, he was phenomenal. He did not stop running the whole second half.

25:21Alan Smith:Managed not to get sent off, which was a big bonus, but he did not stop running. And they're the two things that really hit me from those two games. It put a cloud over the 1-0 lead heading into halftime. It wasn't just that Wrighty played well. The ever-reliable, famous back four solidified the result. PSG had chances, sure, but they couldn't find an equalizer. An arsenal were through.