A look back at a spectacular few months.
It’s a strange thing but a lot of our older supporters will say the best times were the worst times – their favourite era was the third division days. Those of us who are a bit younger might say the same about Sir Graham’s promotion season and the next generation could put forward Deano’s success.
Of course, there’s been a lot of memorable times when we’ve done something really worth celebrating – 1980-81 and its encore, the two runner-ups in four years and a few trophy-winning times. Which makes me wonder how the season just ended will be thought of in years to come. For a start, winning honours and doing well in the league has only happened a couple of times in living memory – the Brian Little-inspired 1977 and 1996. So what we’ve witnessed is in good company.
Like a few of our other great successes, 2025-26 was all the better for being unexpected. We’d had a fiasco of a close-season, not being able to sign players we wanted, having to get rid of ones we wanted to keep and keeping at least one we thought was going. Small wonder we started so badly, in the bottom three after five matches (to put that into context, at the time Liverpool had fifteen points and Spurs ten. We had three). There was even talk that (cliche alert) Unai might have taken us as far as he could.
Then of course things changed and even though the only way at that point the only way us up, nobody thought ‘up’ would be so fast and so far. It might have been a bit rocky at times but in the end what we did shut a few people up and can’t really be argued with. We’re back in the big time.
And perhaps more than any of those previous seasons, where teamwork was usually more important than individualism, it was largely down to one man. Step forward Unai Emery, managerial genius and upcoming Astonian legend.
The finance restrictions were bad enough and the injuries were suffered after Christmas would have ruined many teams. We stuttered for a bit then carried on. If we hadn’t lost the midfield trio for so long we’d have been in contention for the title and if we’d been able to keep Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford we’d have had it won with weeks to spare.
And the best thing about the season, and particular its climax, was the way in which we just accepted how it was all going. One of the great H&V obsessions over the years has been an inferiority complex that makes us think the big time is for someone else, it’s all bound to go wrong soon and any trace of success is the end rather than the beginning.
This time we behaved like we belonged and we know that we’re there to stay. Whatever might get thrown at us, we can take it. And that’s Unai again. We’ve had managers before now who’ve said the right thing and a few who have done it, but none have ever given us such total, irrevocable belief that he’s in control and nothing can go wrong.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised that when he agreed to take us on, Unai told the board that he’d win the Europa League in 2026. I don’t seriously think that he deliberately threw the final match of 2024-25 but as this season was reaching its climax and there were a few doubts about how we’d finish up, Unai radiated confidence. The Spurs match seemed a setback, although Unai could well have worked out that was one we could afford to lose.
Ultimately, we had to win three games – the second leg against Forest, Liverpool and the final. Three wins, eleven goals scored and two against. That’s Unai.
The Suoer Cup’s the next challenge; I don’t doubt that the players have gone on holiday and they already know everything about PSG and Salzburg’s ground. Someone described Istanbul as a once in a generation experience; they should have said first in a generation. We’ve just finished one spectacular season. Another one is about to start.
