Arsenal always look ahead with a sense of optimism, bolstered by the quality of their youngsters, and they can always look back with pride on their achievements in the past.
After their fourth successive season without silverware, however, it's the present that is proving to be a bit of a problem these days.
But on Tuesday night, past, present and future embraced joyfully at Anfield when Arsenal won the FA Youth Cup with a 2-1 win over Liverpool (6-2 on aggregate) in the two-legged final. It was the club's first win in that competition since 2001.
As the youth team's captain, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, raised the trophy, it was 20 years to the day since his namesake, Michael Thomas, scored a sensational goal in injury time to secure Arsenal a 2-0 victory over Liverpool and their first championship triumph since 1971.
The youth team's coach, Steve Bould, also provided a link to the past as he had played in that 1989 match.
That year, Arsenal had been given little chance, as they trailed Liverpool by three points with an inferior goal difference. They faced the formidable task of beating Liverpool - unbeaten since January 2 - by two clear goals on their own patch.
'YOU HAVEN'T GOT A PRAYER, ARSENAL!' was the newspaper headline that summed up the majority opinion as George Graham's men travelled in their coach up the motorway.
The match, which had been delayed because of the Hillsborough disaster six weeks previously, ended in triumph for Arsenal, courtesy of second-half goals from Alan Smith and Thomas.
Surprisingly, the match was shown live on South African television and few Gooners' fans here will forget the memorable remark by commentator Brian Moore as Thomas surged into the Liverpool penalty area in injury time: "It's all up for grabs now," Moore shouted just before the rangy midfielder flicked the ball wide of Bruce Grobbelaar and into Arsenal folklore.
The match may have had a wider significance, however, in that it signalled the rebirth of soccer in England after the disasters of Hillsborough, Heysel and Bradford.