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Arsenal are the Premier League champions, and seemingly every Gooner on the planet is going to come together to celebrate this fact. Last Tuesday, following Manchester City's draw with Bournemouth, around 150,000 of us congregated outside Emirates Stadium in scenes reminiscent of Fever Pitch, but on a substantially larger scale. Well, while the trophy lift took place down at Selhurst, even more people were dotted around Islington on Sunday to continue celebrating.
Now though, the first organised event will take place with a parade on Sunday, the day after the Champions League final in Budapest. Here, we'll take you through the likely bus route, best potential viewing spots as well as some useful travel and transport advice from a local resident.
Arsenal’s parade route and full schedule
The parade is scheduled to commence at around 2pm on Sunday 31 May. A route had been agreed with Islington council a few weeks ago, but due to the sheer number of people the police and local authorities are expecting in the area on the day, they are currently in discussions over a longer route.
There will be mass-road closures around Emirates Stadium on the day with this the proposed parade route.
- Start at Emirates Stadium
- Drayton Park.
- Aubert Park.
- Highbury Grove.
- St Paul's Road.
- Upper Street.
- Islington Town Hall (and then turn around)
- Holloway Road.
- Hornsey Road.
- End back at Emirates Stadium.
The bus if forecast to depart Emirates Stadium on the Drayton Park side at 2pm and will progressively move around this route, quite slowly one would imagine.
The best places for Arsenal fans to watch the parade
As already mentioned, this parade is going to be extremely busy, so you'll almost certainly need to arrive early to get a good spot. In terms of less-crowded areas, it will be a case of where is going to be most busy and working your way down the list.
A lot of people will congregate near the stadium, outside Islington Town Hall and on Holloway Road. So, if you're looking for somewhere a tiny bit quieter, perhaps you're bringing along younger members of your family, those tend to be around Highbury Grove and St Paul's Road. Nevertheless, never before has a parade attracted such interest, so who knows.
Earlier this week, we did spot enormous wooden panels being erected in Compton Terrace Gardens, to prevent people from watching in there, thereby trampling all over the flowers, leaving only a very narrow stretch of pavement as the bus enters Upper Street.
How to get to the parade and avoid travel problems
As already noted, Islington will be extremely busy on Sunday, so get there as early as possible. Do not drive anywhere close to the parade, Islington is already not a car-friendly borough on an ordinary day, so don't even consider it on Sunday. These are the nearest tube stations to Emirates Stadium.
- Finsbury Park (0.7 miles from the stadium) - Victoria & Picadilly lines + Thameslink.
- Highbury & Islington (0.7 miles from the stadium) Victoria lines + Overground.
- Arsenal (0.2 miles from the stadium). Piccadilly line.
- Angel (1.6 miles from the stadium). Northern line.
- Essex Road (1.3 miles from the stadium) Great Northern.
Note that, as is the case on a matchday, Holloway Road and Drayton Park stations are likely to be closed due to safety concerns around narrow platforms.
Expect all of these stations to be extremely busy, especially Highbury & Islington, which is very much located at the epicentre of the parade route. If you're not a frequent visitors to London, download the TFL app to help check service updates on the various lines as well as help plan your route.
How Arsenal’s parade compares to previous celebrations
Speaking to Gooners of all generations, no one has experienced anything quite like this. Not during the double winning campaigns of '98 and 2002, not in the Invincibles season, not even after Anfield '89, the single most dramatic finish to any league season anywhere on the planet.
The sheer number of fans dancing, signing and celebrating near the stadium both on Tuesday and then again on Sunday has taken everyone's breath away. Imagine what'll be like if Mikel Arteta's team are crowned champions of Europe at the Puskás Aréna. Irrespective of what happens in Hungary, around 1.2 million people attended Liverpool's parade 12 months ago, that number set to be significantly exceeded in the capital this weekend. So, get down early, bring your own food and drink as well as a foldable chair and find a good spot, because this team deserves to be celebrated long into the night.
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