TRAORE’S KNUCKLEDUSTER

Given the historic rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham, Armand Traore probably wasn't the first person to arm themselves with a knuckle-duster for a north London derby. 

He is though, the one and only player to try it. And worse, he got caught. 

Signed to provide competition to Gael Clichy at left-back, Traore had been in and around the Gunners’ first team for a couple of years before the incident occurred in September 2007. In fact, he’d already featured against Spurs in the League Cup semi-final the year before and even started the final against Chelsea in Cardiff. 

His star was on the rise. So much so that when he travelled with the Arsenal supporters to White Hart Lane as a punter, he felt he needed ‘protection’ in case someone recognised him. Hence the knuckle-duster. 

Speaking a decade later, he told the Mirror:

“Coming from France, I used to go to PSG versus Marseille, and the fans there would batter each other.

“I was only 17 and I had just started playing for Arsenal’s first-team. I had these images in my mind. I went to the north ­London derby but I was convinced ­someone might recognise me.

“I thought if a Spurs fan did, then I needed to be ready if ­something happened. So I had a knuckle-duster in my pocket - which was just stupid. As I walked into the stadium, the police found it on me and I ended up in custody for more than 10 hours. I didn’t see a ball kicked. Eventually, they released me. Then Arsene Wenger found out about it.

“I was just stupid. Young and naive. Can you imagine if ­something actually had ­happened? It would have been ­life-changing. I was young and I have learned my lesson. It was a stupid ­mistake.”

While in the clink, Traore missed a belting game. After falling behind early to a Gareth Bale strike, the Gunners, on a run of five wins in six coming into the clash, hit back in the second half to secure a 3-1 victory thanks to a fine Cesc Fabregas strike and a late brace from Emmanuel Adebayor. 

Arsenal went top of the table while Traore was at rock bottom. News of his arrest leaked the following week.

For all his early promise, Traore’s career never really took off at Emirates Stadium. 32 appearances were spread over five years and broken up by loan spells at Portsmouth and Juventus.

His final appearance in an Arsenal shirt came in the humbling 8-2 defeat to Manchester United in August 2011 - a knuckle-duster that day would have been helpful. Two days later, he left the club for QPR.