Away grounds part 3 - Sunshine and The Dell

THE Dell may not have been the most glamorous of stadiums but it was always one of my favourite away trips. Plus, unlike my previous articles on Hillsborough and Villa Park, it was also a ground where Arsenal enjoyed many good victories over the years.

The old facade to the Main Stand at The Dell

My abiding memory of The Dell is probably the weather. It always seemed to be sunny down there. It helped that more often than not we would play them in either the autumn or spring so it always seemed to be warm, which was just as well too as the away end was uncovered for many years.

The ground itself always struck me as being unfinished. The main home end behind the goal, the Milton Road Stand, was a lop-sided affair and the rest of the ground looked like it had seen better days. The away end in particular was basic to say the least, but despite all that it was always a good day out.

However, my trips down to the south coast did not get off to the most auspicious of starts as my first visit, in September 1983, ended in a 1-0 defeat. That summer had seen the arrival of Charlie Nicholas and expectations at Highbury were as high as they had been for many years. It reached fever pitch when we won our opening two matches, Nicholas scoring twice in a 2-1 win at Wolves on the August Bank Holiday Monday, so I travelled down on the train to Southampton that bright September day looking forward to another good victory. But this was the early 1980s Arsenal so we slipped to a tame defeat and Nicholas, as he would do on a regular basis, failed to deliver.

I did not return to The Dell for over two years, for a League Cup 4th round replay in November 1985. The original tie had finished goalless in a dreadful match at Highbury but we produced a superb performance to win 3-1. Charlie did find the target this time, much to my delight as he was very much my hero at the time, along with Martin Hayes and Stewart Robson, as we set up the quarter-final meeting with Aston Villa I mentioned in the last article.

Looking towards the old away end. You always prayed it was not going to rain

The following season, our first under George Graham, had started well and we travelled down south in November 1986 with the chance of going top of the League, a rarity for us at the time. Arsenal took a large away following that day but it was a tough match for long periods against a Southampton side who were always tricky opponents. However, Saints goalkeeper Tim Flowers was sent off early in the second half for a foul on Perry Groves and it was plain sailing after that. Hayes scored from the resulting penalty while Niall Quinn, Groves and Viv Anderson sealed the 4-0 victory that took us to the top.

I missed the trip in April 1988, a now famous match where Alan Shearer scored a hat-trick on his league debut for Southampton in a 4-2 Arsenal defeat, so my next visit came in late-March 1989 - a time when our title challenge was beginning to falter. Again we took a massive following to the south coast and again we came good in the second half. Groves had earlier given us the lead but Glen Cockerill equalised (a sense of justice for him after he'd had his jaw broken by Paul Davis in the reverse fixture at Highbury the previous September) and we were wobbling again. However, Rocky, as he so often did, scored a great goal to put us ahead again before Paul Merson sealed a 3-1 win late on. That success provided the catalyst we needed to go on and lift our first title for 18 years.

I missed our visit on Boxing Day 1989, another 1-0 defeat, but I was back as we chased the double in the spring of 1991. This was the first time I driven to Southampton and unusually it was an all-ticket match. And I did not have a ticket. After parking up at the ground nice and early, I finally managed to get a ticket from a tout, paying well over double face value, but it was not money well spent. With an FA Cup semi-final meeting with Spurs looming just four days later, Arsenal were far from their best and after Groves' shot had been deflected in by Francis Benali (I think) down at our end midway through the second half, Matt Le Tissier equalised and it finished 1-1.

The following season's visit was far more memorable. Our defence of the title had got off to a slow start so Graham broke the club's transfer record to sign striker Ian Wright from Crystal Palace. He scored on his debut in the League Cup at Leicester in midweek but this trip to The Dell marked his league debut. And what a debut it turned out to be. The conditions were far from ideal in an away end with no roof as it rained from start to finish, but it did not matter in the end as, after Rocky had given us a first half lead, it became the Wrighty show. Attacking our end in the second half, we forgot all about the rain as he hit a superb hat-trick to seal a 4-0 victory. A new hero was born.

We did not enjoy such good fortune the following season as our December 1992 trip ended in a 2-0 defeat. I cannot recall too much about this match other than it being the last time I would stand behind the goal. I have to say that was one of the worst away stands I had ever been to and I was not too disappointed when I heard it was to be knocked down and rebuilt with seats and a roof. What luxury!


The old Dell in the sunshine

But I did not sit in that new stand for my next visit, in March 1994. I was instead in the upper tier of the wooden stand to its left. Like much of the ground it was fairly basic and of course you were not allowed to smoke, much to the frustration of many of the fans around me. There was also very little leg room. However, the game was another good one for Arsenal as Wright hit another hat-trick in another 4-0 success. Wrighty's battles with Saints' defender Ken Monkou were often the highlight of our meetings with Southampton at this time and Wrighty would usually come out on top. Kevin Campbell scored our other goal that day as we again enjoyed a sunshine trip to the south coast.

I missed the 1-0 defeat in November 1994 - the first match since Saints goalkeeper Bruce Grobelaar had been named in a match fixing scandal, and apparently he was given both barrels by the away support - so my next visit was a year later, in December 1995, and ended in a drab 0-0 draw. Again I was in the upper tier of the wooden stand but the match itself has been completely erased from my memory.

By the time of our next visit, in March 1997, the Wenger revolution was in full swing but it was two of the lesser known names who gave us the 2-0 victory that day. Stephen Hughes and Paul Shaw (remember him?) scored the goals while young goalkeeper Lee Harper impressed on his league debut. We were in the lower tier of that wooden stand this time in the new plastic seats, but with a low roof and pillars blocking the view it was not ideal and I wished we had sat behind the goal instead.

Our next visit was on another warm day in August 1997 and was special for two reasons. Firstly, Marc Overmars scored his first goal for us - cutting in from the left to finish at the near post - while it also included two Dennis Bergkamp specials in the second half. Bergkamp had started the season in incredible form and these two goals pretty summed him up at the time. The first was a magnificent solo effort while the second was a display of strength and power as he out-muscled Benali before drilling home from 20 yards to seal a 3-1 win. We would go on to win the double that season and Bergkamp would finish top scorer with 22 goals, most of which were out of the top drawer.

The following season saw another visit in the sunshine, this time in April 1999. Our title defence was going well but we needed a win at The Dell to keep the pressure on Manchester United. But the match was a frustrating affair which finished goalless and for once I was happy the pillars were blocking the view.




The lop-sided Milton Road Stand after redevelopment

That summer saw the arrival of a certain Theirry Henry but he did not make the instant impact we had been hoping for. In fact when we made the trip to The Dell in September 1999, he was yet to score for us. However, like Overmars before him, he would break his duck at Southampton. I was in the lower tier again this time and had the perfect view as the ball flew into the net at our end in the second half to give us a 1-0 win. Little did we know at the time but he would repeat that feat quite a few times over the next few years. 227 times in fact.

Our final visit to The Dell was in May 2001 and was an historic day as it was the final ever match at the old stadium before Southampton moved into their new St. Mary's home that summer. We had been beaten in the FA Cup final by Liverpool the previous week but had already secured 2nd place in the league so it was a match played very much in a party atmosphere. We scored twice through Ashley Cole and Freddie Ljungberg but none of us could begrudge Saints victory on their special day, and it was fitting that Le Tissier scored the final goal at the old place to seal a 3-2 Southampton win. Even the away end cheered that one. There were emotional scenes at the end as the fans ran onto the pitch to say a final farewell to what had been their home since 1898.

That also proved to be my last trip to Southampton. By the time of our first visit to their new stadium in September 2001, I had moved up north and I have not made the 700-mile round trip since. It is, however, on my to-do list as I look to complete the full set of League gounds before I finally hang up my scarf.

So that was The Dell. I saw Arsenal win 8 times in my 14 visits, scoring 27 goals and conceding just 10, making it one of my most successful away grounds. Coming up next time I look back on my trips to White Hart Lane, and as you can imagine there are some real crackers there.