Henry pitches in as work starts on new stadium

Thierry Henry has pledged to fire Arsenal into their new stadium at Ashburton Grove.

The French World Cup winner donned a hard hat and overalls yesterday as demolition work began at Lough Road.

The 60,000-seater stadium is not due to be completed until 2005, but the 24-year-old striker hopes to be leading the line for years.

Henry told Standard Sport: "I'm looking forward to playing here, it's quite obvious.

"I'm always saying that I'm happy here at Arsenal. As long as the club want me, I'll be running around here. The plans look amazing and it's very exciting, especially for the fans. I'm looking forward to playing on a bigger pitch. Sometimes it is difficult when teams come to play at Highbury, because it's one of the smallest pitches in the league and there's not a lot of space to play football.

"Sometimes I make runs and am already off the pitch without noticing. It's important because we play attacking football and hopefully the stadium will help."

Henry was also full of praise for the new training ground at Colney and believes the stadium will help Arsenal attract the world's best. He said: "Players in the national team keep saying, 'I hear you have a good training ground,' and I say, 'Yes, it's amazing'. I don't stay there all day, but I can have lunch, swim in the pool and have a jacuzzi. That's quite important in attracting players."

The demolition work is the first part of a three-phase project which will see a new waste recycling centre at Lough Road, Highbury's redevelopment and the new ground at Ashburton Grove. Henry added: "We're not going to forget Highbury. It is part of the club's history, but you have to move on. "