Last Saturday evening in Budapest, Arsenal lost in the final of the Champions League to Paris Saint-Germain, beaten on penalties after the match finished 1-1 in regulation play. The North Londoners therefore failed to collect the trophy despite having played 15 matches in this season’s competition and not lost a single one, other than in that shoot-out. There was also the singular statistical fact that the PSG goalkeeper did not make a single save in the final; Arsenal scored with their only shot on target and their two blemishes from the penalty spot were due to misses rather than saves. Arsenal had only made the final once before, in 2006, when they lost 2-1 to Barcelona, so this was a huge disappointment. And yet, somewhat bizarrely, it did not seem that way on Sunday afternoon. Why? Because they had a Premier League title to celebrate.

The comparatively sedate acknowledgement of the crowd after the 1-0 over Burnley in the final home game of the season is shown on the home page. The two photos shown here display distinctly more energy. On the Tuesday evening before the season ended on the Sunday, Manchester City needed to win at Bournemouth to keep the title race alive. They could only draw. After being runners-up for the last three seasons, the Gunners were champions of England for the first time in 22 years. Perhaps pausing only to grab a beer, fans poured in their tens of thousands to rejoice outside the club’s ground in London N5. In the early hours of the following morning, four players – Bukayo Saka, Eberichi Eze, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice – departed from the nightclub where they had been partying and pitched up outside the ground to…well, do who knows exactly what? Relish the atmosphere in the coldish light of day?

Last Sunday, the streets of the area were awash with red and white. Police estimates suggested the attendance might have been higher than for any other event ever in the capital. It is extraordinary to think that so many folk wanted to feel invested in what Arsenal had achieved; their stadium only holds something just over 60,000 people when it’s full. Away from that, the team played 63 competitive matches last season. Rice, who is 27 and is off to represent England in the World Cup, played more minutes than any other outfield player during the campaign. “There is no reason why we are stopping here,” he said on Sunday. “Next season we are going to go even stronger and we are going to be ready again. Next year we are coming back for more.”

But one never knows. After Arsenal were crowned champions in 2004 having gone unbeaten for the whole of the 38-match campaign, the season of the Invincibles, I suspect few people would have anticipated that they wouldn’t win the league again for 22 years. Let’s see what 2026-7 brings.