The remote control disintegrated on impact with the television, the first casualty as cups, cushions, photo-frames, coffee table and little jar of copper coins were strewn over the living room floor. It only lasted thirty seconds but the explosive burst of frustration turned my living room into Falluja on an off day.

The moment that precipitated the devastation was Pires's rather tame penalty nestling in the arms of Tim Howard who had had time to wave to his mum before stooping to pick it up. Why the rage at losing the charity shield (which we all know is the good thing)? Of course it was not that one game it was all the frustration of last year flooding into my cranium from the corner of my brain where I had locked it away. In fact I was still in shock after Viduka's goal and it was as though Pires's pen had brought me out of the deep state of denial.

'!Bugger the cock gobbling sons of Satan had beaten us again!'. The frustration of last season's capitulation had compounded the underlying sadness that had been there since Ronaldinho embarrassed seaman and Scholes embarrassed an England shirt in Japorea 2002 (will I see England win the world cup in my lifetime).

I was not even looking forward to the season starting, well I was of course but I was more anxious than usual. From the heroics of 2002 and the sublime football of the beginning of the 02-03 season I wondered whether Villa, Bolton, Blackburn and Leeds had precipitated a dramatic fall from grace. Without many new faces and with everyone predicting a long season for the gunners the prospect of watching more Man Yoo dominance stretching into the next decade, having all ready suffered years of darkness between 93 and 01 was not feeling me with joyous well being. I felt that in 02 we had broken the back of the leviathan and, as we strode imperiously through the first few months of 02/03, I felt that the rain had gone and I could see quite clearly now.

If August 02 was another Arsenal false dawn the build up to 03 was decidedly understated. I challenge anyone to find a football journalist who had actually predicted Arsenal to win the league in 04. Most were too busy gloating over the 03 collapse and the old 'w shall go the season unbeaten' misquotation (oh the delicious irony). The money grubbing, lascivious oiks that actually make a living out of spouting utter shite on football, the sports writers, (ok I'm one to talk but I do not actually get paid to spout incontrovertible drivel) had smugly written us off as per usual. That of course was the first and perhaps most important clue that Arsenal would do well this season. The other, as I had told some friends, was that Chelsea had not bought in summer 02 and everyone agreed that they had been the better for having a settled squad (delicious irony 2) and we too might well benefit from such a pause in turnover. Add to that the absence of any summer tournaments, which meant our stars had had a proper break for the first time in years. Can anyone deny the benefit that Pires had from that? There were signs of life there for those who paused to look and think; that immediately disqualified the entire UK press.

In that rather desolate summer the first signs of the Gooner recovery showed in a decent 3-1 win up at Ibrox pre-season. Having been decidedly ordinary early pre-season our win at Rangers won plaudits in the press with newly tried out centre back Toure and Edu getting the loudest praise. How important those two players were to prove later in the season. Toure was a revelation during the season, he saved us the difficult search for a quality centre back and he was arguably this season the second best defender in English football; the best of course being the man next to him. Wenger himself remarked that all the top coaches in Europe had agreed when they mat at a UEFA conference that they were all searching for central defenders. There is a dearth of talent at this poistion, which shows how blessed we are to have found someone so good all ready in the squad. Toure could become Wenger's best ever signing.

Remember that? That it was actually the best start to a season that the club had ever had. The previous best was 47 when we happened to walk the title; did not feel like it at time but the signs of something special were there right from the start. Certainly the (lack of) charity shield and the opening game against Everton had been dominated by the anti-Arsenal and anti-Campbell witch hunt. Thank heavens for Sven calling off the FA dogs before big Sol was totally ruined. It seemed we could never get away from the old discipline problem. There are two schools of thought on the Arsenal when it comes to this touchy subject. One is that Arsenal have a discipline problem, the other is we have a referee and FA panel problem. No prizes for guessing which side of the evil v enlightened debate I come down on. So apart from the Sol persecution and the last view of Jeffers (rumour is he got sent off on purpose to hasten his Highbury exit, silly boy) we racked up a series of back to back wins that surprised everyone. The signs of the great season in store were there when 10 men Arsenal took Everton apart, Pires and Henry showing incredible quality and work rate as we overcame losing Sol to win the game 2-1 and dominate despite the man disadvantage. It was all smiles from then on as we dispatched Boro, Man City, Villa to claim all 12 points available at the start of the season.

Then we decided it was all too easy and we had to make it interesting. First we warmed the press up with the draw against Pompey. Pires went to ground a little easily and we eked out a draw without playing well. The press's reaction put Pires's crime (misdemeanor) in perspective; from that moment on, all season, any dive mentioned in any match anywhere had to have the obligatory reference to Robert v Pompey. Well 'feck the lot of yese' as they say up in sweaty sock land. A dive is what Makeleleelelelele did against Monaco in a disgraceful piece of cheating. Robert went over too easy, he was looking for it; but can anyone name another Pires dive? Why does he have to carry this reputation? Because he is French and plays for Arsenal that is why!

Suitably warmed up the press went into a killing frenzy in our next drawn game. This time a series of dives by 'our cheats in the north' went unreported. Despite them getting Vieira sent off and a ridiculous last minute penalty. Their flagrant foul play was ignored and instead an incident that lasted about one minute, involving some shoving and pushing made more headlines than September the eleventh. The press forgot that we had had three players sent off in our last three matches against them; that they had tried to kick us off the park in 2002 and that last season Solksjaer had wanted to speak up for Campbell but was gagged by Sir Demented. One of my friends captured the mood of the hysteria when he said it was 'As if Keown and co had gang-raped an 8 year old and desecrated the Queen Mum's tomb'.

Ironically it did the team the power of good, after the injustices in the game, came the injustices after and even better all the journos that had written us off at the start of the season decided to write us off all over again! By now we could not lose..

With the aftermath of the battle of OT II still reverberating in the press we played the Magpies on Friday night in the rain. It proved to be an incredible game that was end to end and finally settled by a rush of blood to Jermaine (England player you are having a laugh) Jenas's head as he practiced basket ball in the penalty box.

All this palaver was going on in the midst of another difficult European campaign and Sol losing his father and Vieira struggling with injury. We had a fully fit squad at the end of the season, but all the talk we avoided injuries is pure poppycock. The team against Lokomotiv is Moscow was missing Sol and Paddy, not only that but super Sylvian was playing so we only started with 10 men!

Liverpool away! What a game this was, arguably the most important of the season. Since 1980 we had won four times at Anfield, 89. 91, 92, 02, Notice that 3 out of 4 of those times we won the league. Winning the league for the Arsenal is all down to larging it up at the house of scouse! So with the press on our backs, our captain injured and the squad facing a lengthy series of bans we travelled to our number one bogey ground; sorted! By the way who was captain that day with Vieira injured; the Romford Pele of course, and some people want him sold!

For half an hour they battered us, all season I have not seen a team batter us the way LFC did in that crucial first third of the game. They were one nil up, ironically from their hardest chance, but they should have been three. Desperate defending from us and a lack of composure in front of goal from them had kept the score to the one and I found myself thinking; if we can just keep them to one at half time they will feel gutted. It'll feel like one nil down after so many chances went begging; especially with their fragile confidence. But Champions don't just kick you while you are down, they stamp all over you, In an act of pure day light robbery Arsenal pulled back with their first foray forward. To make matters worse (or better) it was a scabby, jammy, scrappy OG! Then Aliaidiere nearly took all the wet out of the scouse when he was brought down by Henchoz after he got behind the defence, Barber waved play on for what looked like a possible sending off. At half time it was one one and the Scouse were visibly shocked.

The second half showed the Scouserpool's bolt was well and truly shot. Arsenal did not exactly dominate the game but seemed to have a control of it as Liverpool began seeing less and less of the ball. Still an Arsenal winner still looked unlikely until super Robert Pires picked up the ball from Edu outside the box. A bit of crab like running and he let fly with the golden right peg! He knew he had scored the instant he hit it, so did everyone else. Pires went nuts, the travelling gooners went nuts, the Singapore gooners packed into 9 Oxley Rise went nuts. It was an incredible moment. I simply cannot see that goal often enough, what a peach and Pires himself says it kick started his season. And what a season he had; the press may have focused on Henry but discerning Gooners know that Pires had his best ever season for the Arsenal in 03/04.

After the win over Liverpool our first fixture crunch of the season brought Chelsea; with all the Man Yoo nonsense and suspensions and injuries we played Man U away, Newcastle home, Liverpool away, Moscow away, Chelsea home and Kiev away! Ouch! We suffered in Europe in that time but at home we won 3 and drew one, a fantastic achievement in the circumstances. The Chelsea home game felt like a warm up match, it was too early in the season and when Crespo scored his illegal goal (he came on the pitch without the ref's permission and was offside, two laws broken at once) the game felt truly surreal. But they all count and Mr Cudicini helped us out enormously with his gift just when the game had draw written all over it. Round 1 against the murdering billionaire's team of overpriced misfits and has-beens went to us!

After the win over Chelsea the Premiership fixtures became a little easier and at the same time our European form picked up drastically. This is a continuing theme of the season in fact. We were able to keep our domestic form consistent whatever fixture list threw at us, but during the crunch periods it was in Europe we suffered. A final bridge for us to cross in the coming season (s).

We were not convincing at times, Charlton Bolton and Leicester away and Fulham at home for example, but we were not losing; And we were putting together the odd good performance, a routing of Leeds a win over the old enemy coming back from behind. And on the day England won the world cup (for egg chasing) a momentous 3-0 was achieved at St Andrews with a simply jaw dropping sprint and finish from DB10 that seemed to roll back 10 years! As the Arsenal gathered some momentum mounted and all ready people were talking of how long the unbeaten run could continue. Taking 4 points of the two Bogey teams (Bolton and Blackburn) saw us heading into Christmas with 17 games unbeaten and a wafer thin lead at the top. Had you offered me that at the start of the year I would have bitten your hand off!

Oh and lets not forget one result that had the whole of Europe utterly gobsmacked. Heading into the San Siro needing a miracle Arsenal came up with a masterpiece. A complete footballing display by all players used from a team that had it all, we defended resolutely only bested by a deflection, we dominated the midfield and we were razor sharp up front, Remember there was no Vieira, Lauren or Bergkamp! Kanu and Raymondo started this one; we had Gilberto on the bench. Weak squad, hardly? Inter were red hot favourites and no one gave the Euro flops much of a chance. The game itself will go down as one of Arsenal's all time best. There is nothing like trouncing an internationally respected team on their own ground. Henry, Sol and Raymondo were incredible in this one; Inter could not live with them. Henry was superb and scored a world class brace, including the wonderful second when he totally flummoxed Zanetti (served him right I remember 98!). It was a performance that shook the Fleet Street copywriters who were poised with their same old Euro flop cliches until the real Arsenal showed up in Europe. I managed to re-read some of the stories written after we lost 3-0 to Inter. The press relished our misery and of course everything was fundamentally wrong with the Arsenal that moment, they (the press) of course had no shame about singing a different song after the away game; the scum.

Christmas to Bolton, how to win a league and set some records

The complete turnaround achieved in Europe, top of the group! The league position looking healthy despite the Old Trafford handbags, things were looking good leading up to Christmas. Anyone noticed how well the Arsenal has done around Christmas in recent years? Why on earth would we want a winter break when we seem to be at our best when the stockings are hung up on the wall and Slade is on the radio? This of course is wonderful for the current author as I only get to see them over the Yuletide festivities. A 3-1 stuffing of Wolves provided exotic boxing day fare for ravenous gooners. This was followed by a hard fought 1-0 at Southampton, Pires providing the assassin's blow just before half time, ghosting into space; poetry in effing motion. The Soton away win was crucial. It was a ground where we had come unstuck horribly the year before (remember Sol seeing red for bringing down Delgado!) and it was at a crucial time as by some miracle the blues and scum were still living with us at the top of the table.

We edged out Southampton and my next trip was up the M1 to Leeds in the cup. Whisper this but I think that in terms of sheer football played, this may have been our best game of the season. The one touch passing and movement was breath taking, the fact we gave Leeds a head start and they tried so hard to make a game of it just seemed to lift our performance to a higher plane. When Edu swept in our exquisite second a Liverpool supporting friend of mine smsed me one word 'frightening'. And that is what we were becoming, teams were becoming frightened of us. The league and the records were all ready looking a possibility but no Gooner wanted to ever say it after last season.

A hard-earned draw against Everton saw us neck and neck with United and Chelsea, there was really nothing in it at the start of January. Indeed Man Yoo were still winning plaudits and were favourites at the beginning of Jan. Hard to believe now is it not? But after the first 20 games we lagged Man Yoo by three points. That shows in the second half of the season there was an 18 point swing in our favour.

January and February was all about Brough, whom we beat in the league and cup but of course could not get the better of over two legs in the Carling. Sadly the pattern was repeated with another club later in the season. Now in these games some of the squad players were beginning to shine, with Bentley scoring a peach in the cup. Clichy was introducing himself to the Highbury faithful and had Aliaidiere not been injured I think we would have visited Cardiff in March. Oh and where were you when Reyes signed? And will we ever forget his first touch and Cruyff dragback versus Man City, eclipsed only by Henry's brilliant goal. Reyes was bought for next season and at 8-9m GBP up front rising to a possible 15m he was a snip, nothing like the 25m quoted in the press! Interesting how much people have fawned over Christian Ronaldo when Reyes has all ready shown brilliance beyond the Portuguese chavmeister's ability. Reyes scored 5 goals this season and Christian scored 6. Of course you cannot measure someone by goals alone but the praise of CR does not bear up to much scrutiny. Can you imagine what Jose Antonio would have done to the Millwall defence at Cardiff?

So the reds marched through Jan and Feb knocking over Southampton and an ebullient Wolves; remember we were the first team to win at Molineux since September and we played them after their defeat of Man U and draw with Scouserpool. In fact the performance at Molineux saw Arsenal score some very unArsenal like goals, a cross to the far post headed back across the box!? To me it showed how Arsenal had matured over the years. 'With Arsenal it is all eye of a needle stuff' said Glen Hoddle back in 1998/99 when his Southampton team secured a draw at Highbury. This tendency to only score a certain type of goal came back last year but this season we mixed it up more, we had more scrambles, tap ins, headers than the season before; and that is what helped us out score the rest of the league.

The records were coming in to sight by the time we started our Chelsea marathon. One had the impression all ready that if Chelsea were serious about the league they would have to beat us. Older Gooners remember that Chelsea were our hoodoo team through the 80s and early 90s and that was where our only defeat of the 91 season had come, and that was daylight robbery. So despite our recent record no long-term Gooner takes a trip to the Bridge for granted. The cup game was an exciting appetiser for the league game with our new man Jose showing the world a taste of what they will be seeing an awful lot of in the next few years. The league game was fantastic, after giving Chelsea belief we choked the life out of them with two killer goals, the first showing that Bergkamp still has incredible vision and skill, long may that continue. The second one was another cheap goal from a scramble and all the more satisfying for that; and it came from form player Edu who was in excellent form in Feb and March, his efforts in the game against Celta being particularly memorable. Arsenal closed out the Chelsea game after going ahead, like an Italian team of old. Chelsea hardly had a sniff. It was a great performance away from home and the mark of Champions. Both Ranieiri and Ferguson started giving up in public.

After the win at the Bridge we had played 26 and were 7 points ahead of Man U. On top of this we were only 3 games away from Leeds and Liverpool's jointly held record of 29 games unbeaten from the start of a season. Think of that, the previous record was 29! Going 38 unbeaten was like a sub three-minute mile, we did not just break the record we smashed it, I do not think anyone seriously thought it was possible. In the league we beat Charlton (and that was close, Johanson hitting the post in the final minute); then we faced Blackburn exactly a year after our nemesis last campaign. This time we reversed the result and won 2-0 and even the most negative Gooner started to believe. Impressive wins v Celta and Portsmouth in the cup kept us going on all fronts. We went into the Bolton (another grudge match) needing to avoid a defeat to equal the feat of the Leeds team of Bremner, Clarke, Lorrimer, Gray etc and the Liverpool team of Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge, Hansen etc. A great achievement and an especially sweet one for me as I remembered that Liverpool team and how they set that record. I honestly never thought I would ever see my own Arsenal match that. In fact the season Liverpool set the record Arsenal had lost the league cup to Luton and after starting the season with high hopes had appeared to go backwards over the year since our impressive league cup win in 87. The Liverpool record was a bleak year for the Gunners, 17 years since our last league and only one league title in 35 years! Yes it was a choker to watch LFC run away with it again, who back then could have predicted how successful the Arsenal would become. If you had told the world then that Arsenal would beat Liverpool's record the answer would have been Tan Ku Ku (wait long long).

Despite the game efforts of Campo and co we won and we made history. And truthfully both those teams had walked the league the season and so for Arsenal not to win the league from such a position would take an almighty collapse. The season before Arsenal had lost two games between Christmas and the end of the season, Blackburn and Leeds; hardly a major collapse, just a wobble, which was enough to let Man Yoo get ahead. If Man Yoo had drawn a couple of games they narrowly won on the run in, their 03 league would never have happened. For Arsenal to throw it away after 29 games unbeaten would have required at least three defeats in nine games and probably four! A far bigger collapse than hitherto seen in English football. That is why after Man Yoo pulled back to 1-1 in game number 30 and everyone was feeling flat I said to my friends that we had won the league. A 12 points gap was too much for Man Yoo to make up in just 8 games. Their last chance had gone.

Man U to Newcastle, 8 days that shook the world

Of course no one felt that cheery over the course of the next four games which saw Arsenal fail to beat Man Yoo or Chelsea in two attempts and end up with just one trophy to chase. If the fixture list had been any different, and if the team had not have had to play four games in eight days we definitely would have won one of those two cups. But suddenly everything seemed to conspire against the Arsenal. First the draw of Chelsea in the UEFA was a disaster. Can one team better another 5 times in one season? We did not even manage that against Middlesbrough! Everyone knew one day they had to get us and fate seemed to decree it would be the big one. Of course the effort of beating us crushed Chelsea as they collapsed after that but they collectively raised their game just as the Gunners dipped for the first time since Christmas.

And the dip started against the real Auld enemy. The home draw was a set back we should have shrugged off, after all they needed the win, we did not. But somehow it seemed to irk the boss enough for him to 'tinker' with the team before the semi. I wish we could replay that semi, we were one game away from a finale in Cardiff and another certain double. The team would have taken it in their stride. If anything losing with a weakened team seemed to sap our strength unduly. Of course if we had taken our great chances in the first 5 minutes we would have hailed Wenger as a genius. But even the boss accepts the selection was a mistake, though perhaps not in the same way, he has said he will have to rest players for FA Cups to concentrate on Europe! Sadly we may not be at Cardiff again for a while. Though the defeat to Man Yoo was a truly horrific experience I actually thought we played quite well against Chelsea. In the end we were edged out in a close game, we had won so many close games that season all ready that we were bound to lose one. It just was not going to be in the Prem. Miles of column inches have been written about why we lost but for the record my tuppence worth is this. We played a perfect European game for ¾ of the two matches. At half time at home we were 2-1 up with one away goal. No team serious about winning the European cup could let such a precious position slipped. As long as Chelsea did not score we were through and the longer it went on the more hopeless Chelsea's position would become. So the final quarter's brief should have been, defend with two banks of four and hope to catch them on the break. How would they break us down? Sadly we proved that we cannot shut teams out and close down games in Europe. That is just what the old European cup winning Liverpool did time after time. Even George's old Arsenal of 94 could do it. To win the European cup we need to learn not to let winning positions slip. I admit that is far easier said than done.

The press gorged themselves on analysing why Arsenal 'failed in Europe' again; the fact that we were actually beaten by an English team did not seem to cross their tiny minds. Of course English teams are going to suffer in Europe when they are drawn against each other. It was a disaster that the better of the two teams was knocked out as we had the best chance of winning the cup. Instead of lamenting that an excellent, attacking, enterprising team had been knocked out the media was enjoying having a go at the Arsenal and predicting (wishing for) an all out collapse. We were all shell shocked of course, and the vultures in the press were predicting our demise on all fronts.

Interesting we lose two close cup games against second and third in the league and suddenly we are not all that. Do these people know anything about football?

Cometh the hour cometh the man. Down at home to Liverpool, who was it who pulled us out of the fire. Pires of course, why you expected me to say Henry? Well Henry scored to make it 3-2, his may have been the knock out blow but Liverpool were all ready bent double after Pires's solid punch in the solar plexus. All Henry had to do was wander through a reeling shell shocked Liverpool, it was Pires who had got them dazed and confused. Either way the whole team dug deep and after a nightmare first half, we steam rollered them; and when was the last time we did that to Liverpool? Not since Limpar's chip back in 92! Of course every Gooner was deep in anxiety/neurosis at half time in that game; memories of trophy-less seasons which had looked so promising; 2003, 1999. 1980 etc all flooding back into our minds. But in the end the doubts lasted only a few minutes, once the equaliser came (for the second time) one could see the lads were not letting it slip this time. By the end Champions was ringing round Highbury, two trophies gone but the one we needed the most was on its way.

Newcastle came at the end of this eight days of madness and it is a traditionally difficult away journey. This time game itself was a non-event, so much so the boss even allowed Wiltord to play. It should have been an Arsenal win but the draw kept the others at bay and the unbeaten run going.

First the Trophy and then the record, Leeds at home to Leicester at home

Leeds may have provided Gooners with our two worst moments in recent seasons, thanks to goals from Hasselbaink in 99 and Viduka last year but generally we shall miss them now they are gone. After all we scored 13 goals against them this season. The generosity of Messieurs Harte, Matteo, Duberry and co. let Henry score a fine hat trick and place one hand on the trophy. A fine win and by a large margin gave us an incredible 81 points with 5 games left, with Chelsea 10 points behind it was just a matter of when. When came rather soon as some rather ordinary play from our 'rivals' or 'hopeless inferiors trailing in our wake' (you can chose your personal favourite description) both came a cropper before we even took the field at WHL. Needing only a point at the Lane of Shame it was exactly what we got after giving them a forty-five minute football lesson we cruised the second half. And despite Lehman's upset he did celebrate on the pitch with the fans after all the less fortunate had vacated their stadium. Oh where did we win the league again?

After that it was just a question of cruising to a new league record and no one could stop us. In fact we hardly broke sweat except for a difficult last twenty minutes at Pompey (the league's other form team). It was slightly ironic that after such fixture congestion with the two cups in April we actually played out the end of the season at a gentle pace with every player looking fresh. By the way did not young Reyes look a little bit good in the last few games? A glimpse of wonderful things that are yet to pass.

Another player who was a bit good was A Cole. I once wrote on Teamtalk your say page back in 2002 that Ashley Cole had saved the Arsenal. He made an immediate impact in his first season, and he has got better all the time. He was missing in 2003 when we lost to Blackburn, his injuries that season were a crucial factor in us not retaining the title. The fallacy outside of Highbury is that he cannot defend but actually he is more often or not the man who bails us out when all is lost, his ability to get back and clear danger in the most difficult circumstances has saved us so many times over these last three years. He does not get much press (well he gets a lot of negative press) but he is a crucial part of an excellent team; he is the best left back I have ever seen.

At least one A Cole managed to make the grade at Highbury.

So the team achieved something I never thought I would see and certainly not from The Arsenal. We did what the greatest teams in history could not do. We went an entire season unbeaten. The season after Wenger was pilloried for supposedly claiming we might (he never actually said that) and two years after Ryan Giggs predicted Man Yoo would, what you waiting for Giggsy? This is something we will be telling our grandchildren about. The first ever season of the football league Preston North End did it. Did people then think it would take another 115 years for it to happen again?

We probably will not see it happen again, but if we do lets hope it is the Arsenal who do it again, after all that is one record we have not broken yet.

Thank you Arsene Wenger for all our winning

Thanks for all the cups they're bringing

Who can live without you, I ask in all honesty

How good can life be?

Beating the scum and Mancs easily.

So I say thank you Arsene Wenger

For giving this to me