User:The C of E/HM

The Highbury Mural, also called the North Bank Mural or Arsenal Mural, was a 1992 mural installed at Arsenal Stadium (colloquially known as Highbury) in London, England by Arsenal F.C.. It was 35 feet high and 140 feet long. It was created to mask construction of the new North Bank stand. The mural became notorious for originally being made without any black supporters in it.

Design
The design of the mural was intended to replicate what the new 12,000 capacity North Bank stand at Highbury would look like upon completion. It featured 8,000 fans wearing Arsenal's colours of red and white. It also featured advertising for a bond scheme that Arsenal were running at the time. It cost £150,000 to erect, which was paid for by advertising costs.

History
Due to the Hillsborough disaster and subsequent Taylor Report recommending all football stadiums in England become all seater, it was determined that Arsenal's historic North Bank stand would have to be demolished and rebuilt in order to meet the new requirements. Due to construction taking place during the football season, Arsenal's executive vice-chairman David Dein recommended a mural be commissioned to block view of the construction. Mike Ibbenson of January sketched out the mural in pencil and Dein approved it and it was installed within a month.

During Arsenal's final training session at Highbury before the start of the Premier League (their first in front of the mural), Kevin Campbell pointed out to Ian Wright that there were no black faces on the mural. When Campbell told Dein about this, Dein immediately ordered that black supporters be added to it. Ibbenson explained he had not been thinking of ethninicites as he was trying to make the supporters look all generic. When it opened, some fan groups complained there were a lack of women and children had been drawn next to people who appeared not to be their parents. The mural had to be repainted several times, with one version adding four nuns to the crowd.

A number of urban myths came about as a result of the controversy. One alleged that a Manchester United fan was secretly drawn into the crowd, which was denied by Rory Smith. Another was that a request for homosexual representation on the mural was denied on the grounds that they looked no different from anyone else.

Effect
Arsenal's Lee Dixon was asked about the mural before the start of the season, he responded favourably saying "In the end, artificial people won't boo me". However the mural was seen to be a bad omen for Arsenal. Before the start of their first match in front of the mural against Norwich City, a parachutist almost crashed into the mural. A clearance from Dixon hit the nuns on the mural and Arsenal lost the match 4-2 after leading 2-0. Defender Steve Bould reacted by stating that it felt odd playing in front of silent painted faces and Arsenal finished 10th in the league that season. The greatly reduced capacity at Highbury and loss of the fans' main singing stand led to Arsenal's manager George Graham alleging that the mural made more noise than the crowd.

Following completion of the North Bank, Arsenal offered the mural for sale in the Financial Times. It was purchased by Landrell Fabric Engineers, who constructed it, for £1,500. Landrell hoped to auction it off in South Wales. They failed to find a buyer and started to write to Arsenal fans in 1995 offering to sell them bits of the mural.