After shaking hands with Charlie George, who left us in all smiles, I had to come off of the cloud that I was on because it was nearly match time!

We left the ground after a short lap through the museum and took a last look at the statues on the different paths of entry to the ground.  As I mentioned earlier, the Tollington wasn’t showing the match that day but luckily Dale had some inside knowledge from his time studying in London.

Heading to the Gunners Pub, we routed through Highbury to make sure that I passed the still-standing East Stand of the old stadium.  It pops out as you turn the corner and one can easily see how it is integral to the town that so tightly surrounds it.  It has a strong and glorious feel, imposing directly on the street.   I can only imagine what it would’ve been like to see the full ground!

The locals that packed the pub were very welcoming and intense, as expected! We finally caught up with Dale from and sunk some (very solid) Punk IPAs during the match. The man is a complete gent, and it was great to hear about London and Melbourne while traveling!  It’s amazing that a mutual love for the Arsenal brings so many like-minded people together.

I made a point to take it all in again on the way back to Arsenal Station. The day was a truly overwhelming and amazing experience. It must be mentioned that the controlling emotion on the day was pride. The love for the club, especially in seasons like this, is difficult to express but you never doubt it. Getting to see it, feel it, and be part of it, confirms that it is worth every second.

I had the day of a local gunners fan mixed with a bit of tourism and every single piece of it exceeded my high expectations. I’m planning the next visit to be on the day of a home match, but I can honestly recommend that every Arsenal fan makes it to the ground and the surrounding area to appreciate the immense impact that our club truly has!

• Keep an eye out for the parts of the article to follow on the Features & Guests page!
• Listen to the podcast where the boys from Gunners Down Under recommended the tour!
• Leave comments and questions, as the plan is to release a single post for the blog post on Ashburton Grove.