Emirates Stadium & The Thierry Henry Statue

Emirates Stadium in London is a 60,000-seat football arena completed in 2006 for £390 million on the site of a former waste processing plant just 450 metres from Highbury. To construct the arena, Arsenal spent £60 million relocating the recycling facility to Hornsey Street. Outside stands a 200-kilogram bronze statue of Thierry Henry, Arsenal's 226-goal all-time top scorer, unveiled in 2011.

London · from the walk “The Beautiful Game: London's Football Trail” · audio ~4 min · Generated

Emirates Stadium, Hornsey Road, London N7 7AJ

What stood on the site of Emirates Stadium in London before construction began?

Take a look around you. This sixty-thousand-seat colosseum... was built on a rubbish dump. No, really. The land right here, just four hundred and fifty metres from old Highbury, was a waste processing plant and industrial estate. Arsenal director Danny Fiszman called it "the most complicated stadium development in the world." Before a single football could be kicked, Arsenal had to fund a sixty million pound waste and recycling centre at nearby Hornsey Street to replace the one sitting right where you're standing. From trash to treasure... in every sense.......... The entire Emirates Stadium project was completed in two thousand and six at a cost of three hundred and ninety million pounds. And that price tag had consequences. Paying back the loans became the club's top priority, meaning less money for new players. Manager Arsene Wenger called it the hardest time of his life.......... But let's talk about the man frozen in bronze just over there. Thierry Onree's statue depicts his famous celebration after scoring a wonder goal against Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury in November two thousand and two. And what a goal it was! In the thirteenth minute, the rapid striker collected Patrick Vieira's headed clearance a good twenty yards inside Arsenal's half, burst forward shrugging off Matthew Etherington just past the halfway line... and now he had the entire back four to contend with. He just kept running. Eighty yards. Eleven touches. Four players beaten. It was voted Goal of the Season by viewers of Itv's "The Premiership".......... Onree is Arsenal's all-time leading goal scorer with two hundred and twenty-six goals. And fittingly, on May seventh, two thousand and six, he scored the Last ever goal at Highbury... kneeling down to kiss the turf goodbye.......... Now look closely at the statue's position. There's a hidden detail most visitors miss. Onree himself explained it: "Me kneeling, facing the Emirates Stadium, and Highbury behind, is amazing." The statue literally looks Both ways... toward the future and the past, forever caught between two homes.......... It was unveiled on December ninth, two thousand and eleven, as part of the club's one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations. Designed and created by Mdm, the statues took roughly six hundred and twenty-five hours to create, weigh approximately two hundred kilograms each, and are all life-size-and-a-half. It was an emotional tribute — Onree, usually so composed, was forced to pause during his podium speech, fighting to regain his composure.......... But the story doesn't end there. In twenty-twelve, while playing out his final footballing days in New York, Onree was asked to rejoin Arsenal temporarily. The club was struggling and needed help. In what seemed written in the stars, he came off the bench and scored the winning goal almost immediately. The Emirates Erupted.......... A man who said goodbye... came back to say hello one more time.

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