MARGARET Thatcher was Prime Minister. She had been PM for eight years and still had another three to go at Number 10.

T’Pau were top of the pops with ‘China In Your Hand’, having recently replaced The Bee Gees’ ‘You Win Again’ in pole position.

The average price of a house in the UK was just under £45,000. A mobile phone was the same size as a housebrick.

The internet had not been invented. You could not take photos on your phone.

Vast parts of southern England were still recovering from the hurricane that had caused millions of pounds of damage the previous month.

This was November 21, 1987.

The day Southampton Football Club last won a league game at Arsenal.

Tonight, Ronald Koeman’s men aim to end that huge wait – and at the same time record a very rare victory at the Gunners.

The last one is well worth remembering, and not just because Saints have not won a league game at Arsenal since.

George Graham’s men were top of the First Division when Chris Nicholl’s Saints arrived 29 years ago.

They had rattled off ten successive league victories.

Including League Cup ties, Arsenal had won 14 consecutive games leading up to November 21, 1987.

In comparison, Saints had won just four of their previous 15 league and cup matches.

The formbook was tossed out of the proverbial window, though, when Danny Wallace plundered the only goal 12 minutes from time.

It was Arsenal’s first home defeat since the opening day of the season.

The game was Saints’ third successive league trip to London.

The other two – a 1-1 draw against Charlton and a 2-0 loss to Wimbledon – were both watched by crowds of barely 5,000.

Saints’ win at Highbury was watched by 32,477 – compared to the 60,000 who could be at The Emirates tonight.

In Saints’ 41 other top flight games that season, only two – at Old Trafford and Anfield – were watched by more people than were at Highbury when Wallace grabbed the winner.

Koeman, of course, knows what it’s like to mastermind a win at The Emirates.

Only last season, Saints won 2-1 there in the League Cup thanks to a stunning long-range winner from Nathaniel Clyne.

He was agonisingly close to following that up with a point a few weeks later.

Saints had held out for 89 minutes, before conceding to Alexis Sanchez.

It was a cruel blow indeed.

Saints have only picked up one point from their last six visits to either Highbury or The Emirates.

That was in October 2004 when Steve Wigley’s side drew 2-2 thanks to a rare brace from Rory Delap.

Arsenal netted in the 89th minute in that game, too – Robin van Persie rescuing a point for the hosts.