An Arsenal supporter will be signing copies of his latest book about the Gunners in Welwyn Garden City this weekend.
Journalist Layth Yousif, a reporter for the Welwyn Hatfield Times’ Stevenage sister paper The Comet, will be at the Waterstones branch in Howardsgate on Saturday, June 4 from 10am to 2pm signing his book, The Miracle of Copenhagen.
Arsenal fans are used to failure. The dubious honour of stealing the Premier League runners-up spot from Spurs was as good as it got this season.
It hasn’t been any better in the Champions League.
Every season since 2011, the Gunners have been eliminated at the first knockout stage.
This got Arsenal fan Layth Yousif thinking back to Copenhagen, 1994.
It was the last time the club won a European trophy, the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup.
Layth, 43, a season-ticket holder of 30 years, was at the Parken Stadium when Alan Smith’s volley saw George Graham’s team win 1-0 against Italian side Parma.
Those memories, and the repeated failures of Arsene Wenger’s team, inspired him to write The Miracle of Copenhagen.
The father-of-three from Hitchin said: “A couple of years ago, I was standing with old friends in the Highbury Barn pub after another European disappointment.
“All our stories kept returning to our glorious European Cup Winners’ Cup run and triumph of 1993/94.
“We were all in our late teens and early 20s at the time and for many of us our first European away game was the never-to-be-forgotten 7-0 win in Liege.
“We went to all the games home and away that season including Torino, PSG – and, of course, the final in Copenhagen.
“I called the book The Miracle of Copenhagen as the team was continually written off.
“But through the old Arsenal way of never giving in we triumphed against what were on paper far superior teams.
“Perhaps our teams of the last few years could take a leaf out of George Graham’s tough teams.”
The book draws on interviews with players, including Alan Smith himself, as well as fans and journalists.
* To buy the book, visit amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Copenhagen-Arsenals-Unbelievable-European/dp/1445649497
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here