“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦; 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.” - 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘱.
The pinnacle for a sports fan is when their favorite team wins a championship. In most sports for most teams they are extremely rare. I was in my fifties before I experienced the San Francisco Giants being World Series winners. I have never seen the University of California football team win a conference championship and they’ve never come close to a national title.
A few days ago Arsenal Football Club of the English Premier League won their first league championship in twenty-two years. It came after three successive years of finishing second.
I fell in love with Arsenal on May 2, 1971. I was an excellent "soccer" player in those days. I’d been good at a lot of sports, but in this one I excelled. It’s a heady feeling being superior to most everyone you face in a sport (and yes, it very much went to my head, humility was a stranger to me as a young man). But I had no team and no hero. There was "soccer" in the U.S. but just as it is today it was of inferior quality. It was hard to get excited about the Bay Area’s entry in what was then the North American Soccer League — the Oakland Clippers. They were made up primarily of players from Yugoslavia. No disrespect to that former nation, but it was hard to relate to them. If they had players from a variety of countries maybe with an emphasis on Brits, it would have been a different story. Also the stadium wasn’t exactly packed. In fact it was mostly empty and had all the atmosphere of a picnic.
But on that fateful Saturday, Wide World of Sports was showing the FA Cup final from London. Arsenal was playing Liverpool. It was an extremely rare to see soccer on TV, especially from Europe. It was decades before the World Cup was televised here.
Though I don’t recall for certain, at the outset I was likely rooting for Liverpool because that was where The Beatles were from. The game went to extra time and a chap named Charlie George scored a beautiful goal to put Arsenal ahead, 2-1. His celebration culminated with him laying on the ground with his arms spread. Charlie had long flowing locks, eschewed shin guards and his socks were rolled down. He looked like a rock star. I had a hero and a team. As the next match I played in began I tossed my shin guards aside and rolled down my socks.
Two years later I was standing in the terraces of the North Bank section of Highbury cheering Charlie George and The Arsenal on as they thrashed Manchester United, 3-0. It was (and remains) one of the great days of my life. I’ve been a Gooner ever since. The atmosphere in the stadium was unlike anything I'd experienced and at that point in my life I'd already been to a lot of different kinds of sports event courtesy of my father. Fans were not merely cheering, they were chanting and singing -- constantly. These supporters weren't just rooting for their team, they loved them.
For much of my life it wasn’t easy being an Arsenal supporter. This had nothing to do with how good or bad the team was and everything to do with living in a different continent. I was left looking up scores in the paper the day after matches. It was hard to feel a connection. Thankfully in the late '90s, games from England began to be televised in the States and we got the internet in our house. I could not only watch matches, I could read about them, watch videos and connect with other fans — many in England — via forums. One such person who became a cyber friend. I finally met him in person earlier this month in Copenhagen where — fittingly enough — we watched an Arsenal match in an Arsenal-dedicated pub.
In 2006 I made a pilgrimage to London to see Arsenal in their last season at historic Highbury Park. The Gunners were 2-1 winners over Liverpool. In 2008 I saw them in their new stadium, The Emirates and again in 2017 (both victories). In 2017 I went on a stadium tour led by Charlie George -- I met my hero! I’ve been to matches the last four years (one draw and three wins) including three weeks ago, on the 55th anniversary of Charlie George’s goal. The Gunners won, three-nil. I always get choked up when before the match the fans sing part of Louis Dunford's song Angel, specifically the part known as North London Forever.
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| Charlie George's iconic celebration |
I’m obsessed.
Indeed my obsession with the team has become so all encompassing that I only closely follow two other teams: Cal 's football and Cal women’s basketball teams. I barely pay attention to other sports and watch none.
So you can imagine my reaction on Tuesday when second place Manchester City dropped points at Bournemouth thus clinching the title for my beloved Arsenal: I was happy. I’m still happy. I’ll remain happy for a long time.
Interestingly I did very little jumping up and down with joy. I only barely shed tears. I’ve felt more of a contentment, a deep satisfaction, a relief and immersion in a warm glow.
Once you’ve won a championship either as a player, coach, parent or fan (and I’ve experienced it as all four) it’s yours forever. It can’t be taken away. If you lose all your games the next season you still were title holders the year before. It’s permanent. Wins and losses are that way. You suffer a painful loss to a rival and it’s there forever and winning ten in a row against that team will not wipe away that loss. You do your best to forget those defeats and while hold ing those wins and championships close to your heart.
The team you love becomes part of your identity. That’s why it can sting when someone says that they hate the team you love, they are saying that there’s part of you that they despise. It feels personal.
Some people don’t like sports. I can appreciate that. They’re saving themselves a lot of time, frustration and anxiety. But for me the positives of loving a team far outweigh the negatives. There are few joys to match that provided by sports. Also there’s the love. To really care about a team is to love them. And goodness we need all the love in our lives that we can possible get. You're part of a community. I feel that every time I go to a match. Everyone there is like an old friend.
I'm proud to love Arsenal. They've always been known for their multicultural fan base, for their early embrace of Black players, their early support for the LGBTQ fan base. And now they're champions of England. In my heart they always have been and always will be champions.
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