Everyone else might have written off Arsenal’s championship hopes as they travelled north to Anfield on May 26, 1989, but manager George Graham was always quietly confident of achieving the impossible. Jim van Wilk has more on that remarkable Arsenal achievement of 25 years ago.

Arsenal hero Michael Thomas holds the 1988-89 league trophy.

Just over a month on from the Hillsborough disaster and less than a week since Liverpool beat Everton to win a thrilling FA Cup final, English football would bear witness to what remains one of the most dramatic conclusions to a season – and one watched live on a Friday night by more than eight million people.

Arsenal had at one stage led the First Division standings by 15 points, only to be pegged back as Liverpool went unbeaten from the turn of the year to seemingly set themselves up for an emotional double.

Defeat at Highbury against Derby and then a draw against Wimbledon meant Graham’s men were three points behind heading into the re-arranged match on Merseyside, which had been postponed from April 23 in the wake of the Hillsborough tragedy.

Arsenal needed to win by two clear goals – a tall task at a ground where the Gunners had not won in 15 years.

In his pre-match TV interview – a rarity in those days – Graham insisted his players were relaxed in the face of such a daunting task.

Twenty-five years on, however, Graham concedes his side’s task was “almost impossible”.

“Travelling up there, we were quiet confident, and had been throughout the season,” Graham, 69, recalled in an interview with Press Association Sport.

“We knew, however, that we were up against it because we had a couple of a bad results at Highbury before we went to Liverpool.

“People were saying, ‘well, if they can’t win those two matches, then they will have no chance’.

“So really the pressure was not on us, because to beat Liverpool at Anfield by two goals was, before we did it, almost impossible.”

Following a tense first half, Arsenal took the lead on 52 minutes when Alan Smith headed in a Nigel Winterburn free-kick.

As the massed travelling supporters behind the goal celebrated and dared to dream, Liverpool players protested for a push by David O’Leary. After consulting his linesman, referee David Hutchinson allowed the goal to stand and so helped play his part in a night which would forever be etched in English football folklore.

As the clocked ticked on past 90 minutes, Liverpool midfielder Steve McMahon was pictured signalling to the rest of his team “just one more minute”.

That, though, was time enough.

John Barnes was tackled by Kevin Richardson in the right side of the Arsenal box. He knocked the ball back to goalkeeper John Lukic who picked it up and found right-back Lee Dixon before it was hooked up to Smith and on into the path of Michael Thomas.

In what seemed like slow motion, the midfielder tried to chip the ball over Steve Nicol, causing it to ricochet back into his path and put him clear on goal.

That was the cue for ITV commentator Brian Moore to utter the immortal lines “it’s up for grabs now”, as Thomas stabbed past Bruce Grobbelaar.

As Moore later reflected, it was an “unbelievable climax” to the season, a match which played a huge part in the renaissance of English top-flight football and – in a world before Sky television transformed the experience of the armchair fan – gave a glimpse into the vast potential of live broadcasting.

For Graham, however, it was a fitting reward to all those who had helped Arsenal achieve what just a few hours earlier had looked an impossible dream.

“When you have a good side, then as well as ability of course, team spirit is crucial,” Graham added.

“When you are winning, that team spirit is on a high and we certainly were after that night at Anfield.

“It was one of the highlights of my career, that we went up there and won at Liverpool, who were the (best) team in England, and there was no question about that really, because that was a fantastic team.

“Nobody expected us to get the result we needed, because we had to win by two goals, but we surprised everybody and it was the start for Arsenal to win trophies again.”

May 26, 1989

Liverpool 0
Arsenal 2
Smith 52; Thomas 90;

Liverpool
B. Grobbelaar, G. Ablett, S. Nicol, A. Hansen, S. Staunton, R. Houghton, R. Whelan, S. McMahon, J. Barnes, J. Aldridge, I. Rush (32 P. Beardsley).

Arsenal
J. Lukic, D. O’Leary, L. Dixon, T. Adams, S. Bould (76 P. Groves), N. Winterburn, M. Thomas, D. Rocastle, K. Richardson, P. Merson (73 M. Hayes), A. Smith.

Referee: David Hutchinson.

Attendance: 41,873

1989 top positions