Highbury Square – The Stadium That Became Flats

Highbury Square in London is a residential apartment complex built within the preserved Art Deco stands of Arsenal Football Club's former stadium, surrounding a central garden with the exact dimensions of the historic pitch. Arsenal played at the ground from September 6, 1913 until May 7, 2006, when Thierry Henry scored the final goal. Retained elements include the Grade II listed 1936 East Stand and a 1936 Jacob Epstein bronze bust.

London · from the walk “The Beautiful Game: London's Football Trail” · audio ~3 min · Generated

Highbury Square, Avenell Road, London N5 1BU

How was Arsenal's former Highbury stadium converted into Highbury Square?

Take a look around you. Where thirty-eight thousand fans once packed in shoulder to shoulder, screaming their lungs out... people now sleep, cook dinner, and water their plants. This is Highbury Square — one of the most extraordinary transformations in football history.......... This ground was home to Arsenal Football Club from the sixth of September, nineteen thirteen, all the way to the seventh of May, two thousand and six. Ninety-three years of football... and it all started with an audacious gamble.......... It was Henry Norris who decided to uproot the club from Plumstead in South London. He'd taken over at Woolwich Arsenal while still chairman at Fulham, and his original plan was actually to Merge the two clubs. The Football League said no. So Norris leased the recreation fields of Saint John's College of Divinity for twenty thousand pounds — and here's a detail most people miss. The lease was signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself, Randall Davidson, and it forbade matches on holy days and banned the sale of intoxicating liquor. A football ground... blessed by the Church.......... Now look at the stunning Art Deco facade in front of you. The East Stand, containing the famous Marble Halls, is a Grade Two listed building, built in nineteen thirty-six in the Art Deco style. And inside those Marble Halls sat something remarkable — a bronze bust of Herbert Chapman, commissioned by twelve devoted fans who called themselves the "Pals of Chapman," sculpted by none other than Sir Jacob Epstein, and unveiled on the twenty-second of October, nineteen thirty-six. That bust is Still in there... inside what is now a residential building.......... Several parts of the old stadium were retained — the marble halls, the bust, and even the players' tunnel.......... And Chapman's influence didn't stop at the stadium walls. He campaigned to rename the nearby tube station from Gillespie Road to Arsenal — and in nineteen thirty-two, he succeeded, making it the Only station on the entire Underground network named after a football club.......... Now, picture the final day. May seventh, two thousand and six. Arsenal needed to better the result of North London rivals Tottenham to qualify for the Champions League. Having fallen two-one behind, captain Thierry Onry scored a hat trick — then knelt down and kissed the turf on what proved to be the final goal ever scored here.......... That same pitch has been turned into a communal garden. The apartments face inward toward a central garden square, occupying the Exact dimensions of the former pitch. So if you could peek over the wall, you'd see the ghost outline of where Onry knelt that day.......... Former manager Arsène Wenger once said, "We built a new stadium, but we never found our soul... we left our soul at Highbury." Standing here, you can feel exactly what he meant.

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