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Lee Dixon shares his personal Arsenal 1989 memories

For 14 years, Lee Dixon was a stalwart at right back for Arsenal. And the first of his four leagu...



Lee Dixon shares his personal...
Soccer

Lee Dixon shares his personal Arsenal 1989 memories

For 14 years, Lee Dixon was a stalwart at right back for Arsenal.

And the first of his four league titles came a year into his Gunners career thanks to the famous 2-0 win over Liverpool at fortress Anfield in 1989 that saw Arsenal pip the Merseysiders to the title on the final day following Michael Thomas' late, late winner.

That famous night in Arsenal history is recounted in documentary 89 which has been executively produced by Dixon himself.

The Arsenal legend joined us for a chat about the documentary and the 1989 triumph itself. 

Lee Dixon shares his personal Arsenal 1989 memories

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"We haven't really spoke that much over the years about '89 because obviously it was quite a few years ago," he said.

"But bringing all the lads back together and creating an environment where they were open and talking about their emotions and stuff, it was quite a unique position to sit and watch footballers spew up all this stuff about what went on in the past and how proud they were. I was really, really pleased with what the end product is and it didn't take long for me to say yes to be involved in it."

Michael Thomas (left) and David Rocastle of Arsenal, grasps the trophy that he helped his team to win in the Barclays League Division One. Sport and General/S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport

Dixon also spoke about how he arrived at Arsenal in 1988 from Stoke City, having been a beneficiary of then manager George Graham's fruitful scouting method of scouring local papers and getting the opinion of those local journalists who saw the best talent every week.

"It was a stroke of genius from George that he did that every week, got those local papers and listened because the journalists around the clubs, we had them round us all the time at different clubs, the local guys down at Bury when I was at Bury and then Stoke. They were round the club all the time and they were round the training ground and they were allowed access. The players knew them all. They were kind of a safe bet to talk to. You weren't going to be stitched up and put on the back of the dailies," Dixon recalled, adding that Graham had been keeping tabs on his performances for a long time before putting him into what would become a famous back four, also detailing how the manager moulded them into better defenders than they had been.

Arsenal's first goal hero, Alan Smith, opens the scoring at Anfield to put the London club on course to win the Barclays League title from Liverpool's grasp. The Gunners needed two goals to become the champions for the first time since 1971 - and managed it with a 2-0 victory. 27/5/1989 Mercury/PA Archive/PA Images

He also spoke about the "hugely powerful" moment pre-match when Arsenal's players emerged onto the pitch at Anfield each with flowers for the fans in attendance in tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy which had happened just weeks earlier and saw 96 Liverpool fans sadly pass away as a result.

The match itself saw Graham make the surprising decision to go to a back five with Ireland international David O'Leary introduced and Dixon pressed up on Liverpool winger John Barnes.

"John Barnes was obviously one of the best players in Europe at the time, an astonishing talent and I played against him quite a few times in FA Cup games when I was at Bury and once against him at Stoke, so I knew what he was all about and watched him on Match of the Day every week anyway," he said, adding that a "massive smile" came over him after being informed that he would be pushed up and marking Barnes tightly, cutting off the Liverpool supply line to their forwards. 

Dixon also remembered the moment that led to the winning goal and his own role in it when John Lukic threw the ball to him in stoppage time and launched the ball to Alan Smith who flicked it on to Thomas.

He also recounted how he persuaded ex-Arsenal team-mate Ian Wright, who was not at the club in 1989, to take part and speak movingly about the late David Rocastle in one of the most poignant moments in the documentary.

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