One benefit for many during the Covid-19 lockdown has been the opportunity to do things at home you wouldn’t normally do. A new tipple, Netflix drama or dare I say, quality time with the loved ones can be the upside - but are they different?

Usually, any mention of the word ‘zoom’ would stop a conversation in its tracks and cause me to breakout into the chorus of Fat Larry’s Band’s 1982 hit of that name. So for ‘zoom’ to start meaning a meet up with people online, to facilitate some Arsenal chat and pose questions to renowned journalist, Henry Winter, then something seriously different must be going on.

I must admit I wasn’t overly confident in the technological likelihood of being able to join the Arsenal Supporters Trust’s first ever virtual meeting on Thursday night. But shortly after slinking back indoors following the weekly clapping tribute to our wonderful NHS and key workers, I followed the link and within minutes was welcomed by Akhil Vyas, the mastermind behind this slick operation.

Initially it was a bit disarming not knowing if people can see or hear me, but let’s face it this is the most civilised appearance that I would ever be putting in front of my fellow Gooners. After all, I’m not checking my hair and plumping up the cushions as I scream profanities at Mike Riley, or climbing over five rows of seats to celebrate an away goal.

Akhil, backed by matching Arsenal wedding day shirts on his wall at home was joined by Henry in his football bunker at home. Soon we will be comparing and contrasting these hideaway tributes to our obsessive devotion. I can hear the home décor planning now ‘do I go for the tasteful framed shirts neatly mounted, or splatter the walls with everything from ticket stubs to the discarded flags and cards left on the Emirates seats after another sorry European night?’

Henry clearly went for the latter approach and delighted us by showing off the immaculate figurine of ‘Rocky’ Rocastle that he had perched amongst an eclectic mix of football memorabilia. If this approach to AST meetings catches on then perhaps we can start every session with a little tale of one of Henry’s objet d’arts?

AST webinar lowdown

Akhil held up the show with fleeting touches from Tim Payton as they both neatly controlled questions via the text chat or directly through the microphone to feed questions to Henry up front. We quickly got into the swing of things with speculation as to how the 2019/20 season may, or may not end and consideration of how the players are coping in lockdown in between binge watching the Tiger King.

Despite the trappings of wealth and the need to keep fit, inevitably some footballers are going to be suffering psychologically during the lockdown, especially those young men and women who find themselves alone far from home.

I can’t help wondering if Nicolas Pepe has family with him or if Kieran Tierney managed to make it back to Scotland before the options were restricted.

Henry offered us a glimpse into this predicament when he told us how Max Clark, a young English player at Vitesse Arnhem, seemed unusually reluctant for a professional footballer to conclude their telephone interview just because he was enjoying the company so much. As so many have observed during lockdown, you realise just what really is important and it’s not the trappings of fame and success. I hope that Max and all the other young players alone out there come through this and go onto the success that their hard work and perseverance deserves.

Highlighting the work AST are conducting

Closer to home we heard of the great work that AST are doing, including donating £1,000 to Islington Giving Crisis Fund and North London Cares, organisations looking after those most vulnerable and isolated at this time. In contrast, we speculated about whether or not the sporting lockdown would significantly affect silent Stan Kroenke’s portfolio, given that he owns US sporting franchises in Denver and Delaware as well as N5. Tim reminded us that Mrs Kroenke’s family own Walmart and we all know how well supermarkets are doing out of all of this…

Football matters

Onto more on pitch matters and a caller named Arthur neatly articulated how unsatisfactory the prospect of matches behind closed doors would be for a sport that is all about bringing people together and entertaining the crowds.

Nevertheless, the point was made that at least some football may be better than no football at all and would at least give us all something to look forward to at the end of a tough week.

Could the postponement of Euro 2020 benefit players including Saka?

Then, my 15 seconds of online Arsenal chatroom fame arrived, thanks to Akhil for inviting me in to ask a question over the microphone to Henry. I know how apathetic many of my fellow Gooners are about international football, but for me the European Championships and World Cup represent a welcome relief from the more personal stress that following Arsenal brings. At least the whole country can stress together over your home nation’s progress. So it was just as frustrating to me that the Euros were postponed, especially having managed to scoop four tickets for a Wembley semi-final via the UEFA lottery.

With this in mind, however, I asked Henry if the postponement could actually benefit the England squad, given the poor form/injuries to some key players. From an Arsenal point of view could England also benefit from the progress of talented hopefuls, such as our own Bukayo Saka? Henry offered us the privileged insight of a seasoned journo, recounting how England boss Gareth Southgate rates Saka very highly, up there with Phil Foden, making our No3, sorry 77, a strong possibility for Euro 2021. As Akhil reminded us, let’s hope Bukayo has signed a new Arsenal contract by then that keeps him in N5 for years to come.

Last orders…

And then, as if last orders had been called, Akhil slugged the last of his Jack Daniels and coke and we were offline again, back to the banality of box sets and family calls. All in all, this virtual meeting was a success, technically sound and showing plenty of promise for the future. AST make a habit of doing things well, you could say in the Arsenal way. It feels good to be part of an organisation that under Kroenke’s single ownership, perhaps represents the closest thing that we can get to fan custodianship of the club we love. I would encourage any Gooners to join here.

If the lockdown continues then perhaps AST can host another virtual meeting, or add ‘zooming in’ as a way of joining their usual meetings in London, which not all of us can get to.

Now, where is that box of Arsenal toot to plaster over the walls of my chatroom den?

Guy Wiseman is an AST member and long-time season ticket holder

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