Book explores the impact of Hillsborough and Arsenal
A BOOK that champions Arsenal’s 1989 title-winning game at Anfield against Liverpool might not be an obvious choice for a bestseller on Merseyside but Jason Cowley’s new publication is much more than ‘Gooner’ triumphalism.
A highly-respected print journalist, Cowley’s memoir attempts to place the highly-significant Liverpool v Arsenal Championship-decider in the context of the Hillsborough disaster and the significant impact that both events have had on English football over the following 20 years.
Cowley said: “Arsenal fans often celebrate the 1989 title-winning game in isolation of Hillsborough but I have attempted to contextualise it with what happened in Liverpool’s ill-fated semi-final a month earlier.
“For different reasons, both of these events ushered in landmark changes in our game.
“After Hillsborough everything changed and had to change.
“That goes for English football as a whole, the Liverpool fans and the city.
“I think that some changes had begun already at the time.
“The move away from hooliganism and the constant fear of violence at games from earlier in the 1980s had started to be replaced by the fanzine movement and more wittier banter.
“There was also the beginning of the rave scene in the summers of love in 1988 and 1989 which brought about a more ‘spliffed-out’ rather than drunken atmosphere amongst some fans.”
As one of the closest title battles in history, the climax to the 1988-89 First Division Championship race was also ideally suited for a live television spectacle.
