The North London derby, which pits Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur, is one of the fiercest rivalries in European football.
There is plenty of history between the two sides, with Arsenal winning two league titles at their old ground White Hart Lane, but the hatred in the rivalry escalated in hatred in 2001 after Arsene Wenger pulled off one of the greatest signings in Premier League history.
With Arsenal needing a centre-back to eventually replace Tony Adams, who was entering the final year of his career, Wenger managed to sign Spurs captain Sol Campbell on a free transfer.
To this day, there is bad blood between Campbell and Spurs, after he committed the ultimate act of betrayal by rejecting a lucrative contract at Tottenham to join their bitter rivals.
Naturally, this meant that the North London derby atmospheres became even more heated, and perhaps nothing could have prepared Arsenal or Campbell for what they would face at White Hart Lane as the centre-back returned there a few months later for a league fixture.
Freddie Ljungberg remembers first North London derby since Sol Campbell joined Arsenal
Speaking on Viaplay, Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg was joined by Campbell ahead of Mikel Arteta’s crunch North London derby in the title race, and they both recalled what the first visit to White Hart Lane with Campbell in the team was like.
“I walked up in the bus next to the driver, and I sat just on the floor where the driver was, and when we turned in, the police were holding – but there were grown men, big units, in fist fights with the police, trying to get to the bus, and you didn’t see this but I sat there, I was like ‘oh my God’ and the other police held, but like I’ve never seen it,” Ljungberg stated of Arsenal’s journey into the ground.
“It was like war wasn’t it?” Campbell responded.
“It was war, absolutely. I’ve never seen it, and never will see it again, but there were fist fights with police officers, and then we walked off. Do you remember, there’s a pub with a beer garden or something, with bottles flying over, some bricks, like they were going for you?” Ljungberg then asked his former teammate.
“There was a lot happening, but also, I had a game to play,” Campbell admitted.
Arsenal would draw the game 1-1, and Campbell did play well given the vocal abuse he was receiving from the entire ground which once adored him.
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Was Sol Campbell’s return to Tottenham the most heated North London derby atmosphere?
Spurs fans were vocal in their contempt for Campbell from the moment he stepped out onto the pitch at the club where he was once captain, and they even planned an ‘inferno of hate’ for their former talisman.
Arsenal fans in attendance that day would probably agree that this was the most heated away atmosphere in the modern history of the fixture, but there have been other contenders.
Wenger’s side won the league at White Hart Lane in 2004, with a 2-2 draw confirming them as Champions, and Campbell was able to celebrate a title on their own pitch.
Arsenal and Spurs also drew 2-2 in 2015-16 when both teams were going for the title, and Francis Coquelin’s red card meant Wenger’s side dropped more points, with Leicester going on to win the league.
The two sides also went head to head at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2022, which may also be up there with the most heated derby atmospheres. With kick-off rearranged to a Thursday evening, and the table poised such that it was winner takes it all for a top-four spot, Arsenal crumbled under the pressure and lost 3-0.
Arteta will hope that his team are made of stronger stuff for future derbies, with the 2023-24 one set to go down in history given Arsenal’s need to win to potentially go on to win the league.