How they used to laugh about the idea of a power shift in north London.
How they would revel in the despair down the other end of the Seven Sisters Road when, after all the excited talk, there would be tears and frustration at Tottenham Hotspur .
Now it is Arsenal fans hoping for a derby result to at least provide some comfort in an uncertain period at the Emirates.
The big players want out. The manager wants in. Still. The fans want change but are powerless to force it. The board are more concerned that they might run out of gin in the boardroom.
You can get any price you want about that Gunners side winning the title. You’d worry even about them making the top four. Liverpool, for all their defensive woes, currently sit one place above them.
At Arsenal these days they watch the Champions League on TV. Arsene Wenger remains insistent that the elite European club competition isn’t all it used to be anyway.
Of course it isn’t Arsene.
Right now the Gunners are drifting. They have changed places with Spurs, the team that used to be trapped in the outer darkness of Thursday night football.
Now it is Tottenham who represent north London in the Champions League . Arsenal facing up to life in the Europa League.
It is Tottenham at the start of an exciting new era while Arsenal arrive at the end of a cycle.
It is Tottenham where leaders have emerged all over the pitch. Arsenal where you never quite know which team will turn up from one week to the next.
From Eric Dier, who captained England this week to Christian Eriksen who has come of age for club and country, Spurs have leaders all over the pitch.
The doubts over Wembley have all but disappeared. So too the suggestion that they are the Harry Kane team . The likes of Danny Rose and Dele Alli have yet to hit full tilt after a start to the season hit by injury and suspension respectively.
Victor Wanyama, the glue that holds it all together, has yet to play at all.
A new stadium is taking shape. The likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marcus Edwards and several others from the Spurs academy are on course to light it up in the coming years.
Mauricio Pochettino prioritised yet another defender, £42million rising star Davinson Sanchez, over more flair during the summer. Despite his team ending last season with the best defence in the Premier League.
Tottenham under Pochettino are all about laying a foundation - defensively and metaphorically.
They are all about reinforcing the steely mentality that silenced rival fans and neutrals alike after their mirth at the idea that Spurs could punch their weight in the Champions League.
After wins over Dortmund, Apoel and Real Madrid, Spurs have qualified from a tough group with two games to spare. Who is laughing now?
Spurs are not without their own issues, of course. That controversial pay scale will have to be addressed at the end of the season if they are to hang on to Toby Alderweireld.
The Manchester clubs will come hunting again for Rose next summer. The Spanish clubs will continue to covet both Dele Alli and Harry Kane.
Silverware is clearly needed to create the culture of winning for Pochettino’s band of brothers.
As a club, however, Spurs are on course to achieve that. They have stepped out of Arsenal’s shadow. On current form they should widen that divide by Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners are winners of just one of their last seven north London derbies. For the first time in 22 years last season, Spurs finished ahead of their bitter rivals.
Pochettino’s team have won four of their five away League games so far.
Wenger does continue to deliver silverware. Last season’s FA Cup was Arsenal’s third in four seasons. For the fans, however, it is not enough.
These are troubled times down at Drayton Park. Even a surprise win over Spurs would only paper over the cracks.
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