Arsene Wenger stood in a small side-room at Wembley, his hair still damp with champagne.
He was hemmed in by a hubbub of journalists. Hands were proffered in congratulation and he shook them.
The Arsenal manager grinned. He knew there could be no questions about Arsenal’s trophy drought for a little while.
So first of all, he wanted to make a gentle point to those who have grilled him over the last nine years on all the occasions when Arsenal have fallen short.
“It will force you to be a bit more creative in press conferences,” Wenger said, looking around the room.
He was right. This has altered the mood. Arsenal aren’t an easy target any more. Not for the media. Not for opposing fans. Not for Jose Mourinho.
They won an awful lot more than a cup final on Saturday evening in north London. One of England’s greatest clubs won their pride back, too. At the same time, they gained renewed faith in the man who has led them for the last 18 years.
Success in football is cyclical and it seems a new cycle may be beginning for Arsenal.
The man branded a ‘specialist in failure’ by Mourinho won one more trophy than his tormentor this season.
If Arsenal had lost on Saturday, maybe this would have been the end for Wenger. Perhaps this would have been his farewell. But the Gunners did not lose. This might have been a nervy, scratchy win over Hull City but it has the potential to be a game-changer.
It may only have been the FA Cup, a competition devalued in the last couple of decades, but it didn’t matter. On Saturday at Wembley, Arsenal vaulted a towering psychological hurdle by proving simply that they had what it takes to win again.
Their triumph was enhanced by the fact that they came back from 2-0 down to win. They could have crumbled completely at that point, succumbed to the pressure and waited for the onset of the ridicule.
But on the English domestic season’s biggest stage, they did not do that. They knew what was at stake and they went out and grabbed it.
“The whole club and the fans were under pressure for not having won for years,” Wenger said.
“This will help to get that off our shoulders a little bit and focus on getting stronger.”
Arsenal have got the winning mentality back now and all the confidence and self-assurance that will come with it. They have taken the worst of the financial pain that came with their move from Highbury to the Emirates and they should be one of the beneficiaries of Financial Fair Play.
In that context, their FA Cup final victory felt like the gateway to new glories for a club that has struggled to live with the financial might of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
For nine years, their fans have had to gritt their teeth and try to accept consistent top four finishes as a consolation. Now, with more new signings promised this summer, they can start to aim higher again.
There is one irony to note here. Mesut Ozil, the man signed for £42m last summer, was probably Arsenal’s least effective player on Saturday. His arrival was hailed as evidence that Wenger was prepared to spend big again but there are better reasons for optimism than him.
Arsenal have a phalanx of exciting young English players now - Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamblerlain and Kieran Gibbs - to drive them forward.
Santi Cazorla showed his quality again and Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker have been giants in defence. Ozil, surely, will show his class next season.
Crucially, Arsenal feel like a club that is moving forward again, not one that is stuck in neutral.
This FA Cup victory was Wenger’s vote of confidence and his statement of intent.
He has three or four major targets this summer. If he gets them, then Arsenal should push City, Chelsea and Liverpool closer than they did this season.
“I question myself honestly, all the time,” Wenger said. “We live in a world where people are always being told what they haven’t done, never what they have done.
“I believe, as well, the quality of a club is the consistency. And then the special players make you win trophies.
“But the quality of the consistency is important for a club - and on that front we’ve been better than everybody else.
“There are only two clubs in Europe who have qualified for the Champions League for 17 years consecutively and that consistency demands special values inside the club.”
For much of the past nine years, there has been a temptation to think that talk of ‘special values’ was hollow, even delusional.
Not any more. Arsenal are a club revitalised. They are winners again.