The day has finally come and it is the end of an era! Arsene Wenger's 828th Premier League game in charge of Arsenal ended in a 1-0 victory at plucky Huddersfield.
The Gunners went into the game having lost seven consecutive top-flight away matches, but the first points of 2018 came Arsenal's way thanks to a goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
I was glad to see us end the season with a more positive result, so Wenger could end his reign with a win. Many fans including myself will be feeling the emotion now that the time for departure is here.
We've had some good times and we've had some bad times, but now the era is over I'm looking forward to seeing what could happen in the new post-Wenger era.
There is no denying he has done some great things for us, an unbeaten season, three league titles, seven FA Cups, two doubles and signing world class players over the years including the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires.
The second half of his reign has been filled with more frustration than glory, but overall when I look back on his 22 years at the club I'll remember it with a smile and think of the good times.
I just want to take a moment to comment on Huddersfield, who did superbly well to avoid relegation in their first season in the Premier League. They took a point off both champions Manchester City and Chelsea to secure their safety and David Wagner seems to be doing a great job.
Wenger was given a guard of honour by both sets of players as the longest serving manager in the Premier League prepared for his final game.
Huddersfield battled hard throughout and took the game to us early on with David Ospina comfortably saving Steve Mounie's header inside the opening few minutes.
Aaron Ramsey, who captained Arsenal in Wenger's last game in charge, tried his luck from long-range soon after, but his effort was saved by Jonas Lössl in the Huddersfield goal.
Huddersfield began to pile more pressure on Arsenal with only good defensive blocks keeping Christopher Schindler out.
Hector Bellerin and Granit Xhaka tracked back well before Tom Ince fired a shot over the crossbar and the same player sent another shot off target soon after.
At the other end Henrikh Mkhitaryan's free-kick hit the wall and went out for a corner after 18 minutes before Ramsey sent a shot off target.
There was a classy gesture after 22 minutes as both sets of fans gave Wenger a standing ovation to mark his 22 years in charge of the club.
Arsenal came close to opening the scoring after 26 minutes when Sead Kolasinac pounced on a corner, but his effort went just wide before Mkhitaryan's strike deflected off target soon after.
The Gunners finally broke the deadlock seven minutes before the break as Mkhitaryan and Alexandre Lacazette combined with some great football to set up Ramsey down the left, who crossed for Aubameyang to fire home.
Huddersfield were not going to give up without a fight and only good work by Alex Iwobi prevented Florent Hadergjonaj's shot from troubling Ospina.
Jonathan Hogg then curled a shot over the crossbar for the Terriers before Ospina produced a fine save to tip Ince's low drilled effort wide.
Huddersfield continue to press Arsenal and a quick break released Mounie to race in on goal, but fortunately for Arsenal Xhaka recovered well to deny him with a great tackle as more resolute defending kept the hosts out.
Wenger made the final substitution of his reign 18 minutes from time as Ainsley Maitland-Niles came on to replace Iwobi.
Huddersfield continued in their pursuit to find an equaliser as Laurent Depoitre headed wide from Chris Loewe's cross after 78 minutes.
Arsenal then wasted chances to put the result beyond doubt as Lacazette raced into the box one-on-one with Lössl, but the striker tried to chip it and it was an easy catch for the goalkeeper.
The Danish shot-stopper was called into action again soon after as substitute Danny Welbeck ran past two tackles and raced into the box, but Lössl reacted quickly to come off his line and block the shot.
Xhaka sent a long-range effort just wide as Arsenal tried to find a decisive second goal and that miss could have proved costly had Huddersfield converted one of their late efforts.
Huddersfield midfielder Dean Whitehead, who has been at the club since 2015, came on with four minutes remaining for his final appearance before retiring and moving onto the Terriers' coaching staff.
The hosts finished the game with a flurry and very nearly equalised two minutes from time, but Aaron Mooy's shot from a tight angle hit the top of the crossbar and bounced over.
Huddersfield substitute Philip Billing then tried his luck, but his effort on the half-volley went over the crossbar.
The Terriers had one final chance deep into injury time as Depoitre got on the end of a free-kick, but his header was smartly saved on the line by Ospina before the Colombian goalkeeper reclaimed the ball at the second attempt. There were some shouts that it had crossed the line, but it looked like a decent save to me.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Huddersfield fan Andy Dixon wasn't surprised by the result, but believes his side could have a bright future if the right additions are made.
"It wasn't an unexpected defeat given the effort that had gone into the previous two games this week to secure survival," said Dixon. "It's sad to lose another home game and these are the fixtures we need to get points from next season.
"We have a strong base to build from and if we keep our manager and add to the key players we have, we could easily do a Leicester City next season. That's after England win the World Cup of course."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Whoever takes over will have my full backing and it will truly be the start of a new era. It isn't just a new manager coming in, whoever it is will be replacing someone who spent over 20 years of his life at our beloved club and that will never be forgotten.
I'd personally like to see someone like Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri get the job, but there is plenty speculation of other names flying around so it will be interesting to see what final decision is made.
Wenger's reign was far from perfect, but I will look back on it fondly and, whether you are Wenger in or out, there is no denying that when the good times did happen, albeit a long time ago, they were amazing. It's time for him to move on, but let's always remember the good times.
I'd like to give a big thanks to Rob Beezley and Russ Morgan for their input this season as well as all the opposition fans for their comments, to my wife Linda, and of course to you the reader. I'm unsure what is happening with the blog next season due to my upcoming journey into fatherhood, but even if it isn't as regular there will still be something so don't worry.
22 years, 1,235 games, 716 wins, 2,298 goals, thanks for the memories! Merci Arsene!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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