Ahmed Sule
As he got up from his seat, he looked towards me and placed the magazine in my hands, and then he stepped out of the train. As I looked while the door closed, the man continued walking without turning back and then the train started to move again. Still astonished, I looked at the front page of the magazine and saw the image of a man in white shorts and red shirt kicking a football.
This was the genesis of my love affair with the Arsenal Football Club. In the summer of 1984, I came to England from Nigeria on holidays along with my brother and sister. On that fateful day, I boarded a train somewhere around London and I sat opposite a man who was reading a magazine that had a colourful front page. The man was so engrossed in the magazine that he appeared not to see me almost falling to the floor straining my neck as I tried look at the front cover of the magazine. Little did I know that the man had seen me struggling to look at the magazine. Fortunately, he gave me the magazine as he left the train.
I took the magazine with me back to Nigeria and read it from cover to cover. The magazine in question was an official Arsenal match programme, which I presume the man on the train bought when he went to watch an Arsenal match. After studying the magazine, I got to know the names of a number of Arsenal players such as Charlie Nicholas, who happened to be the player on the cover of the magazine, Viv Anderson the “Black” Arsenal player, Tony Adams, Graham Rix, Pat Jennings and Kenny Sansom. I made it a point of duty to memorise the names of every A rsenal player by studying the team photos. When I took the magazine to my school, I was the envy of my colleagues as I proudly showed off my prized possession.
Included in the magazine was a Junior Gunners segment in the magazine for young Arsenal supporters and after reading this section, I applied to Arsenal to become a Junior Gunner. A couple of months later, I was registered and Arsenal linked me up with a pen pal called Penny Smith who was a Junior Gunner based in England. Since this period was before the advent of the Internet and Cable TV, it was difficult keeping up to date with what was happening at the Arsenal. Fortunately for me, Penny Smith kept me updated even though the information reached me a few months later due to delays in the postal system. In her first letter to me, Penny sent me pictures of the current Arsenal squad and a picture of Tony Woodcock, who was the main Arsenal point man at the time. Tony Woodcock then became my favorite Arsenal player.
Over the next couple of years, it was difficult to get real-time news about the Arsenal. I would follow Arsenal by checking the sports pages of the local newspaper to see how they fared in their matches, in addition to watching some Match of the Day programmes which were shown on TV a couple of months in arrears.
From the nineties, TV stations in Nigeria started to relay more English league matches so I got to watch a number of Arsenal matches on TV. When the aptly named Mr. Arsène Wenger became Arsenal Manager in 1996, my love for the Arsenal increased the more as he changed the playing style of the club to a more entertaining form. It was an exciting time for me when Arsenal won the double in 1998.
In 1999, Arsenal signed Nigeria’s Kanu Nwankwo from Inter Milan and from that moment, Arsenal became the most supported Premiership club in Nigeria. I remember watching in awe when Kanu established himself as an Arsenal legend when he single- handedly redeemed Arsenal from the jaws of defeat by scoring three goals to overturn Chelsea’s earlier two goals. Also in 1999, Arsenal signed one Mr. Thierry Daniel Henry. Having watched him play for France at the 1998 World Cup, I was excited at the prospect of having him in Arsenal. However, after a couple of games for Arsenal I started to have doubts about whether he would be an effective replacement for Nicholas Anelka. How wrong was I (more on this later)!
By the end of the year 2000, supporting Arsenal had had its high and low moments ranging from the highs of us winning the 1989 league at the last minute and the doing the double in the 1997/98 season to the lows of a number of barren years and watching Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs run past five defenders to smash the ball into the net, thereby knocking Arsenal out of the F.A Cup.
In 2001 I left Nigeria and relocated to the United Kingdom. After about six months in London I moved to Guernsey in the Channel Island and it was there that I was baptised as an Arsenal supporter. Once I got there, I looked for a place where I could watch Arsenal play along with fellow gooners and I found a home at a pub called the Ship and Crown, which showed every single Arsenal match. Most Saturdays at 3pm I would go to the Ship and Crown and watch the Arsenal on TV. As one entered the “Ship” on any particular match day, one would observe a sea of people wearing Arsenal jerseys shouting, singing or talking all at the same time. Time and time again over my two years stay in Guernsey, we would see Thierry Henry stream past defenders and slot the ball into the net. In response, the pub would shake as we all jumped up for joy and screamed in excitement. I also got to meet a number of Arsenal supporters at the Ship and Crown. I am still in touch with a number of them, such as Ajibade Yusuff who was the most passionate fan in the pub. Quite often, we would all turn to his direction as he would scream, swear, shout or moan at a missed scoring opportunity or a careless defensive error. There was the softly-spoken Segun Bewaji, one of the most loyal Arsenal supporters I have ever met. There were Lee and Martin who regularly helped me get match tickets from the Guernsey Arsenal supporters club. And there was Andy Marstone, the Dennis Bergkamp look-alike who found an ingenious way of ensuring that he was financially rewarded to offset his sorrow whenever Arsenal lost a match.
I didn’t get to watch a live Arsenal match until eighteen years after I first fell in love with the club. My opportunity came during an F.A. Cup semi-final match against Middleborough, which took place at Old Trafford in Manchester on the 14th April, 2002. A couple of days after getting my ticket from Martin at the Ship and Crown, I travelled to Manchester. On the morning of the match I was at my friend’s place and as we were talking, Amaka looked out to the window and she screamed, “Who are these giants walking?” I went towards the window and saw about twenty men in blue tracksuits walking together. The penny dropped. It was the entire Arsenal team going for a walk.
I ran out of Amaka’s flat forgetting my shoes and went towards the players who were guarded by two policemen. I asked the policemen if I could follow them and he obliged. I was fortunate because there were no other fans following the team. When I got to the players, my mouth was wide open as I saw Patrick Vieira standing in front of me. I screamed “Patrick Vieira” and took a picture of him along with Dennis Bergkamp. After taking his picture I saw Thierry Henry, Wenger, Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, Lauren, Sylvain Wiltord and took their pictures. When I turned around, I saw Kanu Nwankwo and said “My country man. Kedu Kodi (How are you?)” in response he said “O di ma (I am fine).” Although I took pictures of all the players, in my excitement, I forgot to have a picture taken with them (this was before the era of selfies). It wasn’t until I left the players that I that I realized that I was not wearing my shoes. Later in the evening I saw my beloved Arsenal defeat Middleborough by a lone goal to qualify for the F.A. Cup final.
A couple of days later, I was back to my local, The Ship and Crown, with other Arsenal supporters to watch the Premiership title-decider. Arsenal was away to Manchester and we needed to win away to clinch the title. We watched the match with confidence as we had won our last 12 consecutive matches. As per expectation, the Arsenal won through a Wiltord goal. As the referee blew the final whistle, we jumped for joy as we sang:
We won the league in Manchester
We won the league in Manchester, We won the league at Old Trafford, We won the league in Manchester
My first trip to Highbury was in March 2003 when I went to watch Arsenal play Roma in the Champions League. Patrick Vieira bossed the midfield and scored our only goal. For most part of the match the crowd sang:
Vieira oh oh oh oh
Vieira oh oh oh oh, he comes from Senegal, he plays for Arsenal, Vieira oh oh oh oh
My highpoint as a gooner was between 2003 and 2004 when we were unbeaten in 49 domestic matches. Week after week I would go to the Ship and Crown and watch the Arsenal slay team after team. It was not just the victories that were a joy to behold, but the way we played. Henry was in his prime as he terrified defenders throughout the country. Arsenal was at the peak of its power. No matter how far we fell behind in any match, there was always this assurance that we would overcome the deficit. And true to form, the Arsenal never disappointed. The matches against Middleborough where we overcame a 3-1 deficit to win 5- 3 and against Liverpool, when Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick, would never be forgotten. We crowned the 2003/2004 season by winning the league undefeated. This was a great time for Arsenal supporters around the world. Little did we know that we would go through a very long dry spell.
I have shed tears for my beloved Arsenal on two occasions -- once publicly and once privately. The first incident took place when Arsenal played Valencia in the Round of 16 of the Champions League. We needed a draw to qualify for the quarterfinal. As John Carew headed the ball into the net to give Valencia a 2-1 lead a large lump started to develop in my throat. I left the Ship and Crown after the final whistle and went to a dark corner just off the high street of St Peter Port and began to cry. The second incident occurred after a Champions League quarterfinal match between Chelsea and Arsenal. After work, I went to the Sports Café at Piccadilly Circus to watch the match. I was confident that we would win, as Chelsea never posed us any problems. To my horror, Chelsea beat us at Highbury and we were out. As I walked towards Piccadilly Station, the thought of the defeat overwhelmed me. When I got to the platform, I couldn’t take it any longer so I just sat on the floor (with my suit and tie on) and put my hands on my head and began to wail.
If I was asked the question, “How many players has Arsène Wenger signed since he became manager?”, with no disrespect to all the players that have come on board during the Wenger years, I would say he has signed only two players, namely Thierry Henry and the rest. It has not only been a pleasure, but it has also been an honour to see Thierry Henry play in the flesh. During the Henry years, whenever I went to the Emirates or Highbury to watch the Arsenal, I was always amused at how the fans stood up whenever Henry got the ball and charged towards the opposition’s goal. You could hear the chairs squeak as people stood up in anticipation of a Henry magical trick.
