Mick Quinn may have only been 5ft 10in tall – but when he strolled off the pitch at Highbury, in front of its famous mural, he felt like a colossus.
Quinn had scored a hat-trick and Coventry City had just beaten the league champions 3-0. The Sky Blues were top of the Premier League.
Twenty years have passed since that sun-kissed opening day of the season, but it remains the last time Coventry have won in the Borough of Islington, and Quinn would dearly love his presence at the Emirates Stadium tonight to be a good omen for the League One side.
Arsenal v Coventry
FA Cup Fourth Round Proper
Emirates Stadium
Friday 24 September, 8pm
Winners receive £90,000 from The FA prize fund
“I’ll be on radio commentary with talkSPORT, and I was thinking of asking Coventry’s manager Steven Pressley if I could give the lads a pep talk beforehand,” said the former Newcastle United and Portsmouth striker, who now divides his time between media work and training racehorses.
“I played with Steven when he was at Coventry as a player. Steven didn’t have the best of times and he got sent off a couple of times. But for him to take over and do as well as he has this season – I’m really pleased for him.
“I’ll always think well of Coventry. They gave me my chance in the big league – I’d been around the lower divisions but I’ll always be grateful to Coventry and to Bobby Gould for bringing me in.
“And it’ll great to see them back against top opposition, at a top ground.
"I know there are loads of Coventry fans going down. It’ll be a nice occasion for them to celebrate their team against the top team in the Premier League.
"So tonight it’s not about them going or not going to Northampton – the last couple of years have been dreadful for them.
“Roy Wegerle, Peter Ndlovu, and me celebrated with the Funky Chicken dance. It was one of the most embarrassing celebrations you'll ever see”
Mick Quinn
“Let’s hope they enjoy a fantastic FA Cup tie, and that’s what I think it is. And by the way Coventry are a threat – they’ve got plenty of pace.
“It’s a chance for the players to show how good they are against one of the best in the land.”
Quinn will never forget the day when he did exactly that, putting Arsenal to the sword at Fortress Highbury.
He said: "Ian Wright had a single out and there was a real buzz about the place. No-one gave us a chance of winning.
"I think we were about 16-1 to win! And Arsenal had the England back five and I think they had a record low goals against them, but to be fair to Bobby Gould they had quite an attacking line-up.
"I spearheaded a three-man attack with Roy Wegerle and Peter Ndlovu either side of me – and Arsenal just couldn’t cope."
Then something extraordinary happened, and Quinn, one of football's enduring cult heroes, still blushes to this day.
“When I scored my third I did one of the most embarrassing things I have ever done on a football pitch. The goal celebrations were all the rage back then," he said.
"About two weeks prior to that, me, John Williams and Peter Ndlovu went to a seventies party, and the Funky Chicken song came on.
"So we said whoever scores against Arsenal then we’d celebrate with the Funky Chicken.
"It was one of the most embarrassing celebrations you’ll ever see.
“But at least I was the last away player to score a hat-trick at Highbury.”
Mick Quinn presents Weekend Sports Breakfast on talkSPORT.
