In Fever Pitch, his peerless football fan’s memoir, Nick Hornby describes a cathartic moment in his life. He is watching Arsenal – naturally – and they’re playing in the semi-final of the 1987 Littlewoods Cup. It was hardly the Champions League, but it was an intense affair that mattered a lot at that time, not least because Arsenal’s opponents were their hated neighbours Tottenham Hotspur.
It was the third match of the tie, the first two legs ending in a draw, and Spurs were winning with the game drawing to a close. At that time Arsenal were going through a sticky period, as was Hornby, and it looked like another disappointment was about to be dumped on their respective shoulders. Spurs had been much the better side. And then, from out of nowhere, with eight minutes to go, the substitute Ian Allinson levelled and, in the last minute, David Rocastle scored the winner for Arsenal.
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