Joe Fitzpatrick 
As you have probably guessed by now I'm not a professional writer. Shocking, I know, I know. I'm just an ordinary working class football fan from Islington who feels like contributing to the football fanzine that he grew up reading. For many of you it's the same story and the Gooner has now become an institution of sorts. I mean to say that it has become a match day tradition for us now hasn't it? Do you remember the first time you were strolling down Avenell Road and you heard some big massive geezer shouting "Getcha Gooner!" at the top of his voice at you? It's hard to forget that special moment. Especially if you were a kid like I was at the time. How some of those guys managed to cheer the team on after selling the Gooner, I'll never ever know! Some of them must have been mute all week to save up the vocal power. The point is, it was this bellowing geezer shouting "Getcha Gooner!" that made me wonder what the hell it was even though as a kid I found the sales tactics a little disconcerting.
As a side note I would like to say that I do often wonder if the grumpiest, ugliest and down right moaniest old farts amongst you were ever in fact children yourselves but, I've checked the science behind it all and yes I suppose you can't have always been the way that you are now. It's scientifically impossible. What I'm trying to say is that If Walcott is p***ing you kind gentlemen off then please remember that it's not the boy’s fault that the manager has started him in so very many games and has trained with him every day now for several years and still hasn't managed to get anything like consistent form from the little road runner boy. It doesn't make any sense at all now does it? The man who produced the likes of Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie and Jack Wilshere is also equally responsible for Bendtner, Walcott and Denilson. You win some you lose some, I guess. Wenger has seen Henry, Pires, Overmars and Ljungberg attack from wide areas so how on earth he now considers Theo Walcott good enough to start for a club that should be challenging for the title is beyond me.
Anyway, I was telling you the story about when I lost my Gooner virginity. Erm, yes, ahem. Aww No. f*** it, I'm going to leave "Gooner Virginity" in. I made myself laugh there, that is the most wrong sounding description of a kid buying a football fanzine ever!
So I was walking down Avenell Road with my old man and I heard this big massive bloke shouting "Getcha Gooner!" at me so I went and bought one of these things he was getting all shouty about. I had only read Shoot and Match magazines along with the occasional copy of World Soccer or 4-4-2 up until then and didn't have a clue what a fanzine was. What immediately struck me about it was that people were allowed to criticise the club, the manager and some of the players they wanted to! Wow. I mean, Could you describe Abou Diaby and Denilson as being "as much use as topless condoms" in a letter to 4-4-2 or World Soccer magazine and expect it to be printed? Not bloody likely matey.
The point is that in The Gooner and here online we can say whatever we want (within reason) and the regular fans can share thoughts and have a bit of a banter about football. Probably not the best use of our free time I grant you but, to write for or post regularly on the Gooner for zero monetary gain you kind of have to be a football fanatic, don't you?
The Gooner always was and is the place for true Arsenal fanatics because it provides a platform for ALL thoughts and opinions on all things Arsenal written by and for red and White blooded, hardcore Arsenal fanatics.
Sure we have some talented writers like Robert Exley, Simon Rose and Mr. Whitcher to provide some regular input and provide some much needed high quality content to the magazine and its sister website but, I think that some people forget that the bulk of the content comes from the regular fans like myself.
When I loved Arsene Wenger and wanted to defend him, the Gooner published my articles. When I wanted to criticise Arsene Wenger the Gooner published my articles. You can't say any fairer than that, can you?
You send in your views and they print them, so if you want more positive articles in your fanzine fellow Gooners then please send some to the editor and I'm sure he will print them for you. I look forward to reading them. It's amazing what little nuggets of gold you can find even in the most amateurish of articles.
I'm saying all of this because The Gooner seems to be under attack at the moment and I want to publicly speak out against this rubbish in the only effective way that I can. In much the same way that the only effective way for any regular Arsenal fan to have his views on the running of the club heard by a large number of fellow fans is by writing to the Gooner, I am choosing to use The Gooner to express my views on the subject of the recent ill treatment of my much beloved Gooner fanzine.
Everyone is talking about the editor of the Gooner being arrested for "ticket touting" outside of the stadium by police officers who (in my opinion) are a bunch of jobsworth ****s who should really be out catching muggers, burglars and paedophiles, not an Arsenal fan who was simply trying to sort out a fellow Arsenal fan with a ticket for ABSOLUTELY ZERO MONETARY GAIN!! You Idiots.
Kevin comes in for a lot of stick and has to get his "old tin hat" out all the bleeding time because people don't like the fact that the chap can only really call it at he sees it. Is he not entitled to an opinion too? Would you prefer a silent editor?
Kevin Whitcher works very hard to make sure that regular fans like me can write about their football club and have anybody outside of their social circle pay a blind bit of notice and if you've ever read any of his books you might just realise that he knows a thing or two about the Arsenal to boot. If you don't like what he says then by all, means bring your own well reasoned arguments as to why he is so wrong to the table and the fans can decide for themselves. The official matchday programme isn't going to highlight things like secret operating costs hidden in the club’s accounts or the reasons why our defence can be so very tactically naive at times for you, now is it? Let's face facts here.
The recent arrest of Kevin Whitcher and the public criticism of both him and The Gooner on a podcast featuring an a writer paid to write for the club’s official magazine seem to this Gooner's eyes as a very well timed attack on a publication (one that has been quite critical of the club, the manager and some of the players and has gained widespread readership amongst the season ticket holders) suspiciously near to season ticket renewal time. Call me cynical.
The Gooner shouldn't have to toe the party line and neither should any of you either.
(Ed’s note – In fairness, I am aware there is a conspiracy theory that my arrest was something to do with the club, but I have stated before and I will state here again that this is not the case, aside from the fact the police officers on the night were paid for out of the club’s budget (and so by extension myself!). Both I personally and The Gooner fanzine have a mutually healthy and respectful attitude in our relationship with the club. Granted, at times, they may perceive us as an annoying mosquito buzzing around that they could do without, but at the same time, they appreciate and acknowledge our role. Over the years, we’ve done them favours and they’ve done us favours. Although there is no policy on printing articles either pro or anti the club, we do encourage all to be respectful and reasoned in their arguments. If, in recent times, the Gooner has been perceived as negative and critical, this is because the submissions that have come our way have reflected this. We do try to publish everything we receive, provided it is of an acceptable standard. And we have proofers that work hard to ensure that even pieces which are not up to standard for publication can be made so. So for all those that knock the Gooner, feel free to contribute your own arguments. We’ll run them. And for all those that knock my own views, fair enough. You see it differently and we are all entitled to our opinions. And if reading mine is annoying to you there is a simple solution. Stop reading them.)
