"IT HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT ON MY LIFE" - JEFFREY FREEMAN INTERVIEW

Jeffrey Freeman previously wrote for The Arsenal Collective about his lifetime support of the Gunners and how frustration with the quality of the club’s football in the 1960s led him to a confrontation with the board. 

A season ticket holder for nearly 70 years, there are few who have experienced so many of Arsenal’s highs and lows at such close quarters.

We were eager to learn more about the influence football has had on Jeffrey’s life, so we sat down with him for a chinwag about life on the terraces of N5, the players he loved, the parties he went to and how the game has changed over the decades.

You’ve mentioned to us before that your birth was presided over by the Arsenal doctor. You must have felt like you were destined to become a Gooner...

I was indeed, by a Doctor Pepper. My late father was a very keen Arsenal supporter and I was born just before the Second World War started and we lived during the war in Finsbury Park. It was destiny.

Can you tell us anything more about this Doctor Pepper character?

I was reading about the death of Herbert Chapman recently. He took ill with a cold in January 1934. The medical advisor to the club, Dr Guy Pepper, advised him not to go to a third team game but he did so. His condition deteriorated rapidly and he died a few days later.

My father made a point of telling me about this name and that he had attended my mother during her pregnancy with me. I was born in 1937, so it’s reasonable to assume that it was the same Doctor Pepper who attended to my late mother during her pregnancy with me.

It was just after the war that your father bought you your first season ticket, talk us through your memories of that occasion…

The war ended in 1945 and we were living in Finsbury Park, my father and I walked up to the ground and he said he’d like two season tickets. I suspect they were about £5 a season, because I know in 1960 they were £20 a season. “Of course, Mr Freeman,” was the reply from the ticket office. “Walk round the ground and choose any two seats.” We picked seats in the West Stand, Block W, Row F and I sat there until the last game at Highbury against Wigan.

And obviously a lot has changed since…

I don’t want to go on too long about this, but it’s all changed. Those days you could just roll up to a football match and get in without having obtained a ticket beforehand. There were tickets for everybody so consequently a lot of young boys, and girls for that matter, could go o football matches. It played a very important part in my life, influenced me at school – I was captain of the first XI because I knew a bit more about soccer - and in my own career. I even met my wife as a result of the club.

It had an enormous impact on my life. I do worry about the way football is run nowadays with the accent on commercialism – as opposed to being a sport. The availability of tickets, the way supporters are treated, the way shareholders are treated – like the Arsenal Fanshare scheme – I do worry that all that happened to me that was so beneficial won’t be at hand for youngsters.

You spent nearly 60-years sitting in the same seat at Highbury. It must have been a heart-wrenching moment saying goodbye to the stadium when we moved to the Emirates?

It really upset me. We had to move, I accept that. But Highbury had an atmosphere of its own that I don’t think the Emirates has got yet. I think it will have eventually, but Highbury was unique. During those 60-odd years we sat more or less with the same people. At the Emirates there’s a man who sits in front of me and he sat in front of me at Highbury. Now he’s very old and he’s got a great grandchild. I’ve seen all those people grow up and grow old, but the interesting thing is that we all became very close in terms of supporting the Arsenal.

Did you ever have arguments with your fellow supporters? Tensions obviously rise in the terraces…

Very much so. The person I have mentioned above - Fred - was, to say the least, excitable. He had strong views which were often different from those around him. He hated certain players and was forceful and loud in giving his views. He brought gesticulation to an art form. Emotions ran high and there were many occasions when fists nearly flew. 

However, the key is that we all had a tremendous bond. I remember that, for years, besides Fred and family, I was always surrounded by people I knew; John Greene, Terry Sparkes, the Flesch family, Phillip Steen and many others. In particular, I remember a Mr. Ryan. He sat next to my father and looking back on it, I'm sure he was a batchelor. He lived for the Arsenal Football Club. He told us that before a match he would go to church to pray for victory. He and my father became so close and it was suggested he come on a family holiday with us. He would not have anything to do with it. Arsenal was his life and although the friendship was strong and continued for many years it was only within the stadium; outside we all went our separate ways. I believe this closeness has now gone.

At the Burnley game this season the person sitting immediately to my left was a young man I'd never seen before; it was obvious from his attitude that he was a truly supportive fan. In front of me were some of the 'usual suspects'...members of Fred's family. There was also another young man seated nearby who spent the entire game looking at his iPhone. Behind me there were two sets of men - one to my left and the other my right - who throughout the match talked about their social life, the state of their finances...all sorts really. They didn't seem to be watching the match at all. 

When Arsenal finally scored in the 70th minute the young man next to me along with Fred's team all celebrated joyously, exchanging high-fives and hugs. The guy on his phone and the guys behind showed no emotion at all, it was as if nothing had happened. Perhaps that's how it is these days. I feel like I have lost the camaraderie. 

What was your matchday routine like when you first started going to games with your dad in the late 40s and early 50s?

We used to travel by public transport initially, as it was difficult to get petrol after the war. When petrol rationing stopped we used to travel by car and dad would give a man two shillings who alwats had a parking space for us…I think that’s about 20 pence these days. We always got to the stadium early as we liked to soak up the atmosphere.

We used to watch the Metropolitan Police band who would march around the pitch and the guy at the front had this huge baton which he’d throw up in the air and catch. Of course, every so often he’d drop it and the crowd would go berserk! There were games at Highbury where there must have been 70,000 people; there were no crowd restrictions. If there was a problem with overcrowding, and I actually saw this, young boys would be passed down from the top of the crowd to the front.

The thing that is most different now is the foul language. There was none of that. It was more of a family outing. The conditions though were appalling and you certainly couldn’t get a decent sandwich. When I started to take my daughter she told me that in the West Stand there were only three cubicles in the ladies loos. These poor women would always have to leave ten minutes before half time to make sure they’d be all right! It was a much more relaxed, family occasion…unless of course I’m looking at it through rose tinted spectacles. You saw the occasional fight, but generally speaking it was a family occasion and you could just roll up to the match and get in.

Touching a little more on the atmosphere back then, were there chants or was it more polite applause?

There was no chanting per se back then. The crowd seemed to get much more vocal when it mattered, when there was action. I had two maiden aunts who used to live with us in Finsbury Park and whenever we came home they could always tell us how many goals Arsenal had scored because of the roar when we hit the back of the net. 

Tell us about your surroundings in Highbury’s West Stand.

There was nothing [in terms of facilities]. We sat next to what was known as the enclosure, which was, even by today’s standards, expensive. It was the top people in there and they had a bar and later on a restaurant. The stand was built in the 1930s so it had stones steps, about 75 as far as I can recollect. You used to walk up and then you were faced with this corridor that was far too narrow for the amount of people. You could get a drink there but you couldn’t get much by way of food. In the later years there was a small place you could get bagels.

The offices were in the East Stand by the famous Marble Halls. I didn’t in those days have any opportunity to go in there. I did in later years, but that was just before we moved. The toilets, even for men, were no better than that of Victorian standard. I used to hate going in there. It was primitive. This is where the Emirates does score – it’s much more civilised and user friendly. That being said, we were still one of the better clubs. Some grounds were even worse!

Between 1953 and 1970 Arsenal didn’t win any trophies. We’ve just come out of a nine-year drought and that tested the patience of a lot of fans. Did you ever stop going during that period?

Oh no…on the contrary. Attendances did drop, but I wouldn’t say significantly. It was different in those days and this will sound somewhat old fashioned, but people went to see a good game of football. Obviously it mattered if you lost, but it didn’t matter as much as it does today unless of course it was Spurs. People were more interested in the quality of the footballers and their ability to play. Today, everything is about success now. That didn’t exist then.

I’m on record as saying that those 17-years in the wilderness didn’t upset me at all because I was not brought up to believe you played sport to win. I was brought up to believe you played for the sake of the game and for sportsmanship. What really upset me was the standard of the football for a club of Arsenal’s stature. It was unbelievably bad and boring.

I wrote a letter to Denis Hill-Wood saying I just want Arsenal to play good football. There was not discontent about a lack of success, but a lot about the football. There were a lot people of a certain age who had seen Alex James, Cliff Bastin, Joe Hulme and other players of that calibre. They were then being served up dross.

Did you venture to many away games in your younger years?

Yes, quite often. I didn’t always have a ticket; I’d just turn up and get in. When I went up North and I saw what it was like it used to worry me. I won’t name the places…but I knew when they came back down South, these hard Northerners would always be thinking ‘We’re going to teach these soft Southern bastards a lesson or two!’ And they tried to, believe me…especially the Leeds team of Billy Bremner and Norman Hunter.

Did you sense much of a generation gap on the terraces?

I remember seeing Alex James sitting behind me once and everybody saying to him, ‘Oh, we don’t have players like you now.’ When you’re young you can’t stand that type of thing…you know, being reminded about the good old days when you weren’t there. But they did have a point. There was a generation gap, but I think that continues today maybe...

Let’s talk about some of the players you watched. Who in your mind is the greatest man – as opposed to player – who ever pulled on an Arsenal shirt?

The greatest man? It’s not an easy choice. It would lie between Tony Adams and Joe Mercer [pictured above]. When you get older you tend to look back more favourably on your younger days. If I had to make the decision, I’d go with Mercer. To me Tony Adams is The Arsenal. But Joe was a much more rounded character. He was very focused, and like Adams captained England. He was inspirational. Joe was more slight than Tony and bow-legged, more spindly. Physically they weren’t the same, but they were great leaders. It’s very difficult to choose.

I saw Joe’s last game playing against Liverpool in 1954. He had a collision with our left-back called Joe Wade and you could hear his leg crack right around the ground. Everybody knew there and then it was the end. As he was being carried off he just waved to the crowd and they responded. It seemed to be farewell. It was quite emotional. I was very upset. My father said to me, ‘Don’t be upset. It’s better he go out in a blaze of glory than as an old man people don't think well of.’

I think that’s very relevant today. There are people in football today who do hang on too long. I think Joe did try and make an [unsuccessful] comeback, but I have a vivid recollection when that injury occurred that that was it. And it proved to be. He was 39.

Do you have any favourite recollections about Joe?

We were lucky to get him in the first place actually. Everton treated him appallingly after the war and he was going to give up football. He only agreed to sign for Arsenal if he could continue to train in Liverpool. He only came for the games and never trained with the team. Before the FA Cup final in 1950 against Liverpool he trained at Anfield! Another unusual point is that Joe ran a successful grocery business at the same time as being a professional footballer. Can you imagine that today?

A couple of years later we were playing Newcastle in the FA Cup final, but we had a host of injury problems. Centre-half Ray Daniel broke his arm and was playing in a cast, Jimmy Logie – the best player of all time – was in hospital days before. In the first half Wally Barnes twisted his ankle or knee and was carried off. There were no substitutes back then so we played with ten men. Then Don Roper got injured, Cliff Holton got injured and then Daniel couldn’t continue. We were effectively playing with half a team!

With six minutes left George Robledo scored for Newcastle and they won. But we were all so proud in defeat. At a function after the game, Joe Mercer made a speech in which he said, “I thought that the proudest moment of my career was captaining England, but it was captaining Arsenal today.” That’s my favourite story about Joe.

Joe went on to manage Sheffield United, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Coventry. He was caretaker manager of the England team for a while and they were relatively successful. There was some talk of him being appointed permanently but the FA, in their wisdom, chose Don Revie. That resulted in its own long story...

Do you think that generation of Arsenal players have been overlooked recently? Obviously modern greats like Adams, Bergkamp and Henry have their own statues outside the Emirates…

A question for you. Why is there no statue of Joe at the Emirates; or for that matter, of Bertie Mee or George Graham? They all deserve one. It’s difficult choosing others, there are so many options. Personally, I’d have a statue of Jimmy Logie but that’s because I think he was the best player I ever saw. He only played once for Scotland but he was like Lionel Messi with the skills he had. Obviously you can’t have statues everywhere. That team of the 1930s with Ted Drake had unbelievable players…Charlie Buchan, Cliff Bastin, David Jack, Wilf Copping, Herbie Roberts, George Male.

What’s the greatest goal you’ve ever seen?

The greatest, not necessarily the best, is when Tony Adams scored the fourth goal against Everton to wrap up the league title in 1997. It wasn’t a goal, it was a statement.

As the story went he and Steve Bould couldn’t ‘play’ football and there they were combining with a deft ball over the top and Adams running through and the way he hit that ball…he was making a statement.

To me it summed up how good they were at the time. The way Tony reacted afterwards. No taking off his shirt, no somersaults. He just stood there saying, ‘We are The Arsenal. We are The Champions.’ It was a statement.

I haven’t given much thought to the greatest goal. Obviously I’ve seen the Bergkamp goal against Newcastle and Liam Brady’s goal at the Lane.

Are their any opposition players who stood out for you?

Oh I don’t think about the opposition. I don’t! Okay, there was a guy called Wilf Mannion at Middlesbrough who reminds me of Tomas Rosicky at his best. There was Reg Carter at Derby County. George Best was a flawed genius. He’s probably one of the best, if not the best. He was more skilful than [Real Madrid’s] Ronaldo, who relies more on his physique. Honestly though, I’m so blinkered on the Arsenal that I don’t really watch the other team. I never have.

What was it like watching Arsenal win the Double in 1971?

The emotional release after the game at Spurs was overwhelming. I couldn’t sleep for days. Then it was Liverpool [in the FA Cup final] and I thought, ‘We’re never going to do this.’ I was so drained after we won. I had no emotions. What are those headaches? A migraine, I had a migraine. I guess I was so much more emotionally involved then, than I am now. We were only the second team to do the Double, Spurs were the other, so to celebrate I threw a party. You know, I had to! I had a lovely Boxer dog and I dressed him up in the Arsenal kit and it was as a result of that party that I met my wife. 

And the players used to turn up at parties with supporters back then?

The players were readily accessible back then. I had a very good friend, who has since passed away, who was close with George Graham and Frank McLintock and after a cup final we inevitably ended up a party with the players somewhere or other. It just wouldn’t happen today. I’m pleased to say the amount I drank means that I cannot remember a lot of what took place. They were at Grosvenor House, that type of place.

You used to get really great characters around the game back then who used to sell match tickets on the black market. It’s not [illegal] like it is today, they were acknowledged people. The first one I met was Johnny ‘The Stick’ Goldstein and his mantle was taken by Stan Flashman or ‘Fat Stan’ as he was known. What a character! He used to hire trains to take us to away games, just the Arsenal fans, and he’d also arrange these parties.

You crossed his hand with silver, metaphorically speaking, and everything was done for you. You got a seat on the train, a fantastic meal, a ticket to the game. There was a different culture, footballers didn’t earn the money they do now. And Stan used to look after them and us. I better not say too much, but there was a different culture. If you read up on Stan you’ll see he used to claim he could get you a ticket to the Royal garden party at Buckingham Palace. He wasn’t much liked by a lot of people because of the business he was in, but I thought he was fantastic. In the end he got in trouble with the FA when he owned Barnet football club.

Did you ever find your dedication to Arsenal ever getting in the way of the rest of your life?

That’s the easiest question to answer. Never! It was never an issue. I’ve got an accommodating wife who never said anything about me going to games. If it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. Even now, I shouldn’t get upset by things when they don’t win a game, but I do. It’s only in recent years that I’ve stopped going quite as regularly as I used to. 

Of all the trophies Arsenal have won during your lifetime, which brought you the most satisfaction?

It’s a difficult choice, but I can’t look past the two games in a week to win the Double in 1971. There was the FA Cup final in 1950 when Reg Lewis scored twice and we beat Liverpool and although I wasn’t at the game, Michael Thomas’ last minute goal at Anfield was also special. And beating Manchester United 3-2 in the cup final in 1979.

I feel terribly privileged to have been an Arsenal supporter. It’s had an enormous influence on my life. It’s helped mould me as a person, taught me a lot about sport, it helped me when I was at school and it’s been my social life. Unless you’re a real supporter, you just don’t get all that…

Last year I went to watch Bournemouth play and there were about three hundred Rochdale fans in the away end and they were going berserk. It was great to see. If they’d drawn a Championship side in the FA Cup and won, that would have been their moment; they’d take as much from that moment as a Manchester United supporter winning the Champions League.

That’s what’s so wonderful about football and it’s given me so many different highlights like that. It’s made my life much fuller and more colourful.