I was there right at the beginning of Arsène Wenger’s extraordinary 22-year reign at Arsenal FC. Twenty-two years when the average time in charge of a Premier League manager has become less than 22 months. At the old Highbury stadium I was recording a history of Arsenal for a VHS, if you can remember what they were.

Late in the day I was given an extra bit of script to tack on to the end. Arsenal were struggling. The successful George Graham era had come to an unhappy end with allegations of financial shenanigans. Graham’s replacement, Bruce Rioch, hadn’t quite cut the mustard. So, looking forward I was to link to a new appointment – a Frenchman currently working in Japan. French? Japan! The insular world of English football was flabbergasted. So Arsène Wenger was known at first as Arsène Who. But not for long.

When he arrived, Arsenal had only one foreign superstar, Dennis Bergkamp, a cramped stadium and a training ground shared with a university sports club. Players ate steak and chips before the game and drank pints of beer afterwards.

Monsieur Wenger changed all that. An array of French and Francophone footballers were brought in to enliven the midfield and attack. Solid British bulldogs were introduced to the joys of steamed broccoli and yoga. State of the art facilities were installed at London Colney and eventually a state of the art stadium became Arsenal’s new home.

Boring boring Arsenal became Double winners, Invincibles and a joy to watch.

In 2006 Arsenal even got to the Champions League final, but just couldn’t overcome Barcelona.

But who was Arsène Who? On a handful occasions at dinners and special events I have had the chance to interview him or have a chat. He politely engages with conversations with enthusiastic fans, however ill-informed. He gives you his attention but gives nothing away. At one pre-season dinner I thought I was getting the lowdown on the upcoming campaign, but days later he sold the club captain Patrick Vieira.

Maybe it slipped his mind. An absent-minded professor? Probably not

Of course, there have been fans, ill-informed or otherwise, clamouring for him to leave in the last few years when top four in the league and several FA Cup wins was all his teams could manage.

Piers Morgan has been demanding Arsène’s head for years. It is not a bad approach in most aspects of life to find out what Piers Morgan thinks, and think the opposite.

But all good things come to an end, and Arsène has been a very good thing, and this is where it ends. I hope they make him the manager of the French national team when the job becomes available.

Whoever replaces him at Arsenal, you can be sure won’t last for more than 20 years. I fear they won’t be anything like as successful as Arsène. They certainly won’t have such a big impact on English football.

Adieu, or is it au revoir, Arsène? You will certainly be welcome back when we unveil your statue outside the Emirates.

So, as Douglas Adams very nearly put it, so long, Arsène, and thanks for all the trophies.