The retirement of Alex Song now leaves just one player who represented Arsenal at Highbury still active in the game 17 years after the Gunners left their iconic stadium.
Song announced his retirement ‘with great sadness’ on Instagram on Tuesday after enjoying a 19-year professional career. He broke through in France whilst playing for SC Bastia, before spells for Arsenal, Barcelona and West Ham United alongside earning 49 caps for Cameroon.
Bastia promoted Song into their first-team following a three-year spell in the Corsica outfit’s academy. His form at Stade Armand-Cesari would convince Arsene Wenger to sign Song at Arsenal in 2005. The midfielder then made 204 appearances in seven years in north London.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Song announces his retirement
Song did not play for another club more often than with Arsenal, whilst also scoring 10 and assisting 23 goals. Barcelona ultimately broke their bond in August 2012 when they struck a £15m transfer. Song later admitted in January 2022 that he only left Arsenal for the money.
His move to Camp Nou returned the only pieces of silverware Song ever touched. Barcelona won La Liga during the midfielder’s debut season in Spain. The Blaugrana also won the 2013 Spanish Super Cup. Song recalls his spells at Arsenal and Barcelona among his high points.
“It is with great sadness that the time has come for me to hang up my boots,” Song shared. “My journey that began in Yaounde as a child – playing with no boots, in bare feet and on hard gravel – gave me the strength and courage to succeed.
“When I moved to France, playing for Bastia, I thought I had achieved a miracle. However, this was only the start as my journey continued to Arsenal and Barcelona, two of the greatest clubs in the world.”
Song leaves one player who represented Arsenal at Highbury still active
Song initially signed for Arsenal on loan from Bastia aged 17 in August 2005 and played nine times that season. His efforts impressed Wenger, who triggered the Gunners’ option to sign the Cameroonian permanently. Song cost Arsenal €1.5m (£1m) to sign from Bastia in 2006.
As well as being Song’s first season in north London, the 2005/06 campaign also marked the last term Arsenal played at Highbury. Now, with Song’s retirement, only one player who also featured under Wenger as Arsenal said goodbye to Highbury is still active in the game today.
That name is Junichi Inamoto, per Jeorge Bird, with the 44-year-old still going strong playing for Nankatsu. Additionally, Justin Hoyte has not officially retired but is currently a free agent at 38 years old. Inamoto, though, remains a regular player with the Nankatsu first-team fold.
Inamoto has featured six times and scored one goal in the 2023 Kanto Soccer League (Div 1) season so far. It is the fifth tier of the Japanese league system and is a regional competition in Honshu, the largest island of Japan. Nankatsu also signed Inamoto back in January 2022.
It was in July 2001 that Wenger signed Inamoto for Arsenal on loan from the 82-cap Japan hero’s first club, Gamba Osaka. His move to Highbury was not a huge success, though. The midfielder only played four times for 150 minutes and got his two starts in the League Cup.
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