EXTRA TIME

Up For Grabs

October 28, 2021 at 11:33 am Leave a comment

‘Thomas, charging through the midfield! Thomas! …It’s up for grabs now!’ Leading composer and life-long Arsenal fan Mark-Anthony Turnage has composed a piece on Arsenal’s champion deciding match of 1989 against Liverpool. It will be performed for the first time on 5 November, 19:30, at Barbican Hall in London.

The composer supplies the musical alternative to Brian Moore’s iconic commentary of this championship decider which Arsenal had to win with a margin of two goals to be crowned champions of the English First Division of 1988/89. It is a match which has a Wikipedia page of its own and at its time was watched by a peak British television audience of over 12 million.

The match is considered to be one of the most dramatic conclusions to a league season in the history of the English game and is sometimes seen as the starting point of a renaissance in English football. The title decider also formed the centrepiece of Nick Hornby’s book Fever Pitch.

The scoreline after the first half at Anfield had been 0-0. Then Striker Alan Smith scored Arsenal’s first goal from a header in the 53rd minute, but as the game drew to a close with the score 1–0, Arsenal needed a second goal to win the title. In stoppage time, Arsenal’s Thomas made a run through the Liverpool midfield and scored a last-minute goal, in the process denying Liverpool the chance of a second League and Cup double.

Members of Arsenal’s 1989 winning team against Liverpool will reunite to reminisce, after the performance was played alongside projected highlights from the dramatic match.

The performance can be watched online on the website of Barbican Hall.

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