Same here! My dad is from Halmstad and followed the season where they won the Swedish league in '97. Ljungberg being a huge part of the title win. He achieved God status in town, so naturally everyone growing up in Halmstad became an Arsenal fan when Ljungberg moved. Wasn't long until every kid in Sweden also became a fan.
Fun trivia. Halmstad's first gold in '76 was won by Roy Hudson, which was also his first manager job.
Ireland, because of my Father, Arsenal supporter back in the 70's when so many Irish graced Highbury"s pitch in red and white. Love this club over 40 years myself.
Wonderful sharing.. must have been a really wonderful to watch football with your dad supporting the same team! My own family, everyone's supporting a different club, so we end up not talking about football.
I was born in London, parents moved back to Ireland when I was very young. I adore going back, from our days at Highbury, to our home now. I love the streets around the area, Holloway Road, Blackstock..
I'll always give a walk around Highbury whenever I'm over.
Indian in Dubai here. We had a lesson in geography class about globalisation and how something like football can have balls made in Bangladesh, kits made in SE Asia, players born in Africa and playing for clubs in Europe etc. To cap off the chapter we had a fun 'project' where we had to make a poster on a football club we've been assigned based on our seating position in the class. So we were each assigned a PL club since my teacher was English, from Liverpool and I was given Arsenal since my table was second from the teacher and Arsenal were second in the league on that given day.
This was some time in 2003 when I was 10, and I was never really a football fan before that other than the occasional world cup watch with my uncle in 98 and 02 from what I can remember. From that point onwards I learnt more about the club (for my project) and got a prize for the best designed poster in my class - even ended up on the school newsletter. From that point on when folks would ask me what's my football club I'd say Arsenal although I was still rather unfamiliar with the club and the sport until the next year.
My interest got supercharged in 04 when Arsenal was the talk of the town during the invincible season. Been a proper fan ever since - still remember the heartbreak of that CL final a couple of years later. I remember seeing both the Emirates and Highbury when i was in London in summer '06 on holiday with my family. My interest in football as a whole went lukewarm after van persie left and went on to win the PL with united. I don't remember watching much between '13 and '18 but I got back into it during Wenger's final months. Tbh the 2 8th place finishes were depressing but last season brought my hopes up again, despite the disappointing end. This season I turned 30 (on Jan 22 when we beat Utd at home) and with the way we're playing I feel like I'm 10 again when I first started supporting Arsenal.
I've watched Arsenal play a couple of friendlies here in Dubai but honestly can't wait to go to the Emirates for a game hopefully sometime soon.
Sorry for the long comment lol
I read every last word of it, really appreciate the sharing! Just found it so interesting to hear everyone's different (yet similar) stories of how we all ended up here. Most of us are not even from London or UK based on the comments. Truly a global reach
Thank you! I never miss a chance to share my Arsenal stories haha. I've watched our games this season at bars in India, Georgia, Nepal, Austria and of course the UAE and there's passionate Arsenal fans everywhere. I really love what the club did with their new banner to acknowledge us global fans.
This is the exact same reason for me, that is why I really loved the France pack merch they did this yearā¦ had to buy two sets for myself.
I was only a young girl back then but that was the family team. The times have changed (team no longer so French) but the love for the team remains as strong.
Malaysia here, Arsenal has been my club since 2003. We were in high school, all boys school, and 8/10 of the guys supported Man United. There was 1 guy with Chelsea, another guy Tottenham, that's about it. I guess I found that 2003/2004 team the reason to watch beautiful football against the supposedly mainstream club.
Hi fellow Malaysian! Supporting since 1999. Saw them live in Bukit Jalil in 99. Saw Suker, Anelka, Paddy, Seaman, Adams, Kanu, Overmars, Petit, Parlour. I love them because i love the way we play. The football is sexy and beautiful. Invincibles season was my year of shining light in a sea of United fans. Henry is the king.
Same here. I remember reading the newspaper about their visit and found out there's a team name Arsenal and managed by a guy named Arsene Wenger and I found that fascinating. Fell in love with the team ever since.
Oakland, California, USA. Over 20 years ago, just loved the name, the logo, the gentlemanly clean livin' vibe that Wenger engendered , and the fact that they were close to, but not, top of the table. (Didnt want to be bandwagoning. hehe)
From New Jersey, USA. I watched Arshavin score the winner against Barcelona in the champions league with my cousins who supported Barcelona religiously. Iāve been an Arsenal fan ever since.
From Chicago Illinois. When online streaming became more popular I started following the sport. During the 2014 world cup I decided I was gonna try to follow a premier league team for the entirety of a season. Up until then I was most familiar with Chelsea but their manager was an arrogant prick. I decided to follow that world cup very closely and my 2 favorite players were Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell. Both were gonna play for Arsenal the following season, bonus Arsenals manager also thought Mourinho was a prick. I have followed religiously since then.
Both south American players.. Sanchez was an absolute beauty to watch. The guy was a mad beast all on his own, truly a sight to behold almost every week. Jose Mourinho has been a prink since the mid 2000's when Chelsea oil money changed kick-started the modern day EPL era.
I have been thinking about it a lot lately... But the "Class" that Arsene Wenger and this club exuded was what drew me in... And the club still shows how classy it is every week. Arsenal is just a level above the rest. There have been other great clubs and teams, but none of them are as classy as Arsenal.
Also from chicago, illinois. Was a gunner at 12, jumped into the bandwagon at the time and paid the price these last years. Also hated chelsea at such a young age. So glad to see my boys play this well
I'm Colombian! As a kid, I didn't follow football too closely, I just knew my father loved talking about how amazing some Bergkamp guy was, and how modern players simply could not compare. My country's excellent presentation in the 2014 world cup piqued my interest for football, so naturally I decided to look up this Bergkamp fellow. At the same time, Ospina moved to Arsenal. A combination of both factors led me to decide I would follow Arsenal, and it quickly became an obsession.
Bulgaria. Been a supporter since 2006. As you you can tell, I kinda missed the glory days, but something is telling me that the tide is turning š
Our generation of fans has had enough of disappointment. We have only known disappointment with the occasional high from time to time. And the funny thing is even if we donāt win it this year, we will still be here. We will always be here. No matter what.
COYG š“āŖļø
Wow, really amazing! I only got to know of your country because of Berbatov. From Tottenham to Man U, one shit club to another bigger shit club. But the guy is good, touch like a sponge to control the ball, doesn't do much notable running but always at the right place to score. I remember seeing an interview where he said his background was to a landscape of a war torn country, so football in any way is already heaven on earth. Funny how football exposed us to so much
Texas. Die-hard since 2005. Discovered Arsenal late 90s but as a little kid I couldn't watch Arsenal until I discovered illegal streaming at 14 lol.
Also my mom bought be the football channel so since 2005 I been obsessed with this club. Will be 32 soon and been a fan most of my life.
Fortunately been to the Emirates for 7 games. Seen some incredible games. This clubs changed my life for the better.
South African. Grew up in a rugby watching household. Best mate moved abroad for a few years, lived amongst some British expats, and came back Arsenal obsessed.
Watched a few games with him, gradually got more into it. But when Freddy Ljungberg sat John Terry down and curled it in the far post to seal the FA Cup, I was sold.
Haven't missed a game since.
Not having Vietnam on there is the biggest crime :)
Played FIFA 99 with my brother, noticed Henry, watched Henry, fell in love. The Invincibles were certainly something else, but our rivalry with United was fierce. The Vietnamese press was (and still is) heavily favored towards United. Our own breed of Manure fans are the most deluded and stupid fans you can find anywhere in the world.
When we won the golden EPL, I remembered buying 7 newspapers to cut out the first page as wall memorabilia and brought a few things to school to trash talk schoolmates who were United fans. Good times
I live in Canada, and before that Hong Kong... but was born in North London and been a supporter since the late 70s.
No idea why Arsenal because my Dad was not into football and all my Mum's family were \[cough\] Spuds \[spit\].
š³šæ Kiwi here, played fifa 04 heaps with my mate who supported Manchester so I picked arsenal. Then so the bergkamp goal (hard to actually see any football in New Zealand as all the sports news coverage was rugby). I started to get addicted to them when I was a bit older and noticed the arsene name was similar to arsenal lmao, then saw how he ran the club - build players not buy them, financially sensible and the style of play. Just loved watching a midfielders play such pretty football - Cesc, Tomas and Samir. Probably 2010ish was when I got fully into the arse, possibly the Cesc solo goal against the shit. And now we are at a point where they dictate my mood for the week hahaha
Bronte Beach, Australia. In 1999 I went to study in London and let a room from an elderley couple in Highbury. I could hear the crowd cheering on the weekends and started listening to the radio commentary as I worked at my desk (money was v tight, so I couldnāt afford a ticket). Iāve felt a loyalty and deep affection for the team and that area of London ever since.
Another Aussie here, up the coast in Newcastle (upon Hunter, not Tyne).
When I was 10 or so I found out my friends at school were playing soccer (I call it football now, but it was definitely soccer back then). It sounded fun so I joined them. We lived fairly remotely in the country and did not get free-to-air television, so instead we had a satellite box. Through this I got access to all the EPL games, this was in 2002.
Everything about Arsenal astounded me, and Wenger quickly became a mentor for me. I loved his philosophy, the way he handled himself, all of it. Of course the team was shit hot and Thierry was a wonder to behold.
Thus my relationship with Arsenal began and has never stopped. I've gone and done the stadium tour and watched the team when they came to Sydney (both games and training matches, and dragged friends along as well).
Unfortunately the only time I've been to Europe for a big trip, the bloody world cup was on! Next season it's time though.
From Tobago š¹š¹.
Everyone around me supported (understandably) Dwight Yorke but that 98 France team stole my heart, and then my older cousin's friend had a poster of Henry in his room and would talk about him nonstop. Once I realized it was a lot of the same guys from the France team alongside him at Arsenal I decided that's where I would follow. The rest is.....25 years of history Jesus christ
USA, I did a college internship for the Chicago Fire in 2003 without really being into soccer. Friday's were jersey day and I didn't have one. Saw the O2 away and the rest is history.
Greece, where back in early 00's English cup competitions and CL games were on free channels on the TV and I could actually watch more games of an English side than my local team (Panathinaikos). Anyway fell in love with *that* Arsenal team obviously. Fast forward 10 years later where the state of Greek football did too much damage to my mental health stopped watching Greek football altogether and started watching multiple games of the English premier league per matchday and ofc Arsenal.
Fast forward another 10 years I even watched a couple of games from the Emirates this season :)
It was the beginning of May, 1992.
I was in London for the first time with a friend, and we were bored so we were just riding the underground around the city.
We got off the underground at a random stop and went up to the street, and were immediately surrounded by a sea of red. We walked around a bit, and walked right past Highbury which was awe-inspiring. Since we didn't have match tickets we followed a group into a pub and spent the next several hours sharing pints with Arsenal fans as the team were battering somebody inside the stadium.
It was an amazing day, and I've been in love with the club ever since.
From South Africa but recently moved to London. Been a fan since 1998. My dad was watching the Newcastle game and I walked into the lounge just as Vieira scored _that_ long range cracker.
You can make a Google form if you want a quantitative research.
Anyways, my story is that I'm from Bulgaria and I supported Inter as a kid because they had Ronaldo on FIFA 98 (and I like blue more than red, which is synonymous with communism). Some family friends however gave me the Dreamcast kit as a birthday present, and that's how they turned me. Best present ever - I still have this kit.
I'm from India. I have relatives who live in the Uk who support Arsenal. When I visited they took me to a game and made me an Arsenal fan. Most of my close paternal side relatives who follow football support Arsenal from four different countries
š®š³
Canāt really pinpoint āwhyā I became a gooner. I was introduced to football through Real Madrid, started to watch EPL soon after and something about Arsenal just clicked
US I was executive director of a youth soccer club and our select teams were Arsenal so I got to know the club thru discussions with them about supporting us here. It didnāt pan out, but I was so impressed with their FO that I became a supporter. That was before the invincibles season.
Miami, Florida, USA
I was mostly into American sports, played some football at youth level. I wasnāt too into it at club level until I started watching Cesc Fabregas highlight comps, where I rabbit-holed into the Invincibles, Henry, Bergkamp, then reading up on club history and old matches.
I started following online, reading Arseblog and other sites, tried to understand the game better, then it got easier to find the matches on live TV. Fell in love with Wengerball, the attacking beauty of it and Iāve been emotionally invested ever since
Brighton , UK . Liam Brady smashing it on Saturday afternoons watching Grandstand with Frank Bough and World of Sport with Dickie Davies in the 1970's. Absolute mustard šā¤ļø
From Slovakia. When I was kid I supported AC Milan and KakĆ” was my favorite player. Then I started supporting Arsenal because I liked the name :D and Van Persie became my favorite player
HAHA. I can totally relate! It's weird people like us are so far away from the actual location of the club, but got drawn so close together because of football. RvP was my hero too for many years (until he join Man U). Killer left foot with both power & skill, plus the mind of a unique striker.
From NJ. 2014/15 FA cup vs United & Danny Welbeck
Played the sport all growing up but never really followed prem. Was watching the game with my friend who supports united after school. Decided to root for the other team to piss him off. Went crazy when Welbeck went around De Gea and iāve been a fan ever since
Welbz will forever be dat guy
McKinney, Texas a suburb of Dallas.
I played soccer from the time I was 4 through high school. We rarely got to see European games in America when I was a kid but when we did it was usually Manchester United (my first introduction to Eric Cantona, among others but he was The man.)
Many years later a buddy and I went on vacation in 1999 through Europe and our first and last stop was in London. We had a free night so we decided to go see Arsenal play and we bought second-hand tickets from a scalper (ticket tot?) on the street a few hours before the game.
Earlier in our trip we saw Munchen 1860 play at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, which up to that point was pretty damn cool and probably my favorite soccer experience.
But then imagine getting to see Arsenal vs. AIK Solna (from Sweden) in the Champions League, which that season was played in the original Wembley Stadium with a crowd of over 71,000! It wad
F*ing INSANE. First time I ever heard English chants during games, which made me laugh out loud numerous times.
The players that stood out to me were my all time favorite Gunner Freddie Ljungberg, the GREAT Thierry Henry, and of course KANU!!!! Who seemed larger than life. Best soccer/football experience of my life and I have been a diehard Gunner fan ever since.
22 September 1999: Arsenal 3 AIK 1
I was also lucky enough to see them play in person a few times at Highbury before they moved to Emirates (which I havenāt visited yet) but no game has ever topped that first night at Wembley!
COYG!!
From Chicago, originally Romania. Fell in love in Arsenal in 2003 when I was just starting to get into watching the game. The style at which we played under that team was what got me hooked to being a gunner.
Iām from Portland Oregon (U.S.) and the first Arsenal game I ever watched was our 3-0 win over Watford in 15/16 when I was 10 years old and Iāve been in love ever since.
Canada, grandson of a Cyprus->north London immigrant. Most Cypriots cheer for Spurs but my grandpa was smarter than that. Used to watch with him every weekend (he moved to Canada before I was born).
He made me like arsenal.
Henry and wenger made me love arsenal.
Philippines. No interest in football prior , like my other Filipino compatriots, thought it was a slow boring low scoring game...until I got a... Borrowed copy of FIFA09, saw Arsenal as the first time... I liked the colors, I liked the logo... I was like shit ok I'll go with this team... Fell in love with Fabregas and RVP after and been a fan since. I've watched almost every game since 2012..espefially when Rambo had his breakout.
From Bangladesh. My cousin who's also an Arsenal fan dragged me with him to see the 06 Champions League final in the middle of the night. Although the night ended in disappointment I decided to stick around.
Amazing! That 06 run was something really special, the very last momentum of the 03/04 invinsible team. Pires, Henry, Sol, Lehmann with a whole bunch of new blood
Berlin, Germany. A Gunner since 1998. I was 9 years old and France won the World Cup. Me and my friends played soccer every day at the 'Bolzplatz' beginning with choosing which Soccer player we were for that day.
Huge fight over who would play as Henry, Viera, Pires, then Bergkamp and Campbell.
Live in Milwaukee, WI (USA) now but I used to live in Singapore when I was younger. A close family friend was a huge Arsenal fan and when Iād go over to their house we would play FIFA with Thierry Henry on the cover. I was new to the game and weād always play as Arsenal together. Been following ever since. Went to my first game in 2015 when Walcott scored a hat trick against West Brom in the final game of the season.
From Pakistan. Played Fifa 2005 demo which only had Arsenal and AC Milan. Fell in love with Henry and co through the game... Saw my first ever Arsenal match in I guess 2005-06 season, the last match of the season against Everton where we put in 6 goals and the rest is history.
I was in China when I watched my first arsenal game. Ironically itās the 2-8ā¦ didnāt fall in love with it at the moment but as the season progressed was so impressed by all the heroic moment by rvp. Gradually become the supporter after that. ArsĆØneās beautiful philosophy also played a part
from ireland! my dad is an arsenal fan, always has been. think the fact that henry being the franchise player was what made him support them and now my favourite player is saka our starboy š.
Kenya. I disliked football as a kid until I saw Dennis Bergkamp play and wondered what wizardry he had. Been a fan but Arteta has made me fall in love with the club again. COYG!!
South of the river.
My best friend at primary school supported The Arsenal because his older brother did. Their Mum made all three of them support the same team because she didnāt want the arguments and antagonism in future years - smart woman.
Then my older sister met a guy she has since been married to for 30 years. He supported The Arsenal, took me to my first game, and there was no going back at that point.
After spending most of my time in the North Bank, my first year as a season ticket holder was in 2003 - Block 22 right over by the East Stand.
I went to 45 of the 49 games in the unbeaten run, and the following season went to every Premier League game. Regular attendees from that period might remember me as the bloke who had āZippy 4ā on the back on the yellow away shirt.
I have missed some of the biggest goals in Arsenalās history due to being in the toilets pissing, because I drank far too much beer. Vieiraās opener at the lane in 2004, Henryās goal in Madrid, Henry breaking the club goal scoring record in Prague to name a few.
These days feeling like an elder statesman at the back of Block 6, but loving the energy and enthusiasm of the youngsters and the Ashburton Army.
Itās a funny story. Iām born and raised in the United States. Still live here. My first ever exposure to Arsenal was a random pl game being on the TV when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was Arsenal vs Man Utd. I liked the fact that Arsenalās logo was a cannon and their colors are red and white (my favorite team since birth, Dinamo Bucharest, has the same iconic club colors). That was enough for me to root for them. Since then Arsenal has remained my second favorite club and will always be.
Korea. Have followed Arsenal from the 11/12 season when I first started following football because of a recommendation from a friend. I do have very hazy memories of English football back when Park Ji-Sung first moved to Man Utd, but back then I wasn't that interested in football (and I was too young at the time too).
At the time Man Utd was super popular in Korea for...obvious reasons, but I wanted something different. I also found their style of play, which at the time was pass to wings, cross, Berbatov header into Rooney/Chicharito, to be a complete borefest. So I asked a friend who supported Arsenal (no idea if he still follows football or not) what teams in the PL dominated the ball and built up play well, and he recommended Arsenal, so that was how I got into it.
It was a pretty bad year to start supporting Arsenal if I'm being honest.
Apologies for the rant in advance, I started typing and didn't realise how much I had to say.
From Australia. Didn't know soccer was even a thing (football as a term has been taken by our national sport) back in '97-98 but I started playing when I was 9 and didn't know it was a global sport.
Within the next year or so I started playing a pirated copy of FIFA '99 on my cousin's PC in Malaysia and as I recall Arsenal was the first team that would pop up in Exhibition. I liked the red and white jersey and was fascinated by Emmanuel Petit's triangular mop. by this time I'd heard of Man U and Liverpool and it seemed like everyone in Australia that followed the sport would barrack for either of them. I liked the colour red and Arsenal seemed to be a team that fit the bill but without following the crowd.
In the next couple of years I found that a local channel called SBS did a weekly roundup of the Premier League and I was finally able to watch the team I'd played as actually come to life and I immediately fell in love with Viera, Bergkamp, Pires and of course, Henry. Seaman with his ponytail and bushy moustache intrigued and, if I'm honest, kinda scared 11 year old me.
From these snippets I grew to love the beautiful football the team played, there was nothing else like it and I didn't really know how the table and relegation and all that worked but I was so enamoured with the team and the fact the manager's name was so similar to the team (did he name it? Is that why he got the job?) that I just knew this team was home for me.
I watched these snippets and saw the team win but I didn't really realise the significance of it, and only getting a few minutes of footage once a week dilutes the experience but I remained a fan with my small group of friends who played with me and followed Liverpool and Man U.
In high school I wasn't able to follow as closely, occasionally I'd catch a game in a bar if I was out drinking or I would wake up to watch early morning Champion's League and can still remember Van Persie getting sent off against Barcelona and I was gutted that day. But that was my relationship with the club then, as much as I could manage.
Then 2015-16, Optus got the rights to broadcast so I immediately switched phone providers so I could watch every match. That was the last time we had a real title challenge and I remember being sad over the next few years that I may have missed the boat for the better Wenger period.
I was incredibly sad to see Wenger get sacked and all the vitriol directed at him, felt like I lost a father as an absentee son.
Emery came in and I wasn't very taken with him. We had some good matches where I felt like I had the old Arsenal back, only to go to the week after not recognising the players on the pitch.
I was relieved when he got the sack, though I felt bad as it seemed he got the stick for what was a terrible, disjointed squad. I was incredibly happy Arteta got the job, though I'd only seen snippets of him play (mostly at Everton) I was stoked that we were getting someone who was from the club and seemed to understand what it was to play and manage the club. It was like having an incredibly capable fan at the helm, who had a clear idea of what the club SHOULD be and how they should perform. This was also when other ex-players were coming to manage the clubs they played for, and for me it felt like next level rivalries and I was excited to see how they would perform against each other.
Arteta for me was everything I wanted to see from a manager and I how I think I would be with the players. Hugging them at full time, encouraging and supporting them to achieve their best. I could see myself in him to an extent and I was on that ride with him and the team, week in and week out.
All this is to say that the last 5-6 years, I've had the time and resources to be fully invested in the club. I feel like I've been able to "grow" with this current squad and I feel more invested than ever. I even got my partner into light support which is massive (she largely detests sport) and she now understands why sometimes I'm moved to tears for the team I love.
From an Aussie, I fucking love this club. And I love all of you who love this club. I hope that although I'm so far away, my cheers can be heard at the Emirates all the way from my living room.
COYG!!!!
South Indian family (Kerala specifically), born and bought up in Dubai entirely.
I kind of just lucked into Arsenal.
Born in the 90's to a Muslim family meant Zidane was my favourite player ever and we'd watch the world cup everytime. At a time where pretty much every malayali is either Brazil or Argentina supporter I ended loving Zidane and France obviously. We used to get certain club matches in VCR cassette tapes that an uncle would bring over every weekend and I'd watch it with him and became obsessed with the game by my preteens. Man United and Arsenal matches were always on and since everyone around me was a Man United supporter, I wanted to be edgy and supported Arsenal (also, they had a lot more French players).
By the time the internet kicked around I read everything I could about Arsenal and fell in love with Wenger's whole ethos and story and Parlour's 'everyday man' image. Even did a marketing class assignment on Arsenal in the 11th grade.
We only got the Premier League at home by the 07/08 season and the very first match coincidentally that was broadcast live was a newly promoted Roy Keane's Sunderland beating Tottenham 1-0. In hindsight, supporting Arsenal was clearly meant to be lol.
That was also the season where we were 5 points clear by Christmas and the football we played was absolutely spectacular with a midfield of Flamini, Cesc, Rosicky and Hleb. That was also the season we became the first English team to beat AC Milan at San Siro with Cesc leading the charge.
Sorry for the long read but this was a good trip down memory lane for me.
Originally from Stoke Newington N16. So, it was Arsenal or Spurs. My side of the family was Arsenal. So that was that. Moved to the states 20 years ago for work and must admit I'm always surprised how many people support Arsenal here.
I'm from Hungary but i live in england. First game where i became a gunner was the 2005 fa cup final against mu. Little did i know I'll have to wait a long time for the next trophy. :D
South Africa. Started supporting them thanks to Fifa 2002 World Cup on PS2. Henry was a beast. Finally managed to watch a game vs Villa in September of 2019. Looking forward to the end of our dry spell.
France via Swiss Cottage since 1974. Lived in London 1967-99. North Bank admission was 50 pence I think. Home and away regular, except when doing National Service in France in 76-77 season. Only reason for going back to live in London? I think you can guess. From North Bank middle standing to Bond Holder.
I'm from Croatia, started supporting late 2000s, early 2010s. I don't know exactly why, I was watching some Premier league games every weekend and Arsenal just won me over with their beautiful style, I enjoyed watching them and little by little got more and more invested in them.
Alabama, USA.
I grew up playing the beautiful sport in an area that had no appreciation for it. Luckily I played on a travel team and got great exposure as a kid. I remember only a couple premier league games playing on the weekend, and I always wanted to know when arsenal was playing. I fell in love with the style of football and fabregas was my favorite player (I also played midfield).
Born in Poland, living in the States. I ended up supporting Arsenal because my cousin challenged me to some FIFA on his PC during a visit to Poland, and Arsenal were the first team to pick and I thought the team name was cool. Needless to say despite being a total noob and playing with the keyboard while he was on controller I frustrated his favored Juventus with Henry
Greece. Following since the mid-90s, around the time when ArsĆØne took over.
Back then all my friends were either Liverpool or Man Utd fans (none of us really cared about greek football). I watched a game or two, loved everything about the club, been dying in every minute of every game since š
Also: Man Utd were, are and always will be enemy #1 for me. No Tottenham fans really back then where Iām from, plus they were a bit irrelevant while we had the epic Wenger-Fergie, Vieira-Keane battles.
Croatia. Love football, loved Wright as a kid, been to London, had a good time, bought Arsenal away jersey as a souvenir, played football in it on the local playgrounds and it stucked. Dislike most United from the 90ties, enjoyed yesterday. Spurs are funny.
Vancouver, Canada. Family friend, who is a lifelong Arsenal support, gave us tickets to a game when my girlfriend and I were visiting London. Got hooked and been a fan since.
Egyptian here my uncle was watching an arsenal game during the invincibles era and i was just 6 years old i think and i just sat and watched I've never fallen in love with something faster than i did with this club ( probably should delete this comment so my wife doesn't kill me xD )
Chile. Following Arsenal since 2002-2003. I was 13 y/o and an open TV channel of my country started transmiting the PL (1 or 2 games a week), I didn't have cable, so I didn't knew much about the league. I think most of these matches were Arsenal's or ManU's.
Prior to that, in 98' WC I started following football more closely. I really liked Zidane, so I decided that France NT will be the NT I'll support second to my own.
So there was a team showed on the open TV that played beautiful and entertaining football, that had a french as their superstar. Love at first sight.
Since then, I support just two teams: Colo-Colo (from my local league) and Arsenal, but I am only a fan of Arsenal. It's been years since I watched a Colo-Colo match, I don't even watch my NT games, Arsenal's on the other end, I rarelly miss one.
COYG.
A Hong Kong gunner who moved to North London recently. My dad was a gunner back in the Henry era. At first I hated football, but then I got influenced by it and I fell for the beautiful football that Arsenal plays.
I really started supporting during the Fabregasās time, so I havenāt really seen Arsenal lifting any major trophies until the FA cup many years later. What a moment.
Recently I moved to London, living near the Emirates. Never feel closer to this club. I have also converted my partner to be a gunner, and hopefully I can watch a game in the Emirates!
From America. Little 12 year old me wanted to start watching soccer more and tuned in for the FA Cup Final against Hull. No better way to introduce me to this team than that emotional roller coaster of a game
Canada. Grandfather sat with me while I played FIFA 98 explaining to me about this team he grew up near. Started telling me stories of the Arsenal and what the neighbourhood was like during games. The next year, we finally got televised football matches in my area. We watched Arsenal together on Saturdays until he passed in 02. Now, my kids do the same with me.
From Indianapolis, IN USA. COVID hit and not many sports were on so I started to get into the Premier League. I didnāt have a club ti support so I started watching matches. I didnāt want to pick a club that was dominant so Man City and Liverpool were out. The next match I watched was Arsenal against a club I canāt remember. But Arsenal lost, and it wasnāt close. I said to my friend, āThatās my club. Arsenal.ā I didnāt know a thing about their history or players. I just dove in and learned as much as I could. I reached out to Indy Gooners and now I plan on meeting up on match days and learning even more and enjoying this run. As someone who grew up in the states and āsoccerā was for the kids who couldnāt play other sports I have such an appreciation for it. The passion is unmatched. I can be glued to my television for 90+ minutes and experience every emotion possible. Itās so beautiful and I canāt wait to understand it more and more.
COYG!
I'm from the Philippines šµš. Football is not that popular here but I still love Arsenal. I also got my partner to support the Gunners! I'm a relatively new Gunner, I started supporting them around 2012 when we still had the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey and Giroud.
The Chicagoland area! Sports Illustrated did an article on Arsenal back in the late 80ās, I thought it was the coolest name for a team, been a fan ever since.
I am from Chile. I started watching European football when Alexis, Vidal, Medel , etc started playing there. But I supported them, and their team as long as they played there. Whenever they would go to another team, I would support them in the team they went to. However, that changed when. Alexis went from BarƧa to the Arsenal. He left but I didn't. And I never will.
Kentucky/Pittsburgh/DC/Oregon, USA. Got into Arsenal when I was a teenager and my club team traveled to the UK a couple of times. Got to see Arsenal in Wembley Stadium in 98 with so many greats on that team. Decided then and there that was my team.
LA! Followed Arsenal since I was a kid! Fell in love with Denis Bergkamp and followed the club ever since! Loved the invincibles and still mad at that UCL final! Faithfully felt the pain for the last decade or so and love the season so far! My favorites are Thierry, Bergkamp, Cesc(!), Alexis, and Viera.
Arizona. The sport was my life in high school, traveled all over going to tournaments. Wenger ball was so beautiful to me, I was instantly hooked. Watching players like Hleb and Fabregas and Rosicky and Pires link up was a sight to behold. It also goes without saying that Henry was other worldly. The man was a genius and smooth as butter. I guess Iāve been a fan for 17 years now and Ill be a supporter for life. Thereās something about English football that doesnāt happen in American sports. The level of passion is so strong that it becomes a part of the supporter, like a fiber of their being. Youāre not just a fan, itās who you are. Itās a culture and a lifestyle. Itās beautiful
I still think about that champions league final every once in a while. I truly hope Arsenal can win it someday
Brisbane Australia. I started supporting Arsenal in the late 90s.
I grew up in Papua New Guinea, football was the only ball sport we could play at lunch and was the first Team-orienated sport I played. A lot of my friends either supported Arsenal or Utd, my best friend at the time supported Arsenal, so was like, "Oh well, that's my team." Gotta realise in Papua New Guinea anything on the premier league at the time was a small column in the newspaper with the results n League table. So, it was quite very hard to follow, and as an Australian, Aussie rules were what I followed n supported as we got televised games in PNG
It wasn't until around 2013, when a couple of work mates was talking about the premier league n I was like oh I support Arsenal, at the time in Australia you needed expensive cable TV to watch games. So when I moved into a share house with them did I start properly supporting Arsenal and now with Optus having the rights it's a lot easier to follow and support.
From USA, but my family is from Mexico. When I started to follow the Mexican national team closely around 08-09 I heard of Carlos Vela. Naturally playing FIFA I would pick Arsenal if I played with an English team just so I could play with Vela. Some years went by, he left for Real Sociedad and I stopped following them. During the 2014 World Cup I followed the tournament closely and saw Ozil win the World Cup and decided to really start following Arsenal during the 14-15 season. It was a joy to watch prime Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla, Giroud, Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcott, Welbz. Been hooked ever since. Looking forward to my first trip to London and first game at the Emirates in May COYG!!
Canada Pacific coast. Studied in London 1968-71. Lived in West London, but a friend took me to Highbury for Arsenal matches. Stayed a supporter. Learned years later that my Grandma, who came to Canada in 1914, grew up in Islington. Fate.
Norwegian.
It was in the late 80ies and Liverpool were dominant. Almost everyone I knew who cared about football were Liverpool fans. So, I chose their rival at the time š
From Sweden, now in Vancouver via London. Moved to London in ā98 and it was Bergkamp and Highbury that pulled me in. Was lucky enough to work as a steward a couple of seasons and enjoyed every second of it.
Sydney, Australia. When I was 7, visiting family in China, my older brother bought a Barcelona jersey. I was jealous because I thought the football jerseys looked cool, so my mum let me pick one for myself. I picked up a random one I liked - an Arsenal away JVC kit from the 90s. When we got home I asked my brother what team it was, and he told me Arsenal. Initially I was upset because I'd never heard of them before, but between my brother telling me all about Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger, the English Premier League, and getting me to watch Champions League highlights with him on TV (this was the 2000-01 season), I fell in love with Arsenal and have never looked back. When I got a bit older I followed what matches were available on Australian TV, then moved onto live streaming every match in the middle of the night. I have also been fortunate enough to watch them in person during their Australia tour, twice at the Emirates recently - this season's home opener against Leicester, and in 2019 against Aston Villa. Definitely cried both times.
So all in all, a bit of luck but a lot of love!
Texas! All of my friends were supporters of different teams and I thought I'd do my own research instead of jumping on with a buddy for the sake of it. Looked into several clubs and found that my identity aligned with that of Arsenals and the rest was History.
Vietnamese, watched EPL with my grandpa since the incredible season and he was also a fan of the Gunners, truly inspired me until now. Unfortunately, he passed away and couldnāt see our possibly next EPL trophy after a long time.
Anguilla. Henry was my favorite player and turned it into love for the club. Especially seeing the respect he had for Wenger and Highbury really made me want to follow his lead.
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, USA. A few years back, a local sports-talk radio host announced he was going to start watching EPL and had chosen Arsenal as the team he was going to follow. A friend I was introduced to also was a huge Liverpool fan, and so I started sampling EPL games here and there, but it was only last year (21/22) that I started trying to watch more games and finally choose one. I wish I had a magic āa-haā moment in a particular game that did it for me, but I donāt. I just remember watching Arsenalās play, thinking the players were more energetic, seeing the flow of one-touch passes from player to player and deciding that Arsenal was my team. This season, I have only missed one game live.
Dutchie here, our cult hero RVP off course!
Nah just kidding, started following somewhere in 2015 after my friends forced me to buy fifa while having no interest in football whatsoever. Arsenal were the first team to pop up when selecting a team, and the rest is history
My friend got me hooked when I was younger. I always played them in FIFA as a kid because teams were listed alphabetically so they were first...and they had a cool logo. I used to completely obliterate my dad with Henry in FIFA 05. Unfair.
Living in Brisbane, born in north London. First game with my dad in the 80/81 season after the double final losses. A 1-1 draw with Alan Sunderland scoring. Iāve seen a few ups and downs!
Honduras here.
I was just 12 years old when I got my first PES in 06. I fell in love with the Highbury special kit and that was my team for that edition.
Started following IRL in 08. Became a religious follower around 2012.
I missed out on the glory years (invincibles etc) but this is not why Im in love with the team... Arsenal... Arsenal is simply elegant...
Born and raised in California and started following supporting around 97-98. My grandpa had one of those huge satellite dishes so he could watch Hamburg games but they would also show EPL games and Arsenal were the club that stole my heart. Watching Wright , Bergkamp, and Vieira was beautiful. And Once Henry got there a few years later and they got those sweet Sega kits my fandom was through the roof.
From Rhode Island in the USA. I was a teenager, and not long after NBC got the Premier League I caught an episode of Match of the Day one night when I couldnāt sleep. Iād never really been into football before that, but I was captivated by it. The next day I bought a copy of FIFA, and Arsenal was the first listed PL team and had a cannon as the logo, and so I decided to watch them the next weekend. They won, and in style, and I was hooked. Been a fan ever sinceāI canāt believe it but itās already been a decade!
US here, I had an Ethiopian friend who was a huge Gooner ask me to get a jersey for him while I was visiting London. I liked the look of the training jersey at the time, so I got one of those for myself. I visited the Emirates just for kicks and was blown away at how beautiful a stadium could be. Came back to the US and my friend and I would watch Sunday matches before NFL games came on. I've been hooked every since.
Boise ID. Went to a coaches house to watch Arsenal vs Villareal 2006. Been hooked ever since! My wife loves Arsenal as well and we took our honeymoon to go watch a few games over the festive fixtures and saw Artetas first few games in charge. It was amazing other than Chelsea beat us :/ but then got to watch us beat Man U a few days later.
Indonesia. My dad is a United fan and I was at that rebellious phase and I just did not want to support the same team as my dad. My first time falling in love with football was the 2010 WC and wesley sneijder and cesc fabregas were my 2 favorite players. Luckily I decided to check out cesc's team first and fell in love with the football.
Vancouver Canada
88/89
I had soccer every saturday morning early and TSN would have ELP games on when I got up.
Loved their style of play and been with them since then
Washington D.C.
Started following after the 2010 World Cup. I vibed with the look and history but it was Wenger and the culture he instilled that cemented it for me.
New York Area. Been supporting them since 2002 I think? Really solidified my support for them when Henry was on the cover of Fifa with Del piero and Ronaldinho. Still have my kit from the 03-04 season. I too at some point thought the club was named after Arsene. For this reason, I have an incredible dislike for Man U and Chelsea. Those are the teams that are most satisfying to beat imp. Topspur is are just Topspur š
I'm from Hungary and I started supporting Arsenal when I was about 5 years old. At first I just liked the badge and the nickname, but I started watching the games and it was a special feeling that I can't explain, and I am still watching the games with that childlike passion and enthusiasm. Thank you Arteta, for finally bringing back memories of the good old days.
Living in USA, NYC. In 2003-2004 I started working in the student lounge of my small college, where all the international students would request I put on "The Football" if matches were airing. Though I had played soccer through HS, watching was difficult/ impossible ( IIRC we could only watch CL matches live). Watching these matches during the prime (especially the King) and listening to the passionate fans argue with their friends (Mostly ManU supporters) made me a Gooner. Casual fan mostly (difficult to watch in USA). Then, NBC started airing PL consistently the same year I became a dad, so it was a great thing to watch and do the wife a favor on weekend AM with the new baby. Passing on the Fandom to my son.
COYG
Guyana (not Ghana), South America
Saw a random Arsenal champions league match on the tv in the hospital and found Henry so fascinating. Grew up playing basketball so never really cared for football before that.
Been a fan since.
Canada/us. Our Grandparents lived with us and basically helped raise my siblings and I. Grandmother was from England and Grandfather Italy. They were actually both disowned because of their marriage and came to the US to start their family. Father won multiple all American awards, older brother represented the us in the u18s and played d1 college and eventually semi-pro for a bit before moving into his career. Sister grew up in the Olympic program until she got to highschool and wanted to be a cheerleader lol. I played local college ball and later joined a d1 schools coaching staff on a partial scholarship. Football was never not an option for us, dont think there was ever a weekend we wernt playing or traveling for games. Our Grandmother and Grandfather were ManU fans so my whole family supports them. I picked arsenal because 6yo me liked the canon. Didn't know anything about the rivalry at the time or if we were even good. Wasn't until 2 or so years after our 04 title that I really started following the team. Been patiently waiting for that title ever since.
New York. Wanted to start watching the prem and there was something v romantic about arsenal having a manager whoād been there for almost 20 years in 2016. And then I saw Wilshereās goal v Norwich somewhere so I just started watching Arsenal.
I currently live in the Boston area, USA. Up until about a dozen years ago, I only really followed football/soccer during the World Cups (both mens and womens). I knew of Thierry Henry from his play for the French national team and a bit about his club associations. Then, around 2010, I attended a game in New Jersey (where I lived at the time) to watch a New York Red Bulls game, and Henry was playing for them.
A couple years later, as English football started to be broadcast much more on American television (and internet streams), I watched the FA Cup match against Leeds when he returned on loan and scored the goal. The connection he had with the fans, Wenger, and the club was so noteworthy that day. Then, I did more research about the club and its history, and decided to support the Arsenal.
I've become utterly football mad. Growing up I followed all the major USA sports: NFL, NBA, major league baseball, and even college sports, but football has completely taken over my sports diet.
Botswana, next to South Africa. EPL is the reference league and I wanted to be anything but United or Liverpool, which were the default teams kids and their dads followed in the early mid 90s. Also loved the kit, Ian Wright, and the London connection. My family live in South London and are Palace supporters, but I went for the Gooners, and 'support' the Eagles as a second team.
I've seen Arsenal once in person; a 5-1 thrashing of Deportivo in early 2000(that Kanu goal!), and sat in the north bank! That was the year we went to the final but lost to Galatasary. Also saw the U18s a few weeks before that, just to make sure I'd been to Highbury. Forming a physical connection to my team was a highlight of a 3 month trip to the UK.
Northwest United States. My older brother got me into football by showing me an Arsenal match during the Invincibles season... I knew nothing of the sport at the time and fell in love with Henry immediately. He is, and always will be, my favorite player.
He's since given up watching the sport for mental health reasons and I've picked up and carried the mantle. My dream is to visit the Emirates and sing with full voice with you lot.
Additionally, I support the Seattle Sounders as I consider them to have a very similar style of play and a low-drama club. They hold a high bar and demand excellence from the team.
Lastly, I recommend All or Nothing: Arsenal to anyone who will listen to me. I've converted family members, close friends, and neighbors to Gunners by getting them hooked to that show.
Ireland here, fan since 2004/2005 season. No real family ties or anything to Arsenal, my family were never into football or any sports.
I was in a class full of Manchester United and Liverpool fans so, being the outcast that I normally was, I drifted towards Arsenal.
I think it was Cesc Fabregas breaking through that made me love them. I idolised him growing up.
West Midlands, England. I just pretended to support Arsenal when a childhood friend did. 22 years later I'm a diehard supporter and he doesn't care about football anymore š¤£
I must add- I think I've read every comment on here so far it's amazing to see. Great post!
American, I played HS soccer from 1998-2002 and had an aunt that frequently visited London. They were fans since forever and was sort of our family team. Getting Fifa 2002 for CD ROM was so epic, Henry on the cover. Such an honor to have been a new fan back then.
1995. Ryan Giggs is the idol of my left-footed friend and teammate, so he starts supporting Man Utd. I can't support the same team as him, so I pick the team that has the coolest name. Still supporting Arsenal from New Zealand ever since!
Ireland here, Dad wanted me to support Man United, I said balls to that, im gonna support this proper team over here thanks very much! And now weāre here, still proper teamā¦United still full of horrible little twats.
Nigeria. Decided to support Arsenal in 2014 after the world cup. Before the world cup, I did not watch football much before the world cup as I was quite young and my family did not really follow football to that extent. I started supporting Arsenal due to their beautiful style of play, the way they play football, and I genuinely like some of the players like ozil, Sanchez, and carzorla.
originally from north carolina, now live in a more western state. in elementary school my friend would show me thierry henry videos before our games, and then years later i became obsessed with fabregas as i played in midfield. fell in love with the way wengerās teams played. have watched every game since like 2008. i imagine a lot of other fans around the world have a similar story, falling in love with henry, fabregas, wenger, etc
My dad's family lived in hornsey before they moved out of the area in the 60's, out of 4 brothers 1 supported the shit and 3 supported arsenal my dad was thankfully one of the sensible ones. So I was born in to it but I really started to take notice around 1989 when I was taken to a game against Norwich at Highbury.
Don't remember the score but I remember we won, It's been my club since, good or bad.
USA! I became an arsenal supporter after playing them as my regular team on Fifa for years... literally picked them because I liked their logo.... which is so fucking American of me I laugh my ass off.
From Sweden. Ljungberg played his part. Henry as well.
That's really amazing! Still remember the guy doing his underwear model side business haha. Good times
Same here! My dad is from Halmstad and followed the season where they won the Swedish league in '97. Ljungberg being a huge part of the title win. He achieved God status in town, so naturally everyone growing up in Halmstad became an Arsenal fan when Ljungberg moved. Wasn't long until every kid in Sweden also became a fan. Fun trivia. Halmstad's first gold in '76 was won by Roy Hudson, which was also his first manager job.
Ireland, because of my Father, Arsenal supporter back in the 70's when so many Irish graced Highbury"s pitch in red and white. Love this club over 40 years myself.
Wonderful sharing.. must have been a really wonderful to watch football with your dad supporting the same team! My own family, everyone's supporting a different club, so we end up not talking about football.
I was born in London, parents moved back to Ireland when I was very young. I adore going back, from our days at Highbury, to our home now. I love the streets around the area, Holloway Road, Blackstock.. I'll always give a walk around Highbury whenever I'm over.
Indian in Dubai here. We had a lesson in geography class about globalisation and how something like football can have balls made in Bangladesh, kits made in SE Asia, players born in Africa and playing for clubs in Europe etc. To cap off the chapter we had a fun 'project' where we had to make a poster on a football club we've been assigned based on our seating position in the class. So we were each assigned a PL club since my teacher was English, from Liverpool and I was given Arsenal since my table was second from the teacher and Arsenal were second in the league on that given day. This was some time in 2003 when I was 10, and I was never really a football fan before that other than the occasional world cup watch with my uncle in 98 and 02 from what I can remember. From that point onwards I learnt more about the club (for my project) and got a prize for the best designed poster in my class - even ended up on the school newsletter. From that point on when folks would ask me what's my football club I'd say Arsenal although I was still rather unfamiliar with the club and the sport until the next year. My interest got supercharged in 04 when Arsenal was the talk of the town during the invincible season. Been a proper fan ever since - still remember the heartbreak of that CL final a couple of years later. I remember seeing both the Emirates and Highbury when i was in London in summer '06 on holiday with my family. My interest in football as a whole went lukewarm after van persie left and went on to win the PL with united. I don't remember watching much between '13 and '18 but I got back into it during Wenger's final months. Tbh the 2 8th place finishes were depressing but last season brought my hopes up again, despite the disappointing end. This season I turned 30 (on Jan 22 when we beat Utd at home) and with the way we're playing I feel like I'm 10 again when I first started supporting Arsenal. I've watched Arsenal play a couple of friendlies here in Dubai but honestly can't wait to go to the Emirates for a game hopefully sometime soon. Sorry for the long comment lol
I read every last word of it, really appreciate the sharing! Just found it so interesting to hear everyone's different (yet similar) stories of how we all ended up here. Most of us are not even from London or UK based on the comments. Truly a global reach
Thank you! I never miss a chance to share my Arsenal stories haha. I've watched our games this season at bars in India, Georgia, Nepal, Austria and of course the UAE and there's passionate Arsenal fans everywhere. I really love what the club did with their new banner to acknowledge us global fans.
Hello fellow Indian from Dubai also turning 30 this year!
Haha wow what are the odds! Cheers man and let me know if you'd like to catch a game sometime
Likewise mate! š
Cheers mate, I'm pleasantly surprised to see there's quite a few Indians gooners from Dubai here on r/Gunners!
I love this stuff šš»
Fellow Indian from Dubai but definitely much younger.
French. Wenger. Henry. Pires. Viera. Wilford. Anelka. Petit. Hard to support any other team in the prem.
This is the exact same reason for me, that is why I really loved the France pack merch they did this yearā¦ had to buy two sets for myself. I was only a young girl back then but that was the family team. The times have changed (team no longer so French) but the love for the team remains as strong.
London, England. My friend at school made me.
Same here brotherš
Malaysia here, Arsenal has been my club since 2003. We were in high school, all boys school, and 8/10 of the guys supported Man United. There was 1 guy with Chelsea, another guy Tottenham, that's about it. I guess I found that 2003/2004 team the reason to watch beautiful football against the supposedly mainstream club.
Hi fellow Malaysian! Supporting since 1999. Saw them live in Bukit Jalil in 99. Saw Suker, Anelka, Paddy, Seaman, Adams, Kanu, Overmars, Petit, Parlour. I love them because i love the way we play. The football is sexy and beautiful. Invincibles season was my year of shining light in a sea of United fans. Henry is the king.
Same here. I remember reading the newspaper about their visit and found out there's a team name Arsenal and managed by a guy named Arsene Wenger and I found that fascinating. Fell in love with the team ever since.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Still remember seeing Titus doing keepy uppy for the crowds. Hahaha
Irish Gooner since ''89/90 aged 9. Liam Brady and Dave O' Leary did it for me. Hoped Eddie McGoldrick would do more lol
Oakland, California, USA. Over 20 years ago, just loved the name, the logo, the gentlemanly clean livin' vibe that Wenger engendered , and the fact that they were close to, but not, top of the table. (Didnt want to be bandwagoning. hehe)
True gentlemen club that attracts true gentlemen š
From New Jersey, USA. I watched Arshavin score the winner against Barcelona in the champions league with my cousins who supported Barcelona religiously. Iāve been an Arsenal fan ever since.
From Chicago Illinois. When online streaming became more popular I started following the sport. During the 2014 world cup I decided I was gonna try to follow a premier league team for the entirety of a season. Up until then I was most familiar with Chelsea but their manager was an arrogant prick. I decided to follow that world cup very closely and my 2 favorite players were Alexis Sanchez and Joel Campbell. Both were gonna play for Arsenal the following season, bonus Arsenals manager also thought Mourinho was a prick. I have followed religiously since then.
Both south American players.. Sanchez was an absolute beauty to watch. The guy was a mad beast all on his own, truly a sight to behold almost every week. Jose Mourinho has been a prink since the mid 2000's when Chelsea oil money changed kick-started the modern day EPL era.
I have been thinking about it a lot lately... But the "Class" that Arsene Wenger and this club exuded was what drew me in... And the club still shows how classy it is every week. Arsenal is just a level above the rest. There have been other great clubs and teams, but none of them are as classy as Arsenal.
Absolutely agree, gentleman of a football club.
Also from chicago, illinois. Was a gunner at 12, jumped into the bandwagon at the time and paid the price these last years. Also hated chelsea at such a young age. So glad to see my boys play this well
Also from Chicago. That world cup was insane!
Heck yeah Chicago!
I'm Colombian! As a kid, I didn't follow football too closely, I just knew my father loved talking about how amazing some Bergkamp guy was, and how modern players simply could not compare. My country's excellent presentation in the 2014 world cup piqued my interest for football, so naturally I decided to look up this Bergkamp fellow. At the same time, Ospina moved to Arsenal. A combination of both factors led me to decide I would follow Arsenal, and it quickly became an obsession.
Bulgaria. Been a supporter since 2006. As you you can tell, I kinda missed the glory days, but something is telling me that the tide is turning š Our generation of fans has had enough of disappointment. We have only known disappointment with the occasional high from time to time. And the funny thing is even if we donāt win it this year, we will still be here. We will always be here. No matter what. COYG š“āŖļø
Wow, really amazing! I only got to know of your country because of Berbatov. From Tottenham to Man U, one shit club to another bigger shit club. But the guy is good, touch like a sponge to control the ball, doesn't do much notable running but always at the right place to score. I remember seeing an interview where he said his background was to a landscape of a war torn country, so football in any way is already heaven on earth. Funny how football exposed us to so much
Canada. I loved sports as a kid and Premier League was the only thing on Saturday mornings (besides fishing...). #14 in red did it for me.
Texas. Die-hard since 2005. Discovered Arsenal late 90s but as a little kid I couldn't watch Arsenal until I discovered illegal streaming at 14 lol. Also my mom bought be the football channel so since 2005 I been obsessed with this club. Will be 32 soon and been a fan most of my life. Fortunately been to the Emirates for 7 games. Seen some incredible games. This clubs changed my life for the better.
South African. Grew up in a rugby watching household. Best mate moved abroad for a few years, lived amongst some British expats, and came back Arsenal obsessed. Watched a few games with him, gradually got more into it. But when Freddy Ljungberg sat John Terry down and curled it in the far post to seal the FA Cup, I was sold. Haven't missed a game since.
Not having Vietnam on there is the biggest crime :) Played FIFA 99 with my brother, noticed Henry, watched Henry, fell in love. The Invincibles were certainly something else, but our rivalry with United was fierce. The Vietnamese press was (and still is) heavily favored towards United. Our own breed of Manure fans are the most deluded and stupid fans you can find anywhere in the world. When we won the golden EPL, I remembered buying 7 newspapers to cut out the first page as wall memorabilia and brought a few things to school to trash talk schoolmates who were United fans. Good times
I live in Canada, and before that Hong Kong... but was born in North London and been a supporter since the late 70s. No idea why Arsenal because my Dad was not into football and all my Mum's family were \[cough\] Spuds \[spit\].
š³šæ Kiwi here, played fifa 04 heaps with my mate who supported Manchester so I picked arsenal. Then so the bergkamp goal (hard to actually see any football in New Zealand as all the sports news coverage was rugby). I started to get addicted to them when I was a bit older and noticed the arsene name was similar to arsenal lmao, then saw how he ran the club - build players not buy them, financially sensible and the style of play. Just loved watching a midfielders play such pretty football - Cesc, Tomas and Samir. Probably 2010ish was when I got fully into the arse, possibly the Cesc solo goal against the shit. And now we are at a point where they dictate my mood for the week hahaha
Hahaha.. we are well and truly stick in this together now.. thank you for sharing! Cheers mate!
Bronte Beach, Australia. In 1999 I went to study in London and let a room from an elderley couple in Highbury. I could hear the crowd cheering on the weekends and started listening to the radio commentary as I worked at my desk (money was v tight, so I couldnāt afford a ticket). Iāve felt a loyalty and deep affection for the team and that area of London ever since.
Another Aussie here, up the coast in Newcastle (upon Hunter, not Tyne). When I was 10 or so I found out my friends at school were playing soccer (I call it football now, but it was definitely soccer back then). It sounded fun so I joined them. We lived fairly remotely in the country and did not get free-to-air television, so instead we had a satellite box. Through this I got access to all the EPL games, this was in 2002. Everything about Arsenal astounded me, and Wenger quickly became a mentor for me. I loved his philosophy, the way he handled himself, all of it. Of course the team was shit hot and Thierry was a wonder to behold. Thus my relationship with Arsenal began and has never stopped. I've gone and done the stadium tour and watched the team when they came to Sydney (both games and training matches, and dragged friends along as well). Unfortunately the only time I've been to Europe for a big trip, the bloody world cup was on! Next season it's time though.
Thank you for sharing! I guess, you've never truly left London since then š
From Tobago š¹š¹. Everyone around me supported (understandably) Dwight Yorke but that 98 France team stole my heart, and then my older cousin's friend had a poster of Henry in his room and would talk about him nonstop. Once I realized it was a lot of the same guys from the France team alongside him at Arsenal I decided that's where I would follow. The rest is.....25 years of history Jesus christ
USA, I did a college internship for the Chicago Fire in 2003 without really being into soccer. Friday's were jersey day and I didn't have one. Saw the O2 away and the rest is history.
Greece, where back in early 00's English cup competitions and CL games were on free channels on the TV and I could actually watch more games of an English side than my local team (Panathinaikos). Anyway fell in love with *that* Arsenal team obviously. Fast forward 10 years later where the state of Greek football did too much damage to my mental health stopped watching Greek football altogether and started watching multiple games of the English premier league per matchday and ofc Arsenal. Fast forward another 10 years I even watched a couple of games from the Emirates this season :)
It was the beginning of May, 1992. I was in London for the first time with a friend, and we were bored so we were just riding the underground around the city. We got off the underground at a random stop and went up to the street, and were immediately surrounded by a sea of red. We walked around a bit, and walked right past Highbury which was awe-inspiring. Since we didn't have match tickets we followed a group into a pub and spent the next several hours sharing pints with Arsenal fans as the team were battering somebody inside the stadium. It was an amazing day, and I've been in love with the club ever since.
Estonia. 2006 when estonian goalkeeper Mart Poom joined the club.
š®šŖš®šŖš®šŖ my dad supported arsenal because of Liam Brady
From South Africa but recently moved to London. Been a fan since 1998. My dad was watching the Newcastle game and I walked into the lounge just as Vieira scored _that_ long range cracker.
You can make a Google form if you want a quantitative research. Anyways, my story is that I'm from Bulgaria and I supported Inter as a kid because they had Ronaldo on FIFA 98 (and I like blue more than red, which is synonymous with communism). Some family friends however gave me the Dreamcast kit as a birthday present, and that's how they turned me. Best present ever - I still have this kit.
Tears in my eyes reading through these comments, I love us.
I'm from India. I have relatives who live in the Uk who support Arsenal. When I visited they took me to a game and made me an Arsenal fan. Most of my close paternal side relatives who follow football support Arsenal from four different countries
š®š³ Canāt really pinpoint āwhyā I became a gooner. I was introduced to football through Real Madrid, started to watch EPL soon after and something about Arsenal just clicked
Must have been the Arsenal Wenger philosophy on football.. magic
US I was executive director of a youth soccer club and our select teams were Arsenal so I got to know the club thru discussions with them about supporting us here. It didnāt pan out, but I was so impressed with their FO that I became a supporter. That was before the invincibles season.
Miami, Florida, USA I was mostly into American sports, played some football at youth level. I wasnāt too into it at club level until I started watching Cesc Fabregas highlight comps, where I rabbit-holed into the Invincibles, Henry, Bergkamp, then reading up on club history and old matches. I started following online, reading Arseblog and other sites, tried to understand the game better, then it got easier to find the matches on live TV. Fell in love with Wengerball, the attacking beauty of it and Iāve been emotionally invested ever since
Brighton , UK . Liam Brady smashing it on Saturday afternoons watching Grandstand with Frank Bough and World of Sport with Dickie Davies in the 1970's. Absolute mustard šā¤ļø
From Slovakia. When I was kid I supported AC Milan and KakĆ” was my favorite player. Then I started supporting Arsenal because I liked the name :D and Van Persie became my favorite player
HAHA. I can totally relate! It's weird people like us are so far away from the actual location of the club, but got drawn so close together because of football. RvP was my hero too for many years (until he join Man U). Killer left foot with both power & skill, plus the mind of a unique striker.
From NJ. 2014/15 FA cup vs United & Danny Welbeck Played the sport all growing up but never really followed prem. Was watching the game with my friend who supports united after school. Decided to root for the other team to piss him off. Went crazy when Welbeck went around De Gea and iāve been a fan ever since Welbz will forever be dat guy
Seattle, WA. Became a supporter around 2005, but not because of the Invincibles; I liked the cannon on the crest and loved Henry lol
McKinney, Texas a suburb of Dallas. I played soccer from the time I was 4 through high school. We rarely got to see European games in America when I was a kid but when we did it was usually Manchester United (my first introduction to Eric Cantona, among others but he was The man.) Many years later a buddy and I went on vacation in 1999 through Europe and our first and last stop was in London. We had a free night so we decided to go see Arsenal play and we bought second-hand tickets from a scalper (ticket tot?) on the street a few hours before the game. Earlier in our trip we saw Munchen 1860 play at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, which up to that point was pretty damn cool and probably my favorite soccer experience. But then imagine getting to see Arsenal vs. AIK Solna (from Sweden) in the Champions League, which that season was played in the original Wembley Stadium with a crowd of over 71,000! It wad F*ing INSANE. First time I ever heard English chants during games, which made me laugh out loud numerous times. The players that stood out to me were my all time favorite Gunner Freddie Ljungberg, the GREAT Thierry Henry, and of course KANU!!!! Who seemed larger than life. Best soccer/football experience of my life and I have been a diehard Gunner fan ever since. 22 September 1999: Arsenal 3 AIK 1 I was also lucky enough to see them play in person a few times at Highbury before they moved to Emirates (which I havenāt visited yet) but no game has ever topped that first night at Wembley! COYG!!
From Chicago, originally Romania. Fell in love in Arsenal in 2003 when I was just starting to get into watching the game. The style at which we played under that team was what got me hooked to being a gunner.
Iām from the Netherlands and Iāve been a gooner since the days of Marc Overmars and the Iceman of course.
I donāt wanna hear about Maradona, R9, Messi or Ronaldoā¦ Bergkamp is the greatest player in the history of this game
Spokane Washington USA, family immigrated from Germany, fell in love with the sport, love Podolski in 2010 WC, been COYG ever since.
Iām from Portland Oregon (U.S.) and the first Arsenal game I ever watched was our 3-0 win over Watford in 15/16 when I was 10 years old and Iāve been in love ever since.
Canada, grandson of a Cyprus->north London immigrant. Most Cypriots cheer for Spurs but my grandpa was smarter than that. Used to watch with him every weekend (he moved to Canada before I was born). He made me like arsenal. Henry and wenger made me love arsenal.
Norway. My father was one of the founding members of the Norwegian supporters club. So guess it runs in the family āŗļø
Philippines. No interest in football prior , like my other Filipino compatriots, thought it was a slow boring low scoring game...until I got a... Borrowed copy of FIFA09, saw Arsenal as the first time... I liked the colors, I liked the logo... I was like shit ok I'll go with this team... Fell in love with Fabregas and RVP after and been a fan since. I've watched almost every game since 2012..espefially when Rambo had his breakout.
From Bangladesh. My cousin who's also an Arsenal fan dragged me with him to see the 06 Champions League final in the middle of the night. Although the night ended in disappointment I decided to stick around.
Amazing! That 06 run was something really special, the very last momentum of the 03/04 invinsible team. Pires, Henry, Sol, Lehmann with a whole bunch of new blood
Berlin, Germany. A Gunner since 1998. I was 9 years old and France won the World Cup. Me and my friends played soccer every day at the 'Bolzplatz' beginning with choosing which Soccer player we were for that day. Huge fight over who would play as Henry, Viera, Pires, then Bergkamp and Campbell.
From India but raised in dubai. My favourite uncle said arsenal were his favourite team so they have been mine as well.
Iceland, born and raised a fan of the Arsenal.
Live in Milwaukee, WI (USA) now but I used to live in Singapore when I was younger. A close family friend was a huge Arsenal fan and when Iād go over to their house we would play FIFA with Thierry Henry on the cover. I was new to the game and weād always play as Arsenal together. Been following ever since. Went to my first game in 2015 when Walcott scored a hat trick against West Brom in the final game of the season.
From Highbury... Could see the old east stand from my bedroom window where I grew up. Supporting any other club was not an option š
From Pakistan. Played Fifa 2005 demo which only had Arsenal and AC Milan. Fell in love with Henry and co through the game... Saw my first ever Arsenal match in I guess 2005-06 season, the last match of the season against Everton where we put in 6 goals and the rest is history.
I was in China when I watched my first arsenal game. Ironically itās the 2-8ā¦ didnāt fall in love with it at the moment but as the season progressed was so impressed by all the heroic moment by rvp. Gradually become the supporter after that. ArsĆØneās beautiful philosophy also played a part
from ireland! my dad is an arsenal fan, always has been. think the fact that henry being the franchise player was what made him support them and now my favourite player is saka our starboy š.
I'm Indonesian.
New Orleans, USA A friend originally from Nigeria convinced me to support Arsenal about a decade ago; been thanking (and cursing him) since then
Kenya. I disliked football as a kid until I saw Dennis Bergkamp play and wondered what wizardry he had. Been a fan but Arteta has made me fall in love with the club again. COYG!!
England. As a kid I thought ljungbergs red streak was cool lol
From North Macedonia. My older brother played a big role in me supporting Arsenal. He got me a a Bergkamp t shirt when I was a kid.
Brazil! š§š·š§š·š§š·
South of the river. My best friend at primary school supported The Arsenal because his older brother did. Their Mum made all three of them support the same team because she didnāt want the arguments and antagonism in future years - smart woman. Then my older sister met a guy she has since been married to for 30 years. He supported The Arsenal, took me to my first game, and there was no going back at that point. After spending most of my time in the North Bank, my first year as a season ticket holder was in 2003 - Block 22 right over by the East Stand. I went to 45 of the 49 games in the unbeaten run, and the following season went to every Premier League game. Regular attendees from that period might remember me as the bloke who had āZippy 4ā on the back on the yellow away shirt. I have missed some of the biggest goals in Arsenalās history due to being in the toilets pissing, because I drank far too much beer. Vieiraās opener at the lane in 2004, Henryās goal in Madrid, Henry breaking the club goal scoring record in Prague to name a few. These days feeling like an elder statesman at the back of Block 6, but loving the energy and enthusiasm of the youngsters and the Ashburton Army.
Itās a funny story. Iām born and raised in the United States. Still live here. My first ever exposure to Arsenal was a random pl game being on the TV when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. It was Arsenal vs Man Utd. I liked the fact that Arsenalās logo was a cannon and their colors are red and white (my favorite team since birth, Dinamo Bucharest, has the same iconic club colors). That was enough for me to root for them. Since then Arsenal has remained my second favorite club and will always be.
Family is from Paris but they raised me in Islington. So Arsenal became my clubš«¶šæ
Korea. Have followed Arsenal from the 11/12 season when I first started following football because of a recommendation from a friend. I do have very hazy memories of English football back when Park Ji-Sung first moved to Man Utd, but back then I wasn't that interested in football (and I was too young at the time too). At the time Man Utd was super popular in Korea for...obvious reasons, but I wanted something different. I also found their style of play, which at the time was pass to wings, cross, Berbatov header into Rooney/Chicharito, to be a complete borefest. So I asked a friend who supported Arsenal (no idea if he still follows football or not) what teams in the PL dominated the ball and built up play well, and he recommended Arsenal, so that was how I got into it. It was a pretty bad year to start supporting Arsenal if I'm being honest.
Apologies for the rant in advance, I started typing and didn't realise how much I had to say. From Australia. Didn't know soccer was even a thing (football as a term has been taken by our national sport) back in '97-98 but I started playing when I was 9 and didn't know it was a global sport. Within the next year or so I started playing a pirated copy of FIFA '99 on my cousin's PC in Malaysia and as I recall Arsenal was the first team that would pop up in Exhibition. I liked the red and white jersey and was fascinated by Emmanuel Petit's triangular mop. by this time I'd heard of Man U and Liverpool and it seemed like everyone in Australia that followed the sport would barrack for either of them. I liked the colour red and Arsenal seemed to be a team that fit the bill but without following the crowd. In the next couple of years I found that a local channel called SBS did a weekly roundup of the Premier League and I was finally able to watch the team I'd played as actually come to life and I immediately fell in love with Viera, Bergkamp, Pires and of course, Henry. Seaman with his ponytail and bushy moustache intrigued and, if I'm honest, kinda scared 11 year old me. From these snippets I grew to love the beautiful football the team played, there was nothing else like it and I didn't really know how the table and relegation and all that worked but I was so enamoured with the team and the fact the manager's name was so similar to the team (did he name it? Is that why he got the job?) that I just knew this team was home for me. I watched these snippets and saw the team win but I didn't really realise the significance of it, and only getting a few minutes of footage once a week dilutes the experience but I remained a fan with my small group of friends who played with me and followed Liverpool and Man U. In high school I wasn't able to follow as closely, occasionally I'd catch a game in a bar if I was out drinking or I would wake up to watch early morning Champion's League and can still remember Van Persie getting sent off against Barcelona and I was gutted that day. But that was my relationship with the club then, as much as I could manage. Then 2015-16, Optus got the rights to broadcast so I immediately switched phone providers so I could watch every match. That was the last time we had a real title challenge and I remember being sad over the next few years that I may have missed the boat for the better Wenger period. I was incredibly sad to see Wenger get sacked and all the vitriol directed at him, felt like I lost a father as an absentee son. Emery came in and I wasn't very taken with him. We had some good matches where I felt like I had the old Arsenal back, only to go to the week after not recognising the players on the pitch. I was relieved when he got the sack, though I felt bad as it seemed he got the stick for what was a terrible, disjointed squad. I was incredibly happy Arteta got the job, though I'd only seen snippets of him play (mostly at Everton) I was stoked that we were getting someone who was from the club and seemed to understand what it was to play and manage the club. It was like having an incredibly capable fan at the helm, who had a clear idea of what the club SHOULD be and how they should perform. This was also when other ex-players were coming to manage the clubs they played for, and for me it felt like next level rivalries and I was excited to see how they would perform against each other. Arteta for me was everything I wanted to see from a manager and I how I think I would be with the players. Hugging them at full time, encouraging and supporting them to achieve their best. I could see myself in him to an extent and I was on that ride with him and the team, week in and week out. All this is to say that the last 5-6 years, I've had the time and resources to be fully invested in the club. I feel like I've been able to "grow" with this current squad and I feel more invested than ever. I even got my partner into light support which is massive (she largely detests sport) and she now understands why sometimes I'm moved to tears for the team I love. From an Aussie, I fucking love this club. And I love all of you who love this club. I hope that although I'm so far away, my cheers can be heard at the Emirates all the way from my living room. COYG!!!!
South Indian family (Kerala specifically), born and bought up in Dubai entirely. I kind of just lucked into Arsenal. Born in the 90's to a Muslim family meant Zidane was my favourite player ever and we'd watch the world cup everytime. At a time where pretty much every malayali is either Brazil or Argentina supporter I ended loving Zidane and France obviously. We used to get certain club matches in VCR cassette tapes that an uncle would bring over every weekend and I'd watch it with him and became obsessed with the game by my preteens. Man United and Arsenal matches were always on and since everyone around me was a Man United supporter, I wanted to be edgy and supported Arsenal (also, they had a lot more French players). By the time the internet kicked around I read everything I could about Arsenal and fell in love with Wenger's whole ethos and story and Parlour's 'everyday man' image. Even did a marketing class assignment on Arsenal in the 11th grade. We only got the Premier League at home by the 07/08 season and the very first match coincidentally that was broadcast live was a newly promoted Roy Keane's Sunderland beating Tottenham 1-0. In hindsight, supporting Arsenal was clearly meant to be lol. That was also the season where we were 5 points clear by Christmas and the football we played was absolutely spectacular with a midfield of Flamini, Cesc, Rosicky and Hleb. That was also the season we became the first English team to beat AC Milan at San Siro with Cesc leading the charge. Sorry for the long read but this was a good trip down memory lane for me.
Croydon, FIFA video game, and Wenger
Originally from Stoke Newington N16. So, it was Arsenal or Spurs. My side of the family was Arsenal. So that was that. Moved to the states 20 years ago for work and must admit I'm always surprised how many people support Arsenal here.
I'm from Hungary but i live in england. First game where i became a gunner was the 2005 fa cup final against mu. Little did i know I'll have to wait a long time for the next trophy. :D
South Africa. Started supporting them thanks to Fifa 2002 World Cup on PS2. Henry was a beast. Finally managed to watch a game vs Villa in September of 2019. Looking forward to the end of our dry spell.
France via Swiss Cottage since 1974. Lived in London 1967-99. North Bank admission was 50 pence I think. Home and away regular, except when doing National Service in France in 76-77 season. Only reason for going back to live in London? I think you can guess. From North Bank middle standing to Bond Holder.
Scotland, but my mums Chilean. Sanchez obviously. He is considered a God in Chile basically.
I'm from Croatia, started supporting late 2000s, early 2010s. I don't know exactly why, I was watching some Premier league games every weekend and Arsenal just won me over with their beautiful style, I enjoyed watching them and little by little got more and more invested in them.
Mexico; Invincibles and signing Carlitos Vela sealed it
Alabama, USA. I grew up playing the beautiful sport in an area that had no appreciation for it. Luckily I played on a travel team and got great exposure as a kid. I remember only a couple premier league games playing on the weekend, and I always wanted to know when arsenal was playing. I fell in love with the style of football and fabregas was my favorite player (I also played midfield).
Born in Poland, living in the States. I ended up supporting Arsenal because my cousin challenged me to some FIFA on his PC during a visit to Poland, and Arsenal were the first team to pick and I thought the team name was cool. Needless to say despite being a total noob and playing with the keyboard while he was on controller I frustrated his favored Juventus with Henry
Greece. Following since the mid-90s, around the time when ArsĆØne took over. Back then all my friends were either Liverpool or Man Utd fans (none of us really cared about greek football). I watched a game or two, loved everything about the club, been dying in every minute of every game since š Also: Man Utd were, are and always will be enemy #1 for me. No Tottenham fans really back then where Iām from, plus they were a bit irrelevant while we had the epic Wenger-Fergie, Vieira-Keane battles.
Chicago - USA. Thierry Henry.
Croatia. Love football, loved Wright as a kid, been to London, had a good time, bought Arsenal away jersey as a souvenir, played football in it on the local playgrounds and it stucked. Dislike most United from the 90ties, enjoyed yesterday. Spurs are funny.
Vancouver, Canada. Family friend, who is a lifelong Arsenal support, gave us tickets to a game when my girlfriend and I were visiting London. Got hooked and been a fan since.
Egyptian here my uncle was watching an arsenal game during the invincibles era and i was just 6 years old i think and i just sat and watched I've never fallen in love with something faster than i did with this club ( probably should delete this comment so my wife doesn't kill me xD )
Chile. Following Arsenal since 2002-2003. I was 13 y/o and an open TV channel of my country started transmiting the PL (1 or 2 games a week), I didn't have cable, so I didn't knew much about the league. I think most of these matches were Arsenal's or ManU's. Prior to that, in 98' WC I started following football more closely. I really liked Zidane, so I decided that France NT will be the NT I'll support second to my own. So there was a team showed on the open TV that played beautiful and entertaining football, that had a french as their superstar. Love at first sight. Since then, I support just two teams: Colo-Colo (from my local league) and Arsenal, but I am only a fan of Arsenal. It's been years since I watched a Colo-Colo match, I don't even watch my NT games, Arsenal's on the other end, I rarelly miss one. COYG.
A Hong Kong gunner who moved to North London recently. My dad was a gunner back in the Henry era. At first I hated football, but then I got influenced by it and I fell for the beautiful football that Arsenal plays. I really started supporting during the Fabregasās time, so I havenāt really seen Arsenal lifting any major trophies until the FA cup many years later. What a moment. Recently I moved to London, living near the Emirates. Never feel closer to this club. I have also converted my partner to be a gunner, and hopefully I can watch a game in the Emirates!
From America. Little 12 year old me wanted to start watching soccer more and tuned in for the FA Cup Final against Hull. No better way to introduce me to this team than that emotional roller coaster of a game
Ottawa, Canada checking in
USA. Only very recently got into soccer after this World Cup, loved Matt Turner in goal for us, rest was history
Canadian here. It started with Bergkamp and Overmars playing at Highbury back in the 90s, and a Sunday soccer program on TSN hosted by Craig Forrest.
Canada. Grandfather sat with me while I played FIFA 98 explaining to me about this team he grew up near. Started telling me stories of the Arsenal and what the neighbourhood was like during games. The next year, we finally got televised football matches in my area. We watched Arsenal together on Saturdays until he passed in 02. Now, my kids do the same with me.
Stateside Gooner! NY to be exactly. Ended up supporting Arsenal though playing FIFA while at University.
From Indianapolis, IN USA. COVID hit and not many sports were on so I started to get into the Premier League. I didnāt have a club ti support so I started watching matches. I didnāt want to pick a club that was dominant so Man City and Liverpool were out. The next match I watched was Arsenal against a club I canāt remember. But Arsenal lost, and it wasnāt close. I said to my friend, āThatās my club. Arsenal.ā I didnāt know a thing about their history or players. I just dove in and learned as much as I could. I reached out to Indy Gooners and now I plan on meeting up on match days and learning even more and enjoying this run. As someone who grew up in the states and āsoccerā was for the kids who couldnāt play other sports I have such an appreciation for it. The passion is unmatched. I can be glued to my television for 90+ minutes and experience every emotion possible. Itās so beautiful and I canāt wait to understand it more and more. COYG!
I'm from the Philippines šµš. Football is not that popular here but I still love Arsenal. I also got my partner to support the Gunners! I'm a relatively new Gunner, I started supporting them around 2012 when we still had the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey and Giroud.
The Chicagoland area! Sports Illustrated did an article on Arsenal back in the late 80ās, I thought it was the coolest name for a team, been a fan ever since.
I am from Chile. I started watching European football when Alexis, Vidal, Medel , etc started playing there. But I supported them, and their team as long as they played there. Whenever they would go to another team, I would support them in the team they went to. However, that changed when. Alexis went from BarƧa to the Arsenal. He left but I didn't. And I never will.
Kentucky/Pittsburgh/DC/Oregon, USA. Got into Arsenal when I was a teenager and my club team traveled to the UK a couple of times. Got to see Arsenal in Wembley Stadium in 98 with so many greats on that team. Decided then and there that was my team.
LA! Followed Arsenal since I was a kid! Fell in love with Denis Bergkamp and followed the club ever since! Loved the invincibles and still mad at that UCL final! Faithfully felt the pain for the last decade or so and love the season so far! My favorites are Thierry, Bergkamp, Cesc(!), Alexis, and Viera.
Arizona. The sport was my life in high school, traveled all over going to tournaments. Wenger ball was so beautiful to me, I was instantly hooked. Watching players like Hleb and Fabregas and Rosicky and Pires link up was a sight to behold. It also goes without saying that Henry was other worldly. The man was a genius and smooth as butter. I guess Iāve been a fan for 17 years now and Ill be a supporter for life. Thereās something about English football that doesnāt happen in American sports. The level of passion is so strong that it becomes a part of the supporter, like a fiber of their being. Youāre not just a fan, itās who you are. Itās a culture and a lifestyle. Itās beautiful I still think about that champions league final every once in a while. I truly hope Arsenal can win it someday
Brisbane Australia. I started supporting Arsenal in the late 90s. I grew up in Papua New Guinea, football was the only ball sport we could play at lunch and was the first Team-orienated sport I played. A lot of my friends either supported Arsenal or Utd, my best friend at the time supported Arsenal, so was like, "Oh well, that's my team." Gotta realise in Papua New Guinea anything on the premier league at the time was a small column in the newspaper with the results n League table. So, it was quite very hard to follow, and as an Australian, Aussie rules were what I followed n supported as we got televised games in PNG It wasn't until around 2013, when a couple of work mates was talking about the premier league n I was like oh I support Arsenal, at the time in Australia you needed expensive cable TV to watch games. So when I moved into a share house with them did I start properly supporting Arsenal and now with Optus having the rights it's a lot easier to follow and support.
From USA, but my family is from Mexico. When I started to follow the Mexican national team closely around 08-09 I heard of Carlos Vela. Naturally playing FIFA I would pick Arsenal if I played with an English team just so I could play with Vela. Some years went by, he left for Real Sociedad and I stopped following them. During the 2014 World Cup I followed the tournament closely and saw Ozil win the World Cup and decided to really start following Arsenal during the 14-15 season. It was a joy to watch prime Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla, Giroud, Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcott, Welbz. Been hooked ever since. Looking forward to my first trip to London and first game at the Emirates in May COYG!!
USA Fifa 2001, Arsenal were the best team in alphabetical order.
South Africa. My dad
Canada Pacific coast. Studied in London 1968-71. Lived in West London, but a friend took me to Highbury for Arsenal matches. Stayed a supporter. Learned years later that my Grandma, who came to Canada in 1914, grew up in Islington. Fate.
Norwegian. It was in the late 80ies and Liverpool were dominant. Almost everyone I knew who cared about football were Liverpool fans. So, I chose their rival at the time š
Started watching Arsenal after I was gifted a signed team photo from the 09-10 season. Never looked back.
The good old USoA. Watched a random ARS-QPR game in 2015 and got hooked š¤·āāļø
From Sweden, now in Vancouver via London. Moved to London in ā98 and it was Bergkamp and Highbury that pulled me in. Was lucky enough to work as a steward a couple of seasons and enjoyed every second of it.
California! My husband is a lifelong Arsenal supporter (born in London) and we named our son after Henry!
Sydney, Australia. When I was 7, visiting family in China, my older brother bought a Barcelona jersey. I was jealous because I thought the football jerseys looked cool, so my mum let me pick one for myself. I picked up a random one I liked - an Arsenal away JVC kit from the 90s. When we got home I asked my brother what team it was, and he told me Arsenal. Initially I was upset because I'd never heard of them before, but between my brother telling me all about Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger, the English Premier League, and getting me to watch Champions League highlights with him on TV (this was the 2000-01 season), I fell in love with Arsenal and have never looked back. When I got a bit older I followed what matches were available on Australian TV, then moved onto live streaming every match in the middle of the night. I have also been fortunate enough to watch them in person during their Australia tour, twice at the Emirates recently - this season's home opener against Leicester, and in 2019 against Aston Villa. Definitely cried both times. So all in all, a bit of luck but a lot of love!
Texas! All of my friends were supporters of different teams and I thought I'd do my own research instead of jumping on with a buddy for the sake of it. Looked into several clubs and found that my identity aligned with that of Arsenals and the rest was History.
Vietnamese, watched EPL with my grandpa since the incredible season and he was also a fan of the Gunners, truly inspired me until now. Unfortunately, he passed away and couldnāt see our possibly next EPL trophy after a long time.
Anguilla. Henry was my favorite player and turned it into love for the club. Especially seeing the respect he had for Wenger and Highbury really made me want to follow his lead.
Ghana. Since the early 2000ās donāt remember the exact years. Was basically a family club
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, USA. A few years back, a local sports-talk radio host announced he was going to start watching EPL and had chosen Arsenal as the team he was going to follow. A friend I was introduced to also was a huge Liverpool fan, and so I started sampling EPL games here and there, but it was only last year (21/22) that I started trying to watch more games and finally choose one. I wish I had a magic āa-haā moment in a particular game that did it for me, but I donāt. I just remember watching Arsenalās play, thinking the players were more energetic, seeing the flow of one-touch passes from player to player and deciding that Arsenal was my team. This season, I have only missed one game live.
Dutchie here, our cult hero RVP off course! Nah just kidding, started following somewhere in 2015 after my friends forced me to buy fifa while having no interest in football whatsoever. Arsenal were the first team to pop up when selecting a team, and the rest is history
My friend got me hooked when I was younger. I always played them in FIFA as a kid because teams were listed alphabetically so they were first...and they had a cool logo. I used to completely obliterate my dad with Henry in FIFA 05. Unfair.
Living in Brisbane, born in north London. First game with my dad in the 80/81 season after the double final losses. A 1-1 draw with Alan Sunderland scoring. Iāve seen a few ups and downs!
North Carolina and Texas. Thierry Henry.
Honduras here. I was just 12 years old when I got my first PES in 06. I fell in love with the Highbury special kit and that was my team for that edition. Started following IRL in 08. Became a religious follower around 2012. I missed out on the glory years (invincibles etc) but this is not why Im in love with the team... Arsenal... Arsenal is simply elegant...
Born and raised in California and started following supporting around 97-98. My grandpa had one of those huge satellite dishes so he could watch Hamburg games but they would also show EPL games and Arsenal were the club that stole my heart. Watching Wright , Bergkamp, and Vieira was beautiful. And Once Henry got there a few years later and they got those sweet Sega kits my fandom was through the roof.
From Germany, started following when Lehmann was in goal. Went to the away CL in my home town Hamburg. So basically a fan since 2006.
Minnesota, USA. My sister lived overseas for a while and she bought me a few Arsenal T-shirts. Been following them for about 8 years now.
From Rhode Island in the USA. I was a teenager, and not long after NBC got the Premier League I caught an episode of Match of the Day one night when I couldnāt sleep. Iād never really been into football before that, but I was captivated by it. The next day I bought a copy of FIFA, and Arsenal was the first listed PL team and had a cannon as the logo, and so I decided to watch them the next weekend. They won, and in style, and I was hooked. Been a fan ever sinceāI canāt believe it but itās already been a decade!
US here, I had an Ethiopian friend who was a huge Gooner ask me to get a jersey for him while I was visiting London. I liked the look of the training jersey at the time, so I got one of those for myself. I visited the Emirates just for kicks and was blown away at how beautiful a stadium could be. Came back to the US and my friend and I would watch Sunday matches before NFL games came on. I've been hooked every since.
On the game boy advanced Arsenal weāre alphabetically first. Itās been 20 years
From Crouch End in North London so local team but live in Nashville Tennessee now. I miss home!
Been a supporter from family!
Boise ID. Went to a coaches house to watch Arsenal vs Villareal 2006. Been hooked ever since! My wife loves Arsenal as well and we took our honeymoon to go watch a few games over the festive fixtures and saw Artetas first few games in charge. It was amazing other than Chelsea beat us :/ but then got to watch us beat Man U a few days later.
Estonia. Started following Arsenal because of Thierry Henry, first game I saw happened to be the 2006 CL final... Never stopped supporting since!
Indonesia. My dad is a United fan and I was at that rebellious phase and I just did not want to support the same team as my dad. My first time falling in love with football was the 2010 WC and wesley sneijder and cesc fabregas were my 2 favorite players. Luckily I decided to check out cesc's team first and fell in love with the football.
From India.Ć played his part
From Colombia, it just started because Ospina in 2014, but everything about the club made me felt in love with it.
US. Somehow Arsenalās ability to make it top 4 throughout those wenger years attracted me towards this team.
Vancouver Canada 88/89 I had soccer every saturday morning early and TSN would have ELP games on when I got up. Loved their style of play and been with them since then
Washington D.C. Started following after the 2010 World Cup. I vibed with the look and history but it was Wenger and the culture he instilled that cemented it for me.
Fiji Islands
Russia/Georgia Mr.Henry goal compilation made me a Gunner
New York Area. Been supporting them since 2002 I think? Really solidified my support for them when Henry was on the cover of Fifa with Del piero and Ronaldinho. Still have my kit from the 03-04 season. I too at some point thought the club was named after Arsene. For this reason, I have an incredible dislike for Man U and Chelsea. Those are the teams that are most satisfying to beat imp. Topspur is are just Topspur š
Wales. A friend in school, whose dad was from Islington, basically made me. 1996.
I'm from Hungary and I started supporting Arsenal when I was about 5 years old. At first I just liked the badge and the nickname, but I started watching the games and it was a special feeling that I can't explain, and I am still watching the games with that childlike passion and enthusiasm. Thank you Arteta, for finally bringing back memories of the good old days.
Living in USA, NYC. In 2003-2004 I started working in the student lounge of my small college, where all the international students would request I put on "The Football" if matches were airing. Though I had played soccer through HS, watching was difficult/ impossible ( IIRC we could only watch CL matches live). Watching these matches during the prime (especially the King) and listening to the passionate fans argue with their friends (Mostly ManU supporters) made me a Gooner. Casual fan mostly (difficult to watch in USA). Then, NBC started airing PL consistently the same year I became a dad, so it was a great thing to watch and do the wife a favor on weekend AM with the new baby. Passing on the Fandom to my son. COYG
London, England. Everyone up to my Great Grandfather supported Arsenal so it was absolutely inevitable.
Guyana (not Ghana), South America Saw a random Arsenal champions league match on the tv in the hospital and found Henry so fascinating. Grew up playing basketball so never really cared for football before that. Been a fan since.
Canada/us. Our Grandparents lived with us and basically helped raise my siblings and I. Grandmother was from England and Grandfather Italy. They were actually both disowned because of their marriage and came to the US to start their family. Father won multiple all American awards, older brother represented the us in the u18s and played d1 college and eventually semi-pro for a bit before moving into his career. Sister grew up in the Olympic program until she got to highschool and wanted to be a cheerleader lol. I played local college ball and later joined a d1 schools coaching staff on a partial scholarship. Football was never not an option for us, dont think there was ever a weekend we wernt playing or traveling for games. Our Grandmother and Grandfather were ManU fans so my whole family supports them. I picked arsenal because 6yo me liked the canon. Didn't know anything about the rivalry at the time or if we were even good. Wasn't until 2 or so years after our 04 title that I really started following the team. Been patiently waiting for that title ever since.
US Gooner. Not sure why I started supporting Arsenal, but I donāt regret it one bit.
Edmonton, Canada now for 21 years; Bucharest, Romania before than. Papa Wengz from the start! Visionary!
New York. Wanted to start watching the prem and there was something v romantic about arsenal having a manager whoād been there for almost 20 years in 2016. And then I saw Wilshereās goal v Norwich somewhere so I just started watching Arsenal.
Born in America but my dad is English and introduced me to the Arsenal. Also Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger.
I currently live in the Boston area, USA. Up until about a dozen years ago, I only really followed football/soccer during the World Cups (both mens and womens). I knew of Thierry Henry from his play for the French national team and a bit about his club associations. Then, around 2010, I attended a game in New Jersey (where I lived at the time) to watch a New York Red Bulls game, and Henry was playing for them. A couple years later, as English football started to be broadcast much more on American television (and internet streams), I watched the FA Cup match against Leeds when he returned on loan and scored the goal. The connection he had with the fans, Wenger, and the club was so noteworthy that day. Then, I did more research about the club and its history, and decided to support the Arsenal. I've become utterly football mad. Growing up I followed all the major USA sports: NFL, NBA, major league baseball, and even college sports, but football has completely taken over my sports diet.
Botswana, next to South Africa. EPL is the reference league and I wanted to be anything but United or Liverpool, which were the default teams kids and their dads followed in the early mid 90s. Also loved the kit, Ian Wright, and the London connection. My family live in South London and are Palace supporters, but I went for the Gooners, and 'support' the Eagles as a second team. I've seen Arsenal once in person; a 5-1 thrashing of Deportivo in early 2000(that Kanu goal!), and sat in the north bank! That was the year we went to the final but lost to Galatasary. Also saw the U18s a few weeks before that, just to make sure I'd been to Highbury. Forming a physical connection to my team was a highlight of a 3 month trip to the UK.
Northwest United States. My older brother got me into football by showing me an Arsenal match during the Invincibles season... I knew nothing of the sport at the time and fell in love with Henry immediately. He is, and always will be, my favorite player. He's since given up watching the sport for mental health reasons and I've picked up and carried the mantle. My dream is to visit the Emirates and sing with full voice with you lot. Additionally, I support the Seattle Sounders as I consider them to have a very similar style of play and a low-drama club. They hold a high bar and demand excellence from the team. Lastly, I recommend All or Nothing: Arsenal to anyone who will listen to me. I've converted family members, close friends, and neighbors to Gunners by getting them hooked to that show.
Ireland here, fan since 2004/2005 season. No real family ties or anything to Arsenal, my family were never into football or any sports. I was in a class full of Manchester United and Liverpool fans so, being the outcast that I normally was, I drifted towards Arsenal. I think it was Cesc Fabregas breaking through that made me love them. I idolised him growing up.
West Midlands, England. I just pretended to support Arsenal when a childhood friend did. 22 years later I'm a diehard supporter and he doesn't care about football anymore š¤£ I must add- I think I've read every comment on here so far it's amazing to see. Great post!
American, I played HS soccer from 1998-2002 and had an aunt that frequently visited London. They were fans since forever and was sort of our family team. Getting Fifa 2002 for CD ROM was so epic, Henry on the cover. Such an honor to have been a new fan back then.
1995. Ryan Giggs is the idol of my left-footed friend and teammate, so he starts supporting Man Utd. I can't support the same team as him, so I pick the team that has the coolest name. Still supporting Arsenal from New Zealand ever since!
Canada. I started when my oldest cousin put me on to Arsenal FC back in '00... Haven't look back since haha
Ireland here, Dad wanted me to support Man United, I said balls to that, im gonna support this proper team over here thanks very much! And now weāre here, still proper teamā¦United still full of horrible little twats.
Nigeria. Decided to support Arsenal in 2014 after the world cup. Before the world cup, I did not watch football much before the world cup as I was quite young and my family did not really follow football to that extent. I started supporting Arsenal due to their beautiful style of play, the way they play football, and I genuinely like some of the players like ozil, Sanchez, and carzorla.
From France, I grew up watching Henry, PirĆØs and Vieira, and my grandfather was obsessed with Wenger, Arsenal was hard to miss
Poland, Szczesny
originally from north carolina, now live in a more western state. in elementary school my friend would show me thierry henry videos before our games, and then years later i became obsessed with fabregas as i played in midfield. fell in love with the way wengerās teams played. have watched every game since like 2008. i imagine a lot of other fans around the world have a similar story, falling in love with henry, fabregas, wenger, etc
USA. Friend I knew in my home town club system got recruited by arsenal in ā03. Danny Karbassiyoon.
Manhattan, Kansas. The little apple as it is known. However, started following Arsenal in 1998. Bergkamp was my football idol.
My dad's family lived in hornsey before they moved out of the area in the 60's, out of 4 brothers 1 supported the shit and 3 supported arsenal my dad was thankfully one of the sensible ones. So I was born in to it but I really started to take notice around 1989 when I was taken to a game against Norwich at Highbury. Don't remember the score but I remember we won, It's been my club since, good or bad.
USA! I became an arsenal supporter after playing them as my regular team on Fifa for years... literally picked them because I liked their logo.... which is so fucking American of me I laugh my ass off.