BRILLIANT sunshine and a carnival atmosphere made for enforced changes in the ITV team at the Wembley final.
Instead of one commentator and his helper, there were 79,183 voices to describe the occasion. Arsenal won only the match. It was the crowd who carried the day. The constant happy noise of their joint choir made it memorable.
In his glum way, Kenny Dalglish was right on the ball. ''I think it is the first time I've seen both sets of fans thinking they were the winners,'' he said. His Newcastle supporters applauded the victors most heartily.
Audience participation sometimes muffled the avuncular flatteries of Brian Moore and often drowned the drolleries in the match analysis of Ron Atkinson. He was caught in possession once. ''It is almost as if somebody had switched the light off at Arsenal,'' he was saying when Anelka completed the sentence by scoring the clincher. For Arsenal's first goal, the cameras marked Overmars closer than Pistone ever did.
Because Scottish Television went to Wembley only five minutes before the kick-off, it meant a merciful reduction in those studio preliminaries and the chattering which can feel like being trapped in a lift for two hours with the kind of people who inhabit hospitality suites.
There was just time to admire the park so flawlessly striped in improbably shades of green it might have been prepared by Dulux.
Most of the pre-package compliments about Alan Shearer went unspoken. Throughout the first half he was less on the screen than at the interval, when he advertised not only burgers but that former invalid drink that is now sold as an elixir for young athletes.
During half-time, Glenn Hoddle advised Dalglish to change either the shape of his team or its personnel, although changing both might be better. Atkinson had said much the same earlier.
King Kenny went his own way as usual. All he changed were his clothes, removing jacket and tie to reappear dressed for golf.
Moore massaged Arsene Wenger, the winning manager, with the description ''shrewd and scientific and, the players say, incredibly calm under the greatest pressure.''
What the cameras showed was that when the Arsenal bench left their seats in moments of excitement, Wenger was always the last off his backside. So, right enough, he thinks before he acts.
There was less prowling than usual among the posh seats looking for celebs. Only the Archbishop of Canterbury was spotted.
In his last commentary before retiring, Brian Moore - who has always seemed to know everything - instantly recognised him as an Arsenal fan. The primate was smiling benignly. Clearly, he has better sources of information than Atkinson, who confessed that he had fancied the Magpies to sneak a wee win.
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