As November 1989 progressed, it seemed as if every day there was a new story of football in crisis, as the behaviour of players and managers came under scrutiny. Freedom, joy and love may have been emotions filling the air as the Berlin Wall began to fall; there wasn't much of this in evidence on football pitches in the Football League during the same period.
A brawl involving the players of Wimbledon and West Ham in a Littlewoods Cup match; a similar incident during a League fixture between Crystal Palace and Tottenham; Paul McGrath fined £8,500 for writing a newspaper article criticising his former manager Alex Ferguson; York manager John Bird arrested after a confrontation with Scarborough boss Ray McHale.
The month had kicked off in the appropriate fashion, as Arsenal took on Norwich City in a Division One match on Saturday November 4 at Highbury. An afternoon that started with the players of both clubs applauding David O'Leary on to the pitch unravelled as the minutes ticked by, resulting in an angry confrontation as the match ended. "That escalated quickly," as Ron Burgundy once said.
Collecting a commemorative vase and a shirt with 622 on the back, O'Leary acknowledged the adulation of the players and fans prior to the match, as he broke George Armstrong's appearance record for Arsenal. Yet the pleasantries ended there; throughout the match, Arsenal's record breaker would be involved in a running battle with Norwich striker Malcolm Allen.
Ignoring the incident that would dominate the headlines, the match itself provided drama and entertainment aplenty. Norwich, who started the day in sixth place, level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal, took a 2-0 lead in the first half through goals from Allen and Dave Phillips. The latter was the result of a free-kick awarded after O'Leary had fouled Allen, as the two continued their tetchy battle.
O'Leary was so incensed that his protests led to referee George Tyson showing him a yellow card on his special day. But soon it would be the turn of the visitors to question the actions of the official. After Niall Quinn had got Arsenal back into the match in the 50th minute, Tyson then awarded Arsenal a generous looking penalty for a handball against Andy Linighan.
Lee Dixon fired past Bryan Gunn, but the scoring had not finished. Tim Sherwood put Norwich back in front in the 77th minute, only for O'Leary to score his first League goal in 6 years just a minute later. And then as the match neared its conclusion, Tyson took centre stage once more.
Adjudging that Ian Butterworth had pulled Michael Thomas down in the box - although many felt Thomas had backed into the defender - Tyson pointed to the spot again, as the already simmering tension cranked up a notch or two. Gunn saved Dixon's effort, but the Arsenal man got to the rebound first, with his half-hit shot just about creeping over the line. And then it kicked off.
Already aggrieved at the injustice of the decisions that had led to the their 4-3 defeat, the mood of Norwich's players darkened further. Alan Smith was shoved as he followed Dixon's effort over the line. Initially Arsenal players celebrated the winner, before spotting that Smith had been surrounded. Many players charged from the halfway line to lend their support, as Tyson, policemen and stewards moved in to separate the players.
In truth, there appeared to be a lot of pushing and shoving, although there were reports of Smith receiving a cut above his eye, and of Dale Gordon punching Nigel Winterburn. But despite the outcry in the newspapers over the next couple of days, at first Tyson announced that he would not be including the incident in his match report that had involved all players bar Arsenal keeper John Lukic.
However, the pressure grew from the Football Association and the media for action to be taken, and Tyson performed a U-turn. "There is concern about players' getting involved in situations that bring discredit on the game," FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly stated, as the criticism of the players filled newspapers in the immediate aftermath.
The Guardian's David Lacey described the players "behaving like drunken sailors in a dockside brawl." "It was the most disgraceful free-for-all I have seen in the First Division for years," Nigel Clarke wrote in the Mirror. It wasn't just the players that received a lambasting after the "Battle of Highbury".
"It was a simmering situation brought about by a catalogue of errors by Tyson," Steve Curry explained in the Express with Jimmy Greaves another to focus on the performance of the referee. Tyson insisted that he couldn't have stopped the trouble, although Norwich manager Dave Stringer was less than sure: "I won't comment on the referee and his decisions. I will leave that to everyone else."
With the FA charging both clubs and ordering a hearing at Lancaster Gate on November 27, Arsenal and Norwich would have wanted to keep a low profile in the meantime. But the hits just kept on coming.
Gunn was fined two weeks wages by Norwich after openly attacking Arsenal's players for their aggressive approach, and when Paul Merson and Steve Bould were involved in a drunken incident at a dinner celebrating Arsenal's title win - including heckling comedian Norman Collier - Arsenal handed out the same punishment to the pair.
With both clubs sending their chairmen, managers, secretaries and captains along to the hearing, speculation grew regarding the outcome. Realistically, both clubs could only be handed a fine, as the FA had no power to deduct League points. Norwich were fined £50,000 and Arsenal £20,000, the FA indicating that they felt the trouble was instigated by the visitors on the day.
Naturally, not everyone agreed with the verdict. "All I would like to say is we are disappointed in the differences between the fines of the two clubs," Norwich chairman Robert Chase stated. Chairman of the Police Federation Alan Eastwood was furious: "This was their chance to show that they meant business in cracking down on indiscipline and they funked it."
Eastwood continued. "The fine is meaningless - and so is the body which decided it. These offences demanded a reduction in League points. Any sort of fine would have been a joke, but these amounts are totally meaningless. It's what they pay for a player in the GM Vauxhall League."
"The police are disappointed that points were not deducted and Graham Kelly says the rules will be changed to accommodate that kind of action in future," Curry noted. This part of proceedings was very important. The next time Arsenal were involved in a brawl on the pitch - the Battle of Old Trafford in 1990 - the club was deducted two points, due to their previous misdemeanours.
It is interesting to look back at the fuss surrounding the Arsenal-Norwich incident at the time. The fact that Tyson wasn't originally going to report the skirmish, and that the players put their differences to one side to share a drink in the players' bar afterwards, suggests that the whole episode was much ado about nothing.
Yet a combination of outraged journalists and the desire of the FA to clamp down on perceived blemishes in the game inevitably led to the Lancaster Gate meeting. Was it really that bad, though? And let's be honest, the pushing and shoving at the end of the match at Highbury provided a very entertaining finish to an already exciting afternoon.
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