Gilberto Silva has been reminiscing over his time playing for Arsenal at Highbury and admits that when the Gunners lined up in that tunnel before kick-off, they always knew they were going to win.

Gilberto reckons that whenever Arsenal played at Highbury, they knew they were going to win. Even if they didn’t in the end, they had that confidence. It was a fortress.

“I think we have many special moments from that experience,” Gilberto told Arsenal Player. “And it was so nice for me, when we got into Highbury tunnel, cold tunnel, very narrow and close to the opponents, it’s like almost shoulder to shoulder and we knew that we were going to win the game in that tunnel.

“And then another special moment I can say that was when we won the league at White Hart Lane, it was something very special because we had four games to go, but to win the title there it means a lot for all the players, for the fans, for the club because they also had a very good game. 

“You know, maybe the game could be much easier for us, at some points we complicated ourselves, but in the end we got the prize to win that.”

Gilberto signed for the Gunners from Atlético Mineiro in 2002 and was in north London for six years, making 170 league appearances. Therefore, he got four years playing at Highbury before Arsenal moved to the Emirates.

The final match at our old home ground was against Wigan, which Arsenal won 4-2, securing a top-four finish and therefore Champions League football the following season. Gilberto, of course, was involved.

Arsene Wenger was in charge of 186 games at Highbury, Arsenal’s home since 1913.

Out of those, his side won 134 (72%), drew 35 and lost just 17.

They scored a whopping 420 goals and won 437 points there, which is an average of 2.35 points per game.

Although Gooners were mocked, with our home ground being dubbed the ‘Highbury Library’, the atmosphere was completely different to the Emirates. At Highbury, the fans were practically on the pitch and the dimensions of the field itself almost seemed too small but it worked and we were a force on home soil.

There’s a reason why Arsenal fans miss it.