Essex Gooner

When Arsenal went to Anfield in 1989 needing to beat Liverpool 2-0 to win the league, every one of the lads went back to London afterwards to celebrate. Lee Dixon did not. That was his biggest regret about the whole night. Because before the game, his mum had already told him he had to come back home. His uncle was over from Australia. There was a party planned. And as far as Dixon was concerned, Arsenal probably were not even going to win the title anyway. So he had already arranged to go back. Then Michael Thomas scored. Arsenal won the league. And while the rest of the squad were heading off to celebrate one of the maddest title wins English football had ever seen, Dixon was stood outside Anfield with a bottle of champagne waving them off. He got in the car with his brother and started driving back through Liverpool towards his mum and dad’s. He still had his Arsenal blazer on. And had a bottle of champagne with champions stamped across it. After a while it caught up with him that he had not eaten. His brother spotted a chippy. So Dixon said he would go in and get it. Right then he still was not thinking properly. He jumped out and ran straight in. And the second he opened the door, it hit him. The place was full. Liverpool had just lost the title. And he was standing in the middle of Liverpool in an Arsenal blazer. “Oh my God.” “This is the end.” By then there was no real way out of it. So he just kept his head down and went to the counter. “Four fish and chips please.” Then he looked up at the bloke behind the counter. He was just staring at him. Dixon was waiting for it. Instead the fella leaned over and gave him the line that saved him. “It’s alright lad.” “You can have extra chips.” “We’re all Evertonians.” Instead of getting buried in a Liverpool chip shop in an Arsenal blazer after Arsenal had just won the title at Anfield, Dixon ended up having a party in there with a load of Evertonians.