ARSENAL - As the roots go deeper , the foundation gets stronger

How it all began !!
I still remember the day the game entered my life as if it were yesterday , it was a warm sunday afternoon and the usual fight between my brother and myself had begun for who gets the remote .He wanted to watch a football match between Ireland and France and I wanted to watch Galtar and the golden lance . Obviously I was fighting a losing battle, the reason being that he was ten times stronger than I was and he was elder to me by five years. My brother’s wish was obviously seconded by my mom and I had become submissive and subservient. Thus having been succumbed and subjugated, I had no other option but to watch it.

I knew for a fact that it would be ninety minutes of agony as back then I hated whatever my brother liked. Then as the match kicked off , my opinion did not change a bit as the game was slow with thin bald men sliding at each other. For a few minutes I continued staring at the television without realizing what was going on, only thoughts of hatred and vengeance running through my mind and fuming at my grand mother who had no role to play in this but who was the only person to whom I could express my anger in an outright manner (a mean thing to do nevertheless but I was PISSED!!).

As I continued watching, I began to understand the game and the pattern the game followed (yeah! you don’t have to be Robert Langdon to figure this out).Once I understood the game, I felt it was a beautiful free flowing game and immediately took a liking to the Irish striker Robbie Keane . He looked sublime on the pitch and had a lot of flair. Minutes later, I began to scream his support and for once both my brother and I expressed our disgust in unison when he was fouled. The match ended with Ireland losing but it was an impressive match and the best side won. Thus my tryst with football had begun and I knew for sure that it was a long term one!

The Obsession begins!

Later that year the football world cup took place and I followed every match with great interest. My brother and I had predicted a France win and supported them from the knock out stages and what do you know … The French ended up as victors. We felt their victory as our own and then I understood what it truly means to be a fan. There were numerous talents in the squad but my immediate liking was towards the trio Thierry Henry, Patrick Viera and Robert Pires. I quickly learned that all these three played club football for an English premier league side known as ARSENAL.

The premier league started and with it our obsession for the club known as Arsenal. By the information I had gathered arsenal had won the FA premier league last year and were serious contenders for the season 98-99. Their play was undoubtedly magnificent and lucid. Their game was all about short crisp passes .The season progressed and with every game my obsession doubled and finally it had come down to two clubs Arsenal and our sworn enemy Manchester United. It narrowed down to these very clubs. Two matches remaining and we were tied on points. Then the best thing that could take place happened! We bet our London rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs while United drew with Liverpool. I was on cloud nine but the ecstasy was short lived. The final match of the season had begun…. With it came the news that Manchester United had gone down at the white hart lane (the venue of their final match). My brother Prashanth and I were sending the roof crashing down at our home with cheers and applause and throwing tantrums at our cousin Rahul who was a red devil! Just then we saw Mark Viduka scoring a glorious goal past Davis Seeman (the then arsenal keeper). ARSENAL LOST and we were devastated and the news from the lane was that MANU had come back from a goal down to take the tittle. The expression on Rahul’s face could not have been smugger! (yeah its true what goes around comes around ) . I was on verge of tears and decided never to watch football again. Then again my love for the game was greater than sorrow at arsenal’s loss.



The Romance continues :)

Ten years after that defeat, I’m still here supporting the same old club. How those ten years went by, god only knows …. How many times while watching the UEFA Champions league at one o clock in the night me and my brother used to let out a string of swear words when the ref gave a wrong decision or when an arsenal player was fouled and how when arsenal score a goal we would do likewise ! How many sleepless night the neighbours have had due to us! And how many exams I screwed up just due to the fact that I was up till three supporting them feeling that they may lose a match lest I don’t see (superstitions , you see) ! and how I took out my frustration on every object nearby when arsenal screwed up !(we had to replace more than ten chairs during the ten years)….Still when I look back at all of that I feel it’s totally worth it. After all I did all that for the team I support ;)


These ten years obviously saw arsenal through various phases. The people due to whom I supported the club left it, some would call it infidelity but I just feel they parted ways when they felt they were not upto it and when they had given all they could for the club. The golden era of the club might have ended but the love for the club from its true fans is far from over.

Yeah I know this is a really long post but I can’t just stop emphasizing what this club means to me and to all who find solace from it’s success! It’ll just suffice to say :
We`ll win coz we`re Arsenal,
We`ll win coz we`re Arsenal,
We`ll win coz we`re Arsenal,
We`ll win coz we`re Arsenal! (repeat)
Que sera sera
Que sera sera
what ever will be will be
we`re going to Wembley
que sera sera.
Go down the field again
Just one more goal
No other team can fight
like the boys in Red and White
Never let their Glory fade
Long may they reign
So let us all give out with
Up the Gunners, Up the Gunners Goal!
Drink, Drink....Drink, drink, wherever you may be,
We are the drunk and disorderly,
but we don't give a shit, and we don't give a fuck,
Coz we came home with the Cup Winners' Cup!"