[Simon Lamrock]

ARSENAL players and staff received a hero’s welcome at Sunday’s trophy parade as enormous crowds formed across Islington to commemorate their Premier League title win.

The 9km route took the team on an odyssey around the borough, starting and finishing at the Emirates Stadium.

It has been estimated that more than a million people lined the streets to greet them – making it one of the largest football celebrations the country has ever seen.

Turning from the stadium onto Holloway Road, the epicentre of Arsenal-crazed festivities of the past fortnight, a procession of four open-top buses spent two hours on the roads.

The men’s team were followed by the Arsenal women’s team celebrating their Champion’s Cup success.

An electric atmosphere was felt on the streets as supporters clambered onto rooftops and swung from traffic lights, hoarse voices bellowing a medley of Arsenal chant greatest hits.

Fans who had travelled from as far as Nigeria and Switzerland filled every pocket of space on the pavements to catch the players basking in their well-earned glory, despite the agony of the previous day.

It must have been a rollercoaster of emotion for the Arsenal players, bleary-eyed and exhausted from the Champions League final loss that concluded in Budapest just 18 hours prior to the parade’s start.

Supportive signs were waved and chants sung to show love and support for Eberechi Eze and Gabriel, whose penalty misses the night before sealed their unfortunate fate in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

But there was no room for thinking about the night before – this was about the season as a whole, which ended in such joy for the fans as Arsenal were crowned champions of England.

An enthused Mikel Arteta drummed the side of the bus as midfield-maestro Declan Rice bellowed “Rice Rice baby” through the microphone.

Like last week, some residents have complained of the environmental damage to the area, as litter and rubbish was left on the streets.

A “major” clean-up operation, with extra staff on the job, was ordered with council rubbish trucks touring Islington, removing the remnants of the past fortnight of partying.

While the job will be done by the council, Islington said Arsenal will be reimbursing the Town Hall for the work.

Islington Council leader Una O’Halloran said: “Tireless and resilient is how I would describe our council workers. It’s taken hundreds of officers to plan, execute and then tidy up after this parade – and I have been quite overwhelmed by the positive response from so many residents and business owners who have been pitching in to help.

“Our council officers and councillors have been out putting in a shift, to get us back to our usual tidy borough.”

Janick Nielsen, a lifelong Arsenal fan who travelled from Lucerne, Switzerland, to be at the parade, said: “I’ve blocked out the last weekend of the Premier League in my calendar the last two years, because I knew this day would come.

“But I couldn’t have imagined how amazing it actually was. It felt really surreal. And standing there, surrounded by thousands of happy faces from all over the world, all sharing the same passion. I’ve never felt so alive as in that moment.

“It also means more to me personally, because eight weeks ago my first son was born. His name is Mattia, but his second name is Mikel.

“The birth of my son, and then the parade as the cherry on top. It doesn’t get better than those few weeks for me, ever. I can’t wait to bring him into this beautiful Arsenal family.”

Across the parade route, the Metropolitan Police deployed more than 600 officers and this week released a statement thanking supporters who attended the celebrations “responsibly”.

It was later confirmed that 24 arrests had been made throughout the day, from drug-related crimes to sexual offences. The Met said that later into the night there were six stabbings reported in the “footprint” of the parade.

At one point in the evening, hours after the bus had finished its journey, police clashed with fans who attempted to storm the Emirates, which had been closed off the night before to prevent more mass gatherings on the concourse.

In France on Saturday night, Paris St Germain’s victory against Arsenal in the Champions League final was met with chaotic scenes. There were 780 arrests and 219 injured in the French capital.

Many of Arsenal’s players will next head to the World Cup, which begins on June 11.
It all starts again, of course, in August when the Gunners will play Manchester City in the Community Shield.

In pictures

Islington North Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez share a celebration photo with Bukayo Saka. Mr Corbyn praises the work of Islington’s street cleaners

Islington’s new Mayor Rosaline Ogunro meeting Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

[© Steve Bainbridge]