THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE ONE
Finally……
after more than six weeks of preparation, a fourteen day count down, nearly three hours of interviews, and endless Transatlantic coordination GHF.com are pleased to release the first episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year.
In this episode we have Peter LeBeau and Paul Brooker from GHF.com discussing with Bob and Pat the 1970-71 League campaign, and Arsenal winning the League for the first time since 1952-53.
As this commemoration is in support of the Willow Foundation, if you watch and enjoy the video (or even if you don’t!), donate whatever you can to Willow. Or, check out the GHF.com Auction for Double-related memorabilia, and bid on the lot(s) you’d most like to have! All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode One: We Won the League at White Hart Lane”
Or, watch here: “Episode One: We Won the League at White Hart Lane“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to announce our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is now open for bids! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
I was there for both – unforgettable.
UTA.
Good work guys.
This is ‘must watch’ historic footage of that night at WHL:
Great to watch 👍👍
It was nice to see that many of
the team is still close after all
these years and I’m looking
forward to Part II 😃
Don’t forget all, if you liked the video, or even if you didn’t donate to Willow! Any feedback appreciated here in the drinks as well.
So glad to be a drinker in this bar. Truly a bar filled with live for Arsenal which maintains a certain standa4d of conversation and respect for one another.
bob and pat are gems. having “shot” and edited the videos, i have watched them repeatedly. warm, funny, and such wonderful arsenal (and personal) memories. but you should see what got left on the cutting room floor… 🙂
What a lovely dialogue between two old mates recalling the years they made their mark on history. Special men from a special club and the deep camaraderie shine through the conversation. An excellent hour’s viewing.
Just watched the video – that’s me emotionally wiped out for the rest of the day.
Thanks to everyone here for putting it together and promoting it so well.
Bob Wilson was always a hero for me – what a great man, player and example to anyone.
My dad knew Pat Rice’s dad and I heard, way back then, how hard Pat was working to try to get into that Arsenal team. In his own appraisal he was not the most skilful player and knew he had to make it through sheer hard work – and he did.
Does anyone know if there is any truth in the rumour that Arsene Wenger only made Pat Rice his assistant manager because he thought his name was Patrice ….? 😳
Just kidding Pat – top, top man !
I really enjoyed how Pat said nothing at the start but gradually warmed and almost wanted to take over at times. Two great fellas and obviously still good friends.
I used to go to London Colney as a teenager just to watch the training. Regularly saw George Graham, Frank McLintock and Theo Foley (obviously a mate of theirs although at Charlton I believe at the time) watching the youngsters. We even got to play games with them and other London apprentices when they met up to play for fun in the afternoons. Different times !
Was nice to be asked who we played for – even though it was only East Barnet OG !
Thank you Goonerholics Forever Team for preserving such wonderful memories.
Now you’ve made me all emotional.
What an absolute joy it was to watch that. Bob and Pat wear their greatness lightly. Such a pleasure, too, to listen to two players who have achieved the highest levels of success talk not only so openly about the life of a professional footballer and being part of such an exceptional team but also doing so without a single media-trained platitude.
Congratulation to TTG and C100, too, on the questioning, Scruz on the production and everyone else involved in putting this anniversary package together. If Men in Blazers can make it to TV, can men in scarves be far behind?
Hiya,
Long time reader of original blog + this one.
I only ever posted once, after the sad passing
Of the Guvnor.
Fantastic interview! Loved it, well done the team!
N7 born and bread, been living on the continent for
A long time now. Still getting (was getting) to the odd
Match when I’m back in town, through my bro
(he’s a ST holder)
’twas him wot saved me in 1970, when I was 6…
Having older sisters that thought it trendy (there’ s a word)
To support Chelsea, and knit 4ft long Chavvy scarves…
…he showed me the flats where Charlie George lived (we went
To primary school at OLSH Eden Grove) and said
“we’re ‘Olloway…. You can’ t be a Chelsea po*f”
I chose George Graham as my fave player, as the Bro had
Bagsied Charlie.
The rest is history!
Ps: still upset that GG pretended he got a touch on
Eddie Kelly’s goal….
Lovely to hear from you JML! Don’t be a stranger! So glad you enjoyed the podcasts.
What a wonderful part 1 gentleman. Bob & Pat absolutely unaffected by their unbelievable achievements. The memories of that era have come flooding back – I’m in tears of nostalgia.
Bravo to you all.
A coaching gem, indeed a life gem from Pat Rice talking about the coaching style of Don Howe – “he made you look in the mirror”.
Can’t wait for Saturday’s video 👍🏻
JML
Thankyou for your post and your donation. You are very welcome here .
Nostalgia reigns ok ! I’ve known Bob for a long time but have got to know Pat through this.They are gentlemen and wonderful ambassadors of our club but beneath the genial exterior beats the hearts of true competitors . I wish you could distill some of their spirit and sprinkle it over the team on Thursday night
John Matthews , now there’s a name to conjure with! Great to hear your story, JML. Drop by at the bar whenever you get a chance.
thanks, ned, and all. it was a joint effort in the most massive of ways. all four of us getting this together worked hard, and thought hard, and were absolutely blessed with having bob and pat working with us. total gems, as i said. jml, welcome (back), and a drink of your choice on the bar from me.
and as an arsenal fan whose earliest arsenal memories are of arsène and pat on the bench (21 years!), and as a colonial who has only watched one game at TNHOF and never got to see highbury before it was apartmentized, the thrill i got from hearing bob and pat interact with peter and paul…it lasted me days. learning about what happened with arsenal in the times before i was aware of them has been so important to my understanding of the club, of today’s players, and how to be as an arsenal supporter.
i am sure many fans who came in (like me) on the wings of the wenger years will enjoy this, and enjoy learning about our club and the (absolutely stellar) people who played for and worked for and sweated for our club. at least, i hope so!
Cheers everyone, mine’s a pint of yer best lager on tap.
Match going years…. Mainly the 70s,some grim but wonderful times.
First match at Highbury… 0-1 loss to Stoke in 1971.
Have hated the b*stards and John feckin’ Ritchie ever since.
Rick the hunchbacked postman (anyone remember him?) took me and the Bro to the clockend. Will never forget that first impression of the pitch/stadium.
By the end of the decade. . A mix between: being extremely fascinated by women, playing r’n’roll (guitarist) and getting beaten up by Wolves fans with the Bro at the semi-final at Villa Park(we stayed the WE with our aunt in Aston, so hit the road with 30k of the f*ckers to get back)
Oh well…. Over 40 years later…. Still fascinated by the gentle sex, still playing r’n’roll.. And still Arsenal till I die!
Welcome JML. Another glass of your favourite poison is alongside that of scruzgooner, awaiting your return.
Scruz @20, I love your second paragraph. If only Stan could convince us he feels the same way.
cheers, john, a proper upbringing. best lager? has to be the pilsner urquell straight from the slate squares.
thanks baff, i surely hope so. if the ek/legends buyout continues to gain steam, and they can figure a way to do it, what a change it will make!
JML
I remember the Wolves semi-Final, being pelted with coins and with a much older and tougher policeman chasing off three Wolves fans who were kicking an Arsenal fan in the head after the match . The splendid officer beat seven types of shit out of them . And we won 2-0 and had a very enjoyable evening !
TTG, had no such luck with the police after the match. Remember the pelting with coins in that ridiculous stand split down the middle between us and them. Me and the Bro started the walk to Aston after the match and figured out that we needed to hide the red’n’white… Some f*ckin’ black country monstrous welder type said “now youse hoiding that mate” and punched me on the nose. Me and the Bro went to ground holding head and bollox. Old Bill on horses laughed and did Jackshite…. 2 ‘cockneys’ getting their heads kicked in was no problem for them. (we were 1
6 and 15)
We heard a voice from heaven, an ol’dear ran out of her house and said “loive’em alown, they’re ownly babies!”
Saved our lives….
Needless to say, we were giving it the cocky cockney b*stards routine at the party that night in Aston…. Plenty of Wolves fans there…. (could’ve got me nose broken… Again)
Should read”babbies” to be read with Noddy Holder accent
I know that old lady !
She asked us if we wanted a kipper tie.
I said “yes please, milk and two sugars !”
A coaching gem, indeed a life gem from Pat Rice talking about the coaching style of Don Howe – “he made you look in the mirror”.
Try that on our lot thesedays and they’d spend all week playing with their hair or planning their next tattoo.
Did you watch the video Cynic? What did you think?
I only tend to watch videos with tits and explosions in them, or an actor in a vest laughing sardonically as he puts 86 bullets from his six shooter into the bad guy’s face.
I’ll get around to it at some point, but not watched it yet. To be quite honest football in general feels dead to me these days.
Sunday didn’t help matters. Seeing pundits who should know better holding up that protest as something noble pissed me off. I’m sort of on the Souness side of things. As for Ek, Henry and that “Arsenal DNA” nonsense, all I can say to that is I remember when Kroenke was accepted, though not welcomed, because at least he wasn’t Usmanov. Now Ek is “better” than Kroenke…
The Kroenkes were also reportedly close to Henry at one point, were they not?
Beware billionaires, particularly those who cloak themselves with club legends.
I think maybe your point about football being dead to you these days is shared by many. The video shows two men from a very different generation. Take a look, when you can. I hope you enjoy it.
There is a report that we have made a £10 million offer to Rangers for Glem Kamara, formerly of this parish. We let him leave on a free in 2017.
anyone know how he has fared with rangers, kamera? i seem to recall there were highish hopes for him in the youth ranks.
and cynic, we weren’t about to ask bob and pat to go all rambo for the videos. sorry 🙂
welcome back, by the way.
and in other good news, let’s all laugh at tottenham, whose ex-manager has washed up on roman shores. can he inspire them to beat manure 7-2 on thursday? (laughing)
Apparently Moaninho doesn’t start as coach at Roma until the beginning of next season. His stock remains high in Italy because of his impressive trophy haul at Inter and also no doubt because his preferred playing style of adopting a deep block, conceding possession, awaiting a turnover and awaiting the opportunity to break quickly is the traditional Italian approach to football since the days of catenaccio. Sadly he has just saved Spudz a £13m payout.
scruz @35, Pat was actually quite capable of going full Rambo when necessary. Not ever seen Bob in that guise.
baff, great pic of pat. i meant shirt off, bullets flying, literally. probably would have made the gents uncomfortable at this point!
too bad, i’d hoped he’d take over and we’d see a dead cat bounce v manure. oh well.
PR Muscular thighs and fiery temperament on exhibit I see.
Scruz@34: Glen Kamara has got good notices playing as DM for Rangers. He also has 30 caps for Finland, being pretty much an ever-present since breaking into the national team in 2019.
He was in the same Arsenal scholarship intake as Alex Iwobi and Chuba Akpom and had one first-team appearance in the League Cup to show for his promise. He trained with the first-team quite a bit but didn’t manage to cement a place in the squad with the arrival of Elneny. After loan spells at Southend (where he started) and Colchester Utd, Kamara was released to join Dundee on a free.
He is said to have been Gerrard’s best value buy, but he only cost Rangers £50,000.
bt8@39: plus shirt tucked in and boots of the proper colour.
cheers, ned. i’ve always had good memories of him, he and bielik i thought had a future here.
and i appreciate he kicked that guy’s ass for his racist comments, that’s some fire and pride. we could use some of that on our squad.
Ned @41 – he obviously wasn’t dressed by Sammy Nelson 😉
Or Charlie George.
Beautiful listen, gents – bravo to all involved. Eager for the episode two!
Interestingly enough, my uncle (Arsenal youth team player until the early 70s) trained with the first team quite often and fondly recalls numerous chats with Pat Rice and Willow, as he was a somewhat shorter centre half and absorbed all the positional rollockings and advice they could offer.
Had a lovely chat with Bill (@scruzgooner, I believe) the other day, which belatedly brought me back to the drinks. Briefly, lots happened since my last substitute appearance, but glad to be back in amongst it and in such fine company. Oh, and if it’s all the same to the group, I’d love a pint of the black stuff. Thanks again for the lovely watch, and for the warm welcome to this truly special space.
Cheers, all
Hi Laurie,
A pint it is then, on the bar for you sir!
hey, laurie. yep, that was me. it was a pleasure, and i look forward to hoisting pints of the black stuff at 6 am for a derby 🙂 glad you enjoyed it, and it’s going to be a week full of interesting posts and videos and discussion! be sure to come back here as often as you can, as well.
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