1997/8 was Arsène Wenger’s first complete season at Arsenal, and as everyone will know, he set himself an impossibly high bar to measure up to thereafter by giving us a Double. It was our first championship in seven years, the first league/cup double since 1970/1 (only our second in fact although George Graham got the country’s first-ever cup double in between). Only the League Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea stopped the dream of the domestic treble. Europe was uninspiring, but no one seemed to mind.
And all this in the season when we let Paul Merson go to Middlesbrough – although their offer of over £4m was huge. But the incomer – Manu Petit caught the eye, and although Gilles Grimandi wasn’t a huge star player, he proved useful on the pitch and enormously helpful thereafter as the head of scouting in France.
Plus there was Marc Overmars, who came in for £7m. A stunning player.
Christopher Wreh also came in, along with Boa More, Mendez and Manninger. Indeed during the summer it was hard to keep up.
But what is worth remembering is that as Arsenal struggled to make it through to the final there were mutterings all over the ground about what Wenger was up to and whether he really was good enough for Arsenal!
- 3 January 1998: Arsenal 0 Port Vale 0; 3rd round
- 14 January 1998: Port Vale 1 Arsenal 1; replay Arsenal win 4-3 on pens
- 24 January 1998: Middlesbrough 1 Arsenal 2; 4th round
- 15 February 1998: Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0; 5th round
- 25 February 1998: Crystal Palace 1 Arsenal 2; replay
- 8 March 1998: Arsenal 1 West Ham 1; 6th round
- 17 March 1998: West Ham 1 Arsenal 1; replay, Arsenal win 4-3 on pens
- 5 April 1998: Wolverhampton 0 Arsenal 1; semi-final at Aston Villa
- 16 May 1998: Arsenal 2 Newcastle U 0; Final.