“I wouldn’t say that Arsenal fans were thrilled to see me join their club,” laughed Willie Young during one of our interviews at the turn of the century. “It didn’t help that I’d previously played for Tottenham, but I think that eventually I won over the supporters.”

A towering 6’3” central defender, the red-haired Young began his first-team career at Aberdeen before heading south in 1975 and spending two years playing under Terry Neill at Tottenham. During a feisty north London derby in November 1976, he was dismissed after a hefty challenge on our striker Frank Stapleton.

When former captain Neill joined us as manager in the summer of 1976, he signed Young for £80,000 the following year. The colourful and often outspoken Scot admitted that he had “a massive job on my hands to win over the Arsenal supporters”, but Willie succeeded in his task over the next five years, turning himself into an unlikely Highbury cult hero.

Here, with quotes from Willie himself, are his six standout matches as an Arsenal player:

Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham
April 11, 1977

In his first north London derby as a Gunner not long after signing, Young showed his sheer physical strength...