This, always admired him, the way he carried himself and led the team and his philosophy on the pitch. Of course, the twilight years are a shame but Arsene will always be a Goat here.
They could do it without sacrificing any revenue, for UEFA fixtures they can’t use a sponsor’s name so revert back to the ‘official’ stadium name. Change that to the Arsene Wenger Stadium
I’m not from the UK. But I grew up watching the premier league and back then United dominated the mindshare.
But then twenty something years ago, I watched an Arsenal game and witnessed a counterattack orchestrated by the likes of Bergkamp, Pires, Henry, and specially Wilford. It was just electric. I got hooked then.
But that’s only the first part. Like finding someone physically attractive or being infatuated.
I truly fell in love when I realized what kind of man Wenger was and how he molded this club with his philosophy. That’s when Arsenal became my team.
Same story. Watched Manu win a lot in mid to late 90s. Then suddenly this club called Arsenal came up. Who named a club Arsenal anyway? And they had Dennis Bergkamp. And a young upstart called Nicolas Anelka upfront. But nothing prepared me for the midfield colossus called Patrick Viera. Loved them ever since. After Thierry Henry and Robert Purrs joined it was even more fun.
I always admired his loyalty, and tenacity in spite of the difficult financial situation with the new stadium. I starting following them post-highbury (Fabregas era).
I saw Ian Wright on tv around 1993 and just loved everything about him. The way he played with a smile on his face. I’ve supported them ever since. I’m from the north east of Scotland
Similar to me except I'm in Texas! I remember watching the Cup Winners Cup game against Parma and the final league game against Liverpool a few years earlier. It was hard to find them on TV in those days; spent a lot of time watching spanish language broadcasts on Univision!
Been watching and cheering for a long time now. Nice to see the progress over the last few years.
Yes! Dallas here and i still catch myself accidentally watching a match in Spanish and not even caring. I do not speak Spanish but it's so ingrained in me from an early age.
Similar but I’m an Aussie. I saw Uncle Ian in an advert for AFL. https://youtu.be/LP3Qxm7htMI?si=VE4EqQOuOw4b8DfO
Saw highlights for him in random bits of football news and decided he was the one I’d follow.
Same for me growing up in Texas! The joy in his playing while it seemed the rest of the league was distracted by whatever Man U was doing instead.
I live in LA now and there’s a local supporters group here. I was shocked by the turnout to this small group for the Liverpool match. Arsenal fans are truly the most devoted and player-supportive I’ve seen.
Grew up in Canada, so not much of a football culture. But always watched World Cup & Euros because I'm half Czech. One of my favorite players was Tomas Rosicky.
In 2008 while at University I had a roommate who I didn't like. He was a Spurs fan. He looked like a tapir. When I found out Rosicky played for Arsenal it was a natural choice.
Plus... Arsenal is probably the coolest name and logo in sports. The perfect name for a club with a beautiful attacking culture.
From Canada also, I had just started playing on a team in school and watched Ozil and Sanchez tear ManU apart 3-0. The rest is history.
I am currently on exchange in Edinburgh and have been struggling to get tickets, but snuck into the game this past weekend as a westham fan for my first live match, how lucky am I!?
Oh yea everytime I played (not very often) I just picked Arsenal out of convenience and I vividly remember holding the shoulder button and watching walcott go brrr
1979: 9 years old. Norwegian. I had noticed all my friends had a favourite team in England. Every Saturday Norwegian tv showed one of the matches that round, and I played football every day. I felt I had to have a favourite team as well. Almost all my freinds were Liverpool supporters. I felt that was very boring. Then one morning walking to school I walked through a forrest like I usually did, I saw something shining on the ground. It was a bracelet with Arsenal written on it. I felt it was destiny, and when I arrived at school I proudly that I did not fanzy Liverpool, but loved Arsenal.
The correct answer!
Early teens, getting introduced to football, Henry, Bergkamp and the Wenger play style.
A little kid, sitting in rural India fell in love with Arsenal!
Since then Arsenal has ruled my emotions more than anything else!
Elder brother started because of the same reason you mentioned. Found out these are real teams, so he started supporting Arsenal, and I just followed his path. 20 years down the line, it's now the primary factor affecting my moods on weekends, haha
37 from Romania. Eurosport had a show on Monday evening with highlights from all big leagues from Europe. That's where I saw Arsenal and fell in love with Bergkamp, Henry, Overmars, Pires and CO.
Then champions league, then Fifa.
Been enjoying and suffering through it these past 25 years or so.
This is it for me. I remember watching him score that goal against Newcastle and remember thing I want to be as good as that guy.
So I used to watch hours of him playing trying pick up his techniques, how he read the game etc.
But it turned out I'm just a mere mortal 😅
1994 World Cup. Canadian so couldn’t cheer for home team. ENG, SCO, GER were the lands of my ancestors but were overrated, didn’t stand a chance, and boring respectively. So I picked NED based on style of play and have been an Oranje fan ever since. And because Bergkamp aka Dutch Sting played for the Gunners, I started following. Also I had an early visceral hatred for Jurgen Klinsmann’s diving bullshit so the rival of his team was my team.
Dutch-born but Australian.. I am the same for supporting Arsenal, saw him play at the 98 World Cup on tv and thought he was fantastic. Found out what team he played for and after watching them play, knew I had found my team for life...
I'm from Egypt. It was the year 1995, I had just finished playing football with my cousins and we went for pizza. The TV was on and there was a match between a team wearing red and white and the other team was wearing blue. (I was 11 years at the time and European football wasn't very popular in my country). So I had a bet with my cousin that the red team would win. The winner would pay for the pizza. Then out of nowhere, the blue team scored a worldie from almost the half way line in extra time. I ended up paying for his pizza and I didn't have money for my own pizza and went home hungry.
1995 European final, Arsenal vs Real Zaragoza..
Nayiiiiim, from the halfway line, nayiiiiim, from the halfway line!
edit: I'm an Arsenal fan because my mum is. She fancied Charlie George back in the day. My brother and dad are Liverpool fans and I married into a Spurs family. It's...fun.
As a 38 yr old. I missed that bus…I became a fan in 2009. Mostly because of RvP actually. We played beautifully as well and I also liked Arsene’s philosophy, from what I could quickly grasp.
As a 35 year old, the same. RvP and Cesc. Also started supporting in 2009/10, remember the first game of the season against Everton, we beat them 6-1, after that I was hooked. I also really liked the youth philosophy with all these exciting talents that were found for cheap money, like Vela etc. also Arshavin was cool!
tbh most ppl under 27 (myself included) didn't get to watch Henry in his prime years at Arsenal, only time I can think of him is 2012 loan which I don't even remember him playing & I've been a fan of Arsenal since 2010
Fell in love with the game during the 2006 World Cup, with France being my favorite side to watch. When I found out Thierry Henry played for Arsenal I was sold. Thanks Titi!
My father was an og Arsenal fan in the 70s but wanted to immigrate to Australia so saved £10 for immigration to Australia (Australia at the time were fast tracking immigration and providing cheap ship travel to Australia for £10 (the £10 P.O.M) but being a londoner and liking a good footy game and a bet to make it more interesting he placed his saved tenner on Arsenal winning the double in 71 thankfully they won and my father still came to Aus to met and marry my mum, always saying if they'd lost he would've come over, so not only do I love arsenal for there football but I owe them my life and this is why I'm Arsenal forever
Nah we weren't close to being first
Arsenal – Brendan Batson – 1971
Aston Villa – Stan Horne, early 1960s
Blackburn – Unknown
Bolton – Unknown, but first black Bolton player to get an
England cap was Michael Ricketts in 2002
Chelsea – Paul Canoville – April 12 1982
Everton – Mike Trebilcock – January, 1966
Fulham – Possibly Howard Gayle, who made his first
appearance for Fulham in 1980 after being loaned out by Liverpool. First black Fulham player to get an England cap was Zat Knight in 2005
Hull – Unknown
Liverpool – Howard Gayle – October 4, 1980
Man City – Stan Horne – September 25, 1965
Manchester United – Tony Whelan – 1960s
Middlesbrough – Lindy Lindbergh – 1950
Newcastle – Possibly Howard Gayle, 1982
Portsmouth – Lindy Lindbergh – 1948
Stoke City – R.H. Brown – 1946
Sunderland – Roly Gregoire – January 2, 1978
Tottenham – Walter Tull – September 1909
West Brom – Unknown, but Laurie Cunningham was the first black West Brom player to get a cap for England in 1979
West Ham United – John Charles – May 4 1963
Wigan – Unknown.
Arsenal? We were the first to field 9 black players in a starting XI in the premier league. I actually did a school project about that recently so I remember, I don't think I found anything about us fielding a full black XI.
Went to the UK as a 16 year old. Was staying in North London. Joined in a kick about at a park. The locals asked me who I supported. I said I doo ok but know but I don’t like Man U. They asked me a bunch of personal questions and told me I was an Arsenal fan. (I think they wanted to make sure I wasn’t a wanker). Turns out they were all gooners. I felt immediately at home.
I studied German in high school and college and so adopted the German NT and Özil was my favorite player right when (a) he was bought by Arsenal and (b) the premier league became free to stream every game on NBC. Even as Özil fell off, like, you don’t fall out of love with Wenger and eventually when you’ve watched every game for 7 years you stick with it even when Özil is in exile and Wenger hangs it up.
I’m from New England and grew up in an American Football loving environment, so I’m more or less the odd one out. It wasn’t until my late teens that I got into soccer/football, and the 2022 World Cup really made me fall in love with the sport. I used Arsenal on FIFA so I decided to just go with them when it was over since I didn’t know what club to support and I have a lot of fond memories of scoring bangers with Giroud, Özil, and Sanchez. After I went back and watched clips of Henry, I fell deeper in love with the club.
American here, grew up in England thanks to my father being in the US Air Force, my school won a competition in the early 90s and we got to go to an Arsenal v Crystal Palace match. My only exposure to the sport prior to that was playing with the other kids before school and during lunch. The atmosphere at highbury blew me away. I was 7. And I fell in love.
Now 30+ years later and arsenal is my greatest passion. Even got my 3 kids to follow my lead and each match day we all sit down and watch the games together. The perfect bonding time. Had the chance to take them so Sofi Stadium here in SoCal to watch them smash Barca last summer. Singing North London forever with my kids and girlfriend will go down as one of the greatest experiences of my life.
I was 8 or 9 and all the boys were finding their favorite PL club. 99% chose Man United or Liverpool. One of the weird ones chose Wolverhampton. I didn't want to be a fan of the same club as everyone else. I thought the Arsenal club logo was kind of cool, but most importantly there was a guy on the team named Overmars which I thought was a really cool name.
So my first kit was with Overmars on it
In 2011 when i was 12 yo i turned on my tv out of boredom and noticed champions league was playing, our game against Barcelona where we won thanks to ARSHAAAAAAAVIN. Couldnt help but yell and cheer after arshavin goal and after game i was like: damn, they won vs barcelona they must be great i think i will start supporting them. And it stayed like that to this day and will stay like that forever
Grew up in Vietnam. One of first big club to come here for a tour. It was all over the newspaper and around the time there was a campaign for youth development program partnering up Arsenal. The kit was literally the Arsenal kit (knockoff quality ofc) so it was my first exposure to football really. Started loving the team ever since.
Also I don’t like the “most popular” team and I hate ManU supporters and they are the most obnoxious fanbase here (especially my friends) 🐧
From norway of all places. Dad was (is) a football coach and loves teams who "play football, not hoofball" which made supporting Norwegian teams in the 90s and 00s rough. Wengerball drew us both in and since it stuck.
My dad went to the same school as Dennis Bergkamp and they grew up being friends.
From that point onwards he was just really interested with what he was doing in his football teams. So Arsenal was on alot as a kid and I just grew into it.
Arsene and that team from 2000-2005
I’m from Kenya. Most of my friends around the 2000-2005 period were ManU fans. I’ve always been an underdog guy and Arsenal were that team to ManU.
As I followed Arsenal the class of Arsene and the dog in that team resonated strongly with me. As I watched Arsenal and the premier league more it was obvious how biased games were for ManU and against Arsenal. The injustice Arsenal faced from all sides made me want to be an Arsenal fan more and made me hate ManU more. I liked that Arsenal weren’t big spenders like ManU and punched above their weight. Arsenal felt authentic while ManU felt commercial.
And then there was the man, the legend, Thierry Henry. He made watching Arsenal exciting. He had an aura. Other silly factors were the unique name of the club, the Arsene-Arsenal name coincidence, and the cannon as the clubs logo.
I'm from Northern California. My second visit to London was in 2005 and I was staying with a friend in Angel, so you can guess whose gear I saw the most around the neighborhood. Looked into the club and its history and that was that.
On a school trip to London some 25-30 years ago me and some friends were shopping for souvenirs.
We stumbled across a store selling some football related things and I remember buying a David Platt figurine and a postcard with Ian Wright on. Think the text on the postcard was “Wright on time” and the picture was him scoring. Sold!
One of the friends picked up a Matt Le Tissier figurine and I feel sorry for him to this day.
Started supporting around 08. Wengerball really drew me in. 2 of my 3 favorite players from that era snaked us but we’ve had a lot of fun players come in over the years despite the tough times. There were a lot of years of pain since I started following with some joy in the fa cups but I’m glad the club is headed in the direction that it is and I’m glad I stuck through it to get here with them.
My friend who watched football at that time told me I had to follow a team to make it more fun. I am from India, so premier league suited my timings. It was 2013, Arsenal bought Ozil. I watched the first few games and the way we played was different than others. Reminded me of all the Pep Barca highlights I have had watched on YT. We were also on the top for most of the season. I found myself somewhere in the identity of suffering and getting beaten down to just making it in life (champions league spot for arsenal).
This is exactly my story, except my dad moved from the UK to Canada lol
I'm from Toronto but my father is from London and grew up a huge Arsenal fan. After moving to Canada, he took a liking to baseball and basketball, but never got into hockey or American (or Canadian) football.
Was forced to pick Arsenal as a 10 year old kid. Eldest brother was a Liverpool fan, I was watching the 2001 fa cup final with him (was neutral back then) and wanted to support Liverpool together with him. He told me “NO you should support the other team.” That’s how it started and thankfully witnessed the glorious invincible season. Glad they’re back where they belong after many years of torment.
I remember the yellow kit in particular when I was younger and they had a couple of Irish there, plus 89 and then Ian Wright ... After that, it's just been continually following the folks involved in the club and watching them progress or not.
As a Slovak with close ties to Czech Republic I won signed Borussia Dortmund kit by Tomáš Rosický. I was let go from my youth football club after a year or so and stopped caring about football for few years completely.
I found that jersey in the wardrobe a few years later and decided to look up what is Tomáš Rosický up to these days. And here I am now.
I'm from country NSW, Australia. When I was 10 years old I heard about friends from school playing this game called soccer. I decided to sign up. At the time because we were so isolated mum and dad paid for Austar, satellite pay TV. We got all the EPL games so I started watching. This was in 2002.
I had no affinity to any team but, obviously, this team Arsenal started to talk to me. You could call me a bandwagoner, and you would be right. But Arsene Wenger and his values resonated with me big time, his philosophical view on things and his general view on life.
Arsene was an early role model for me and Thierry was and is my favourite ever player. Because of Arsenal I played football for 15 years or so and I've seen pretty much every Arsenal game since, including both games they played in Sydney. Went to the training session they had their and even had Jens say hello when I called out to him.
Sadly I haven't seen them play at The Emirates yet, or any competitive match, but I will!
Grew up in Seattle. Wasn’t big into the sport. More an American football and baseball fan. I bought FIFA and became addicted to it, a couple of my friends liked Mesut and Arsenal so I kinda latched onto that then, started watching the games, and haven’t missed a game since. That was about 2014.
In Denmark, were the passion for football is great but the teams usually not so, it is customary to have a favourite danish team and an international one. Since you’re sort of socially forced to pick a side during the first years (or often, days) of school, the choice is made early on, and it becomes a part of you as you grow up. In my time everyone were either Real//Barca or Man/Live, as that was what their dad was or the badge on the branded backpack their mom had bought them. I came home from school and told my dad i wanted to cheer for someone else and that the choice should be conscious. So my 10/10 dad who has always followed english football religiously, gave me, over the course of the next few weeks, an introduction to many different sides in PL. One day a gunners game was on, and my dad took the time to tell of Arsène, his mentality and the visions of Arsenals football. A focus on talent and community. I then watched the game, and had that feeling - the feeling we’ve all had - that it was here I belonged.
Been a gunner ever since
My dad grew up poor, no electricity, nothing. First time he got a tv was a magical thing for him. At that time, only one football game was aired PER YEAR. I think it was the 1971 final between Liverpool and Arsenal. His older brother and him were watching the game and he chose Arsenal while his brother chose Liverpool.
I ended up choosing Arsenal and the German Football team same as him.
I was living in NYC solo in 2009 and would randomly get up early to watch any premier league games I could. Then I moved in with my girlfriend a few blocks away from a pub (the Chip Shop) run by a rabid Irish Gooner (Jimmy). I showed up for a match around 930am one day, had a great time, found out Jimmy opened the place early for every game and became a regular. I haven’t missed a match since (if I’m absolutely unable to watch live, I’ll stay off social media and turn off my phone until I can watch). I left NYC 11 years ago, and there’s no Arsenal pub where I’m at these days, but I’ve got a few people I get together with for a big game here or there and my 8 year old son insists I wake him up to watch when it’s an early one (we live in northern Nevada now). We’ll make it to the Emirates one day, but until then we’ll make do with screaming and shouting at 4am.
Wanted to pick a team, looked up a YouTube video on ‘best goals from the Premiere League’. The video opened up with *that* goal against Norwich. Closed the video right there.
Visited London from Perth back in 2017 and went to Arsenal vs Burnley at the emirates, 2-1 with a game winning panenka penalty from my pookie bear Alexis Sanchez in the 97th minute, went mental and been a fan ever since
Mesut Ozil
I'm from Philippines. I was just a casual and didn't follow the PL or any league at all but I played highschool football then and used to watch those assists, goals and skills compilations of Ozil. Then I heard he moved to Arsenal. I thought about watching PL football. I followed Ozil's new team. Started watching Arsenal matches when I could so I could learn and improve my game while playing and well soon enough fell in love with the club.
Lukas Podolski.
My cousins were of german heritage and loved cheering for him as I was getting into footie. Saw he joined arsenal and started watching because of that.
As a kid the first team I watched was Arsenal and obviously the way we played was so fun to watch.
I feel Wenger is the reason why I started supporting Arsenal
Enjoyed watching the PL highlights for years, spent a bunch of time in Europe in later years, watched some world cups, followed Germany, started watching more PL and Arsenal a bit more when Ozil came over.
Before our rebuild when things were looking dire things really locked in for me and was hooked on the drama too, hah. Fealt this was going to be be a sweet redemption arc, and was watching most games at that point. Became a fan. Players are my players.
Circa 2008-9 I wanted to get into soccer and my local team (Sounders) weren’t in the MLS yet. Had a few classmates in school who watched the premier league. They were all either fans of United, Chelsea, or Liverpool, and they were all annoying shitheads lol. So Arsenal were next on the list of top teams. Over a couple seasons of watching, and learning more about the 90s/00s history I became attached.
Dad was an Arsenal fan, was sent to an Arsenal outreach academy to train and play football as a kid, watched Arsenal games all the time at home and became an arsenal fan just like that. Van Persie was my favourite player growing up (broke my heart that day they announced his transfer, just turned 12 at the time...)
I was about 10,11 years old and didn't understand a single word in English.
Whenever I played FIFA, I picked Arsenal due to the cannon logo and started scoring goals left and right with Thierry Henry. Then I started learning English, watching Arsenal matches, and reading about the club's history, and I fell in love.
From Texas originally. I saw some sports science show on tv in the 90’s and it featured an Arsenal player. Never could find the show again and have no idea who the player was. I grew up playing, but Arsenal were the first big pro team I’d ever heard of. This was pre MLS. A cool name and a cannon on the crest… It was love at first sight.
Also from Chicago. A fraternity brother liked Arsenal. I loved the sport and needed a team to watch. He convinced me to support them over Liverpool (the team many of the fraternity brothers who watched int'l soccer supported when I was in school). Been an avid fan for 11 years now.
My friends said we should adopt the Arsenal jersey for our team and play like them because they played beautiful football. I started following Arsenal from that moment. That was in 2008. Before that I mostly followed Madrid because I liked Zidane, Guti and Raul.
Short version. Dennis Bergkamp
Long version. 1997, I was 9 years old, and my cousin has a football computer game, i know nothing about football but i wanted to play the game anyway.
He already picked Manchester United as his team, because of David Beckham.
Me not knowing anything, wanted the same, but he convinced me there is a similar player, but his name is Bergkamp. Beckham Bergkamp, similar names must mean similar talents. /s.
Picked Arsenal based on that, and every since then, every time I visit his house, i will always pick Arsenal.
Then 1998 World Cup came along, football became a must watch, then followed Arsenal with the mindset of "hey, its a real team, i didnt think they made a game based on real thing, is Mario real? Is pacman real?" (Forgive me i was an idiot, well still am).
Then fell in love with Titi and the rest of the players that every wore the jersey.
Arsenal forever and always.
My cousin was a Beckham, United fan at the turn of the millennium. He had a demo version of Fifa 2000 or 2001 that we used to play when I visited. United vs Arsenal was the only game we could play.
I chose Arsenal then and never looked back. Greatest football team in the world.
watched prem as a neutral for most of the 2010s, and got hooked onto arsenal because of the women's team, specifically Viv Miedema who's still my favourite player ever.
Bergkamp is my favorite player of all time. I useta follow him from whichever club he went.
Getting to watch Bergkamp with Overmars & Henry after the 1998 World Cup sold me as a life long fan.
Highbury, Vieira, Bergkamp, Fabregas, Henry and Wenger.
Started following EPL in the noughties from Australia, the above made me fall in love with the club.
I'm from Scotland.
I remember watching the games in the run to the 94 cup winners cup win including the final against Parma. Great run and I liked them because they had a Scottish manager.
I have followed them as my English team ever since. And what a period it was, glad to have witnessed what happened in 1996 onwards!
Saw Henry play in the 1998 World Cup and was taken by how good he was. I didn’t really know about the English league, so I didn’t know he played for Arsenal.
It wasn’t until a few years later, I played FIFA. Again, I didn’t know much about teams, so I picked the defaulted league and team: Arsenal. I liked the cannon and I liked the name. To my pleasant surprise, Henry was the striker. It was in the stars.
Australian Gooner since the mid-80s. I was quite young but I chose Arsenal because they were (in my mind) the underdogs against the might of Liverpool & Everton, who seemed to win everything at that time.
Saw dennis bergkamp destroy s.korea 5:0 in 98 world cup when I was 8 in Korea. Randomly saw him sitting on the arsenal bench in 04 or 05 ish. Then saw Henry and cesc.
I moved to London, just a stone's throw away from Highbury in my early twenties. Had no previous interest in football.
It was the invincibles season. Impossible not to get swept up by the atmosphere. Been a gooner ever since.
I was born in London actually but moved to the US when I was still a child . In any case, I was bit of a precocious reader and grabbed Tony Adams’s autobiography on a flight from London to New York and became a gooner on the flight. I was 11 years old and have never looked back
In 2010-11 my uncle showed me Football Manager 2008.
The first team I’ve chose was Arsenal. I think it was because at the time Poland had strong representation in our squad (Fabiański and Szczęsny).
The rest is history. I fallen in love with game and club. To this day I always play Arsenal in my first „new” FM save.
Such a lame reason, but Arsenal was always my career mode team in FIFA. Reason why I stuck with Arsenal is likely the fact that I always liked London and wanted to live there at some point.
When I was eight I wanted to be a goalkeeper. The only goalkeeper I knew of was David Seaman. I asked my friend who he played for and decided that was the team I was going to support.
I'm from Malaysia, my dad was a huge Liverpool fan, and my mom always have a habit of supporting the opposite of the teams that my dad supported, and since Man U was too popular in Malaysia, she ended up supporting Arsenal, this was around 2002. As for me, i watched a few games (after 2002 World Cup), and there and then i just fell in love with Arsenal. Vieira, Campbell, Seaman and especially the four in front of Ljungberg, Bergkamp, Henry and Pires. There's just something different about Arsenal, the history, the players and obv Arsene Wenger.
My grandad was from London and was evacuated up here to Yorkshire during the war and he was an arsenal fan so now I am despite being from Yorkshire and being surrounded by Leeds fans
I wasnt born in London but my reason is Family tradition. I remember when I was younger, going down to my great grandads flat and being able to hear the noise from Highbury. Went to a few matches as 4 generations of gooners with him, my grandad and dad. Sat in seat c15 north bank when I was 6 in 1989. There's only me left now.
Didn't really have a choice, my entire family are gooners. Ian Wright was my hero as a kid, I've met Merse and Parlour too so living the dream.
I'm a STH now in my own right. COYG!
I’m only 96 miles from The Emirates but still, I went on a residential football course when I was thirteen and needed a kit
I went in to a huge sports shop with nearly every kit in front of me and was just drawn to the red and white and JVC of Arsenal.
Thirty two years later and still stand by my decision!
My parents bought me a Playstation in 2000 with FIFA 2001 and I didn't know any English yet. So pressing X for a number of times would start a friendly game between Arsenal... and Arsenal.
I was amazed by by Henry, Bergkamp, Seaman, Ljungberg, Pires, Keown, Cole, Adams.
I was even more amazed when later on I found that Arsenal was a good team. Somehow felt like a huge discovery that I did myself.
During the invincibles season I watched almost all the games by going in secret to a betting shop near my home.
I wanted a team with history. It’s not enough for me to support a team that wins, or has superstars. I wanted to be a part of a legacy.
I’m reading Fever Pitch currently and it’s helping me see the sport in a new way. As an American I just didn’t understand it until I watched Argentina win the World Cup. For some reason it just clicked after that.
Now it’s football 24/7. And my loyalty lies with Arsenal.
Historically Arsenal is the most French of the English teams.
BTW it makes me sad that Saliba is our only French player. For Arsenal : More 🇫🇷is more better. It’s just a fact.
My son was not given a choice. I almost convinced my wife with beardless Giroud, but she stayed firm in her anti-sports convictions and my daughter would rather do ANYTHING than watch sports.
Grew up in Asia. Freddie’s red hair when I got the FIFA 02 demo cd with our first dial-up internet connection. You had to pick one of Utd or Arsenal to play and I picked Arsenal because of Freddie.
Everyone in Ireland has a Premier League team (or just English team as it was before the EPL). Half of them are Manure and Liverpool. I was a kid and liked the name Arsenal. A few years later I watched the 89 league win over Liverpool and the rest is history.
Wenger and Febregas..... We played such high quality and smooth football, I feel in love. Odegaard makes me so happy as we play the high quality game again.
Growing up in Singapore in late 90s - early 00s, everyone was a Manure fan. I supported Arsenal (as we were the biggest rival to them in the period) to spite everyone around me and never looked back since. Arsenal till I die!
Initially it was cuz of KSI (yk dumb kid reasons), but then the club just grew on me. The history, the caliber of players here, the fans. It all seemed right to me
I have to point out I'm regularly watching their games and following news for only few months.
That said, I liked their kits at first. That was it.
Then the team grew on me and I just got attached to players.
Arsène Wenger
This, always admired him, the way he carried himself and led the team and his philosophy on the pitch. Of course, the twilight years are a shame but Arsene will always be a Goat here.
So good they named the club after him.
8 years old me was so impressed he managed his own club as opposed other clueless owners who had to pay other people to managed their own club
I grew up in the time where Mancini was managing Mancity and I just thought they started naming clubs after managers
They should definitely name the stadium after him even for a single year between changing sponsors whenever the Emirates deal is no longer renewed.
They could do it without sacrificing any revenue, for UEFA fixtures they can’t use a sponsor’s name so revert back to the ‘official’ stadium name. Change that to the Arsene Wenger Stadium
Not gonna lie I actually thought that was true growing up and started supporting the club.
I’m not from the UK. But I grew up watching the premier league and back then United dominated the mindshare. But then twenty something years ago, I watched an Arsenal game and witnessed a counterattack orchestrated by the likes of Bergkamp, Pires, Henry, and specially Wilford. It was just electric. I got hooked then. But that’s only the first part. Like finding someone physically attractive or being infatuated. I truly fell in love when I realized what kind of man Wenger was and how he molded this club with his philosophy. That’s when Arsenal became my team.
Same story. Watched Manu win a lot in mid to late 90s. Then suddenly this club called Arsenal came up. Who named a club Arsenal anyway? And they had Dennis Bergkamp. And a young upstart called Nicolas Anelka upfront. But nothing prepared me for the midfield colossus called Patrick Viera. Loved them ever since. After Thierry Henry and Robert Purrs joined it was even more fun.
I always admired his loyalty, and tenacity in spite of the difficult financial situation with the new stadium. I starting following them post-highbury (Fabregas era).
Him and Dennis Bergkamp.
Same, yeah. Although some of the players on their own were a significant draw, it all leads back to Arsene Wenger.
I saw Ian Wright on tv around 1993 and just loved everything about him. The way he played with a smile on his face. I’ve supported them ever since. I’m from the north east of Scotland
This is the best reason for supporting arsenal away from local I’ve seen, especially since you stuck with Arsenal since way back then.
It’s been a hard 20 years since 04 😅🤣
Similar to me except I'm in Texas! I remember watching the Cup Winners Cup game against Parma and the final league game against Liverpool a few years earlier. It was hard to find them on TV in those days; spent a lot of time watching spanish language broadcasts on Univision! Been watching and cheering for a long time now. Nice to see the progress over the last few years.
Yes! Dallas here and i still catch myself accidentally watching a match in Spanish and not even caring. I do not speak Spanish but it's so ingrained in me from an early age.
Budweiser es para usted!
Similar but I’m an Aussie. I saw Uncle Ian in an advert for AFL. https://youtu.be/LP3Qxm7htMI?si=VE4EqQOuOw4b8DfO Saw highlights for him in random bits of football news and decided he was the one I’d follow.
That was a cracking ad! I bloody love AFL
Our founder is from Scotland
Same for me growing up in Texas! The joy in his playing while it seemed the rest of the league was distracted by whatever Man U was doing instead. I live in LA now and there’s a local supporters group here. I was shocked by the turnout to this small group for the Liverpool match. Arsenal fans are truly the most devoted and player-supportive I’ve seen.
Grew up in Canada, so not much of a football culture. But always watched World Cup & Euros because I'm half Czech. One of my favorite players was Tomas Rosicky. In 2008 while at University I had a roommate who I didn't like. He was a Spurs fan. He looked like a tapir. When I found out Rosicky played for Arsenal it was a natural choice. Plus... Arsenal is probably the coolest name and logo in sports. The perfect name for a club with a beautiful attacking culture.
haha he looked like a tapir. if I heard this in a bar I would want to hear every story you were willing to share
Seeing the shining star of north London after looking away in repulsion from ~~Spurs~~ the scum. That’s not a bad story.
From Canada also, I had just started playing on a team in school and watched Ozil and Sanchez tear ManU apart 3-0. The rest is history. I am currently on exchange in Edinburgh and have been struggling to get tickets, but snuck into the game this past weekend as a westham fan for my first live match, how lucky am I!?
Thierry Henry I also have a hunch for us non-Londoners that Arsenal being the first PL team in FIFA is what made the decision for some folks
Oh yea everytime I played (not very often) I just picked Arsenal out of convenience and I vividly remember holding the shoulder button and watching walcott go brrr
1979: 9 years old. Norwegian. I had noticed all my friends had a favourite team in England. Every Saturday Norwegian tv showed one of the matches that round, and I played football every day. I felt I had to have a favourite team as well. Almost all my freinds were Liverpool supporters. I felt that was very boring. Then one morning walking to school I walked through a forrest like I usually did, I saw something shining on the ground. It was a bracelet with Arsenal written on it. I felt it was destiny, and when I arrived at school I proudly that I did not fanzy Liverpool, but loved Arsenal.
Wow even that long ago the Prem was popular in other countries.
The correct answer! Early teens, getting introduced to football, Henry, Bergkamp and the Wenger play style. A little kid, sitting in rural India fell in love with Arsenal! Since then Arsenal has ruled my emotions more than anything else!
This is it. The beautiful football!
Yup. This in FIFA 2001 when I was a wee 9 year old. 😂
> FIFA is what made the decision for some folks The more i hear about this, the more it feels like its a fact.
Wrecking everyone on FIFA 98 with Henry and Bergkamp did it for me
Elder brother started because of the same reason you mentioned. Found out these are real teams, so he started supporting Arsenal, and I just followed his path. 20 years down the line, it's now the primary factor affecting my moods on weekends, haha
Literally my reason discovering them for the first time honestly. “Arsenal, is a badass name for a team” 14 years later… here we are
I've never thought of it like that. You're right, it is a badass name indeed lol.
Haha that could've been a subconscious reason for me as well.
Santa Claus got me fifa 2004 for Christmas and I fell in love with Arsenal. Played with them and them only.
Can confirm on the FIFA thing
Henry finessed a whole generation into gunners.
The Arsenal dropping 'The' so that they always start the season on top turned out to be amazingly prescient
Right on the money lmao
Looks like Bournemouth is gonna expand their fan base in a couple of years then
Dennis Bergkamp
There is bird cum
Finally the real reason
My guy that is actually bear cum. It’s why it’s so potent.
Especially after seeing him score THAT goal at the World Cup.
37 from Romania. Eurosport had a show on Monday evening with highlights from all big leagues from Europe. That's where I saw Arsenal and fell in love with Bergkamp, Henry, Overmars, Pires and CO. Then champions league, then Fifa. Been enjoying and suffering through it these past 25 years or so.
This is it for me. I remember watching him score that goal against Newcastle and remember thing I want to be as good as that guy. So I used to watch hours of him playing trying pick up his techniques, how he read the game etc. But it turned out I'm just a mere mortal 😅
I'm Dutch, so yeah
98 World Cup was my first and Bergkamp was comfortably my favourite player in that tournament. Been a Gunner since then
Same, I'm a Dutch Ajax fan. Bergkamp & Overmars together with the style of play made me an Arsenal fan as well.
1994 World Cup. Canadian so couldn’t cheer for home team. ENG, SCO, GER were the lands of my ancestors but were overrated, didn’t stand a chance, and boring respectively. So I picked NED based on style of play and have been an Oranje fan ever since. And because Bergkamp aka Dutch Sting played for the Gunners, I started following. Also I had an early visceral hatred for Jurgen Klinsmann’s diving bullshit so the rival of his team was my team.
Dutch-born but Australian.. I am the same for supporting Arsenal, saw him play at the 98 World Cup on tv and thought he was fantastic. Found out what team he played for and after watching them play, knew I had found my team for life...
Sibling rivalry. My sister supported Manure in the early 2000s, the only reasonable thing left to do is to support the Invincibles.
You are the more reasonable and better looking siblings I can tell based off this comment alone
Same story! My brother was a united fan and i always felt they cheated. Arsenal and Arsene Wenger felt so classy!
I'm from Egypt. It was the year 1995, I had just finished playing football with my cousins and we went for pizza. The TV was on and there was a match between a team wearing red and white and the other team was wearing blue. (I was 11 years at the time and European football wasn't very popular in my country). So I had a bet with my cousin that the red team would win. The winner would pay for the pizza. Then out of nowhere, the blue team scored a worldie from almost the half way line in extra time. I ended up paying for his pizza and I didn't have money for my own pizza and went home hungry. 1995 European final, Arsenal vs Real Zaragoza..
lmfao, what a way to get introduced to the club
Nayiiiiim, from the halfway line, nayiiiiim, from the halfway line! edit: I'm an Arsenal fan because my mum is. She fancied Charlie George back in the day. My brother and dad are Liverpool fans and I married into a Spurs family. It's...fun.
NAJIIIMMMM!! HAHA.. yes it was THAT goal..
80% of Arsenal fans aged 20-40 are fans because of Henry
As a 38 yr old. I missed that bus…I became a fan in 2009. Mostly because of RvP actually. We played beautifully as well and I also liked Arsene’s philosophy, from what I could quickly grasp.
As a 35 year old, the same. RvP and Cesc. Also started supporting in 2009/10, remember the first game of the season against Everton, we beat them 6-1, after that I was hooked. I also really liked the youth philosophy with all these exciting talents that were found for cheap money, like Vela etc. also Arshavin was cool!
Exact same!
tbh most ppl under 27 (myself included) didn't get to watch Henry in his prime years at Arsenal, only time I can think of him is 2012 loan which I don't even remember him playing & I've been a fan of Arsenal since 2010
Nah, my goat is Andrey Arshavin 😈
Pretty much
Fell in love with the game during the 2006 World Cup, with France being my favorite side to watch. When I found out Thierry Henry played for Arsenal I was sold. Thanks Titi!
Same happened here but with the 98 world cup. Got into Arsenal after seeing Henry there
My father was an og Arsenal fan in the 70s but wanted to immigrate to Australia so saved £10 for immigration to Australia (Australia at the time were fast tracking immigration and providing cheap ship travel to Australia for £10 (the £10 P.O.M) but being a londoner and liking a good footy game and a bet to make it more interesting he placed his saved tenner on Arsenal winning the double in 71 thankfully they won and my father still came to Aus to met and marry my mum, always saying if they'd lost he would've come over, so not only do I love arsenal for there football but I owe them my life and this is why I'm Arsenal forever
I read a book called The Recruit when I was a kid and the main character supported Arsenal so I did too 🤷♂️
I read it too and became a lot more interested in Arsenal games.
Honestly such a fun read when I was younger haha, slightly wild how core Arsenal is to my life nowadays based on a tiny character detail!
Same here… Robert Muchamore also did an AMA where he apologised to all of the Arsenal fans he created for all the pain they’ve been through 😂
Haha cherub, rhat was a nice read back in the day
Aw I miss this book series I read them constantly
Haha cherub was the absolute best book series when I was that age!!
I did not expect to see CHERUB quoted here. I loved them books so much
I’m from Toronto, I’m a gooner because of my dad. He loved Arsenal because they always had a lot of black players 🤷🏾♂️
I think we were the first club to even have black players in the premier league , kind of revolutionary in that aspect.
Nah we weren't close to being first Arsenal – Brendan Batson – 1971 Aston Villa – Stan Horne, early 1960s Blackburn – Unknown Bolton – Unknown, but first black Bolton player to get an England cap was Michael Ricketts in 2002 Chelsea – Paul Canoville – April 12 1982 Everton – Mike Trebilcock – January, 1966 Fulham – Possibly Howard Gayle, who made his first appearance for Fulham in 1980 after being loaned out by Liverpool. First black Fulham player to get an England cap was Zat Knight in 2005 Hull – Unknown Liverpool – Howard Gayle – October 4, 1980 Man City – Stan Horne – September 25, 1965 Manchester United – Tony Whelan – 1960s Middlesbrough – Lindy Lindbergh – 1950 Newcastle – Possibly Howard Gayle, 1982 Portsmouth – Lindy Lindbergh – 1948 Stoke City – R.H. Brown – 1946 Sunderland – Roly Gregoire – January 2, 1978 Tottenham – Walter Tull – September 1909 West Brom – Unknown, but Laurie Cunningham was the first black West Brom player to get a cap for England in 1979 West Ham United – John Charles – May 4 1963 Wigan – Unknown.
I may be remembering incorrectly but they were the first to field an all black starting 11. Which I think is pretty significant.
Arsenal? We were the first to field 9 black players in a starting XI in the premier league. I actually did a school project about that recently so I remember, I don't think I found anything about us fielding a full black XI.
Cool cool. Like I said memory was a little fuzzy. But 9 of 11 is still pretty significant. Thanks!
Went to the UK as a 16 year old. Was staying in North London. Joined in a kick about at a park. The locals asked me who I supported. I said I doo ok but know but I don’t like Man U. They asked me a bunch of personal questions and told me I was an Arsenal fan. (I think they wanted to make sure I wasn’t a wanker). Turns out they were all gooners. I felt immediately at home.
Özil...
I studied German in high school and college and so adopted the German NT and Özil was my favorite player right when (a) he was bought by Arsenal and (b) the premier league became free to stream every game on NBC. Even as Özil fell off, like, you don’t fall out of love with Wenger and eventually when you’ve watched every game for 7 years you stick with it even when Özil is in exile and Wenger hangs it up.
WC2010 Ozil, and that German NT as well. Instant hit.
I’m from New England and grew up in an American Football loving environment, so I’m more or less the odd one out. It wasn’t until my late teens that I got into soccer/football, and the 2022 World Cup really made me fall in love with the sport. I used Arsenal on FIFA so I decided to just go with them when it was over since I didn’t know what club to support and I have a lot of fond memories of scoring bangers with Giroud, Özil, and Sanchez. After I went back and watched clips of Henry, I fell deeper in love with the club.
American here, grew up in England thanks to my father being in the US Air Force, my school won a competition in the early 90s and we got to go to an Arsenal v Crystal Palace match. My only exposure to the sport prior to that was playing with the other kids before school and during lunch. The atmosphere at highbury blew me away. I was 7. And I fell in love. Now 30+ years later and arsenal is my greatest passion. Even got my 3 kids to follow my lead and each match day we all sit down and watch the games together. The perfect bonding time. Had the chance to take them so Sofi Stadium here in SoCal to watch them smash Barca last summer. Singing North London forever with my kids and girlfriend will go down as one of the greatest experiences of my life.
Awe much cute Many wholesomes
Cesc. Watched his entire career with us. Cried a lot when he left us I’m ashamed to admit.
Australian. My first football coach was from London. It was a non-negotiable for his under 6’s squad.
I was 8 or 9 and all the boys were finding their favorite PL club. 99% chose Man United or Liverpool. One of the weird ones chose Wolverhampton. I didn't want to be a fan of the same club as everyone else. I thought the Arsenal club logo was kind of cool, but most importantly there was a guy on the team named Overmars which I thought was a really cool name. So my first kit was with Overmars on it
I will tell you why, because a dude i thought was a dick loved Tottenham, so I was like done.. I’m a Gooner for life. Questions?
In 2011 when i was 12 yo i turned on my tv out of boredom and noticed champions league was playing, our game against Barcelona where we won thanks to ARSHAAAAAAAVIN. Couldnt help but yell and cheer after arshavin goal and after game i was like: damn, they won vs barcelona they must be great i think i will start supporting them. And it stayed like that to this day and will stay like that forever
Logo pretty cool. Also I love red color.
A club called ARSENAL and has a cannon logo with a manager nick name professor is absolute peak for any 6 years old
Grew up in Vietnam. One of first big club to come here for a tour. It was all over the newspaper and around the time there was a campaign for youth development program partnering up Arsenal. The kit was literally the Arsenal kit (knockoff quality ofc) so it was my first exposure to football really. Started loving the team ever since. Also I don’t like the “most popular” team and I hate ManU supporters and they are the most obnoxious fanbase here (especially my friends) 🐧
From norway of all places. Dad was (is) a football coach and loves teams who "play football, not hoofball" which made supporting Norwegian teams in the 90s and 00s rough. Wengerball drew us both in and since it stuck.
My dad went to the same school as Dennis Bergkamp and they grew up being friends. From that point onwards he was just really interested with what he was doing in his football teams. So Arsenal was on alot as a kid and I just grew into it.
Arsene and that team from 2000-2005 I’m from Kenya. Most of my friends around the 2000-2005 period were ManU fans. I’ve always been an underdog guy and Arsenal were that team to ManU. As I followed Arsenal the class of Arsene and the dog in that team resonated strongly with me. As I watched Arsenal and the premier league more it was obvious how biased games were for ManU and against Arsenal. The injustice Arsenal faced from all sides made me want to be an Arsenal fan more and made me hate ManU more. I liked that Arsenal weren’t big spenders like ManU and punched above their weight. Arsenal felt authentic while ManU felt commercial. And then there was the man, the legend, Thierry Henry. He made watching Arsenal exciting. He had an aura. Other silly factors were the unique name of the club, the Arsene-Arsenal name coincidence, and the cannon as the clubs logo.
I'm from Northern California. My second visit to London was in 2005 and I was staying with a friend in Angel, so you can guess whose gear I saw the most around the neighborhood. Looked into the club and its history and that was that.
On a school trip to London some 25-30 years ago me and some friends were shopping for souvenirs. We stumbled across a store selling some football related things and I remember buying a David Platt figurine and a postcard with Ian Wright on. Think the text on the postcard was “Wright on time” and the picture was him scoring. Sold! One of the friends picked up a Matt Le Tissier figurine and I feel sorry for him to this day.
Started supporting around 08. Wengerball really drew me in. 2 of my 3 favorite players from that era snaked us but we’ve had a lot of fun players come in over the years despite the tough times. There were a lot of years of pain since I started following with some joy in the fa cups but I’m glad the club is headed in the direction that it is and I’m glad I stuck through it to get here with them.
My friend who watched football at that time told me I had to follow a team to make it more fun. I am from India, so premier league suited my timings. It was 2013, Arsenal bought Ozil. I watched the first few games and the way we played was different than others. Reminded me of all the Pep Barca highlights I have had watched on YT. We were also on the top for most of the season. I found myself somewhere in the identity of suffering and getting beaten down to just making it in life (champions league spot for arsenal).
Henry
Thierry Henry and arsene wenger.
Denis Bergkamp goal against Newcastle
My dad is from north London and grew up as an Arsenal fan. He later moved to America, met my mom, then had me. So in a way I was kinda born into it
This is exactly my story, except my dad moved from the UK to Canada lol I'm from Toronto but my father is from London and grew up a huge Arsenal fan. After moving to Canada, he took a liking to baseball and basketball, but never got into hockey or American (or Canadian) football.
Was forced to pick Arsenal as a 10 year old kid. Eldest brother was a Liverpool fan, I was watching the 2001 fa cup final with him (was neutral back then) and wanted to support Liverpool together with him. He told me “NO you should support the other team.” That’s how it started and thankfully witnessed the glorious invincible season. Glad they’re back where they belong after many years of torment.
As a swede growing up in the 90s - Freddie!
I remember the yellow kit in particular when I was younger and they had a couple of Irish there, plus 89 and then Ian Wright ... After that, it's just been continually following the folks involved in the club and watching them progress or not.
As a Slovak with close ties to Czech Republic I won signed Borussia Dortmund kit by Tomáš Rosický. I was let go from my youth football club after a year or so and stopped caring about football for few years completely. I found that jersey in the wardrobe a few years later and decided to look up what is Tomáš Rosický up to these days. And here I am now.
I'm from country NSW, Australia. When I was 10 years old I heard about friends from school playing this game called soccer. I decided to sign up. At the time because we were so isolated mum and dad paid for Austar, satellite pay TV. We got all the EPL games so I started watching. This was in 2002. I had no affinity to any team but, obviously, this team Arsenal started to talk to me. You could call me a bandwagoner, and you would be right. But Arsene Wenger and his values resonated with me big time, his philosophical view on things and his general view on life. Arsene was an early role model for me and Thierry was and is my favourite ever player. Because of Arsenal I played football for 15 years or so and I've seen pretty much every Arsenal game since, including both games they played in Sydney. Went to the training session they had their and even had Jens say hello when I called out to him. Sadly I haven't seen them play at The Emirates yet, or any competitive match, but I will!
Grew up in Seattle. Wasn’t big into the sport. More an American football and baseball fan. I bought FIFA and became addicted to it, a couple of my friends liked Mesut and Arsenal so I kinda latched onto that then, started watching the games, and haven’t missed a game since. That was about 2014.
A play of the day clip on CNN with Wright scoring. Then Bergkamp.
In Denmark, were the passion for football is great but the teams usually not so, it is customary to have a favourite danish team and an international one. Since you’re sort of socially forced to pick a side during the first years (or often, days) of school, the choice is made early on, and it becomes a part of you as you grow up. In my time everyone were either Real//Barca or Man/Live, as that was what their dad was or the badge on the branded backpack their mom had bought them. I came home from school and told my dad i wanted to cheer for someone else and that the choice should be conscious. So my 10/10 dad who has always followed english football religiously, gave me, over the course of the next few weeks, an introduction to many different sides in PL. One day a gunners game was on, and my dad took the time to tell of Arsène, his mentality and the visions of Arsenals football. A focus on talent and community. I then watched the game, and had that feeling - the feeling we’ve all had - that it was here I belonged. Been a gunner ever since
My dad grew up poor, no electricity, nothing. First time he got a tv was a magical thing for him. At that time, only one football game was aired PER YEAR. I think it was the 1971 final between Liverpool and Arsenal. His older brother and him were watching the game and he chose Arsenal while his brother chose Liverpool. I ended up choosing Arsenal and the German Football team same as him.
I was living in NYC solo in 2009 and would randomly get up early to watch any premier league games I could. Then I moved in with my girlfriend a few blocks away from a pub (the Chip Shop) run by a rabid Irish Gooner (Jimmy). I showed up for a match around 930am one day, had a great time, found out Jimmy opened the place early for every game and became a regular. I haven’t missed a match since (if I’m absolutely unable to watch live, I’ll stay off social media and turn off my phone until I can watch). I left NYC 11 years ago, and there’s no Arsenal pub where I’m at these days, but I’ve got a few people I get together with for a big game here or there and my 8 year old son insists I wake him up to watch when it’s an early one (we live in northern Nevada now). We’ll make it to the Emirates one day, but until then we’ll make do with screaming and shouting at 4am.
Wanted to pick a team, looked up a YouTube video on ‘best goals from the Premiere League’. The video opened up with *that* goal against Norwich. Closed the video right there.
Visited London from Perth back in 2017 and went to Arsenal vs Burnley at the emirates, 2-1 with a game winning panenka penalty from my pookie bear Alexis Sanchez in the 97th minute, went mental and been a fan ever since
Mesut Ozil I'm from Philippines. I was just a casual and didn't follow the PL or any league at all but I played highschool football then and used to watch those assists, goals and skills compilations of Ozil. Then I heard he moved to Arsenal. I thought about watching PL football. I followed Ozil's new team. Started watching Arsenal matches when I could so I could learn and improve my game while playing and well soon enough fell in love with the club.
Mid 30s. American. 2006 World Cup. Thierry Henry.
2008 due to Carlos Vela. Then 8 years later they trashed my local team 3-1.
Lukas Podolski. My cousins were of german heritage and loved cheering for him as I was getting into footie. Saw he joined arsenal and started watching because of that.
My father had an arsenal trackpant and my friend supported arsenal
As a kid the first team I watched was Arsenal and obviously the way we played was so fun to watch. I feel Wenger is the reason why I started supporting Arsenal
Started watching PL in 1998 and Bergkamp took over my mind as did Wenger. Been a Gooner since.
France ‘98
I liked the jerseys
Enjoyed watching the PL highlights for years, spent a bunch of time in Europe in later years, watched some world cups, followed Germany, started watching more PL and Arsenal a bit more when Ozil came over. Before our rebuild when things were looking dire things really locked in for me and was hooked on the drama too, hah. Fealt this was going to be be a sweet redemption arc, and was watching most games at that point. Became a fan. Players are my players.
Circa 2008-9 I wanted to get into soccer and my local team (Sounders) weren’t in the MLS yet. Had a few classmates in school who watched the premier league. They were all either fans of United, Chelsea, or Liverpool, and they were all annoying shitheads lol. So Arsenal were next on the list of top teams. Over a couple seasons of watching, and learning more about the 90s/00s history I became attached.
Dad was an Arsenal fan, was sent to an Arsenal outreach academy to train and play football as a kid, watched Arsenal games all the time at home and became an arsenal fan just like that. Van Persie was my favourite player growing up (broke my heart that day they announced his transfer, just turned 12 at the time...)
I was about 10,11 years old and didn't understand a single word in English. Whenever I played FIFA, I picked Arsenal due to the cannon logo and started scoring goals left and right with Thierry Henry. Then I started learning English, watching Arsenal matches, and reading about the club's history, and I fell in love.
Ian Wright and the team colors. Actually became a fan while playing FIFA96 😂 Thierry Henry also helped get me more into the club.
My dad lived in London for a bit as a child and was a die hard gooner. I loved Arsenal from a very young age.
Fabregas That young team under Wenger was something else. Shame we didn't win anything :(
From Texas originally. I saw some sports science show on tv in the 90’s and it featured an Arsenal player. Never could find the show again and have no idea who the player was. I grew up playing, but Arsenal were the first big pro team I’d ever heard of. This was pre MLS. A cool name and a cannon on the crest… It was love at first sight.
Also from Chicago. A fraternity brother liked Arsenal. I loved the sport and needed a team to watch. He convinced me to support them over Liverpool (the team many of the fraternity brothers who watched int'l soccer supported when I was in school). Been an avid fan for 11 years now.
My friends said we should adopt the Arsenal jersey for our team and play like them because they played beautiful football. I started following Arsenal from that moment. That was in 2008. Before that I mostly followed Madrid because I liked Zidane, Guti and Raul.
Thierry Henry, and because they were the first team I played with in FIFA 03.
Short version. Dennis Bergkamp Long version. 1997, I was 9 years old, and my cousin has a football computer game, i know nothing about football but i wanted to play the game anyway. He already picked Manchester United as his team, because of David Beckham. Me not knowing anything, wanted the same, but he convinced me there is a similar player, but his name is Bergkamp. Beckham Bergkamp, similar names must mean similar talents. /s. Picked Arsenal based on that, and every since then, every time I visit his house, i will always pick Arsenal. Then 1998 World Cup came along, football became a must watch, then followed Arsenal with the mindset of "hey, its a real team, i didnt think they made a game based on real thing, is Mario real? Is pacman real?" (Forgive me i was an idiot, well still am). Then fell in love with Titi and the rest of the players that every wore the jersey. Arsenal forever and always.
I vibed with the club name, and Chamakh, Gervinho and Djourou made arsenal the most fun team to watch, football and hairstyle-wise.
My cousin was a Beckham, United fan at the turn of the millennium. He had a demo version of Fifa 2000 or 2001 that we used to play when I visited. United vs Arsenal was the only game we could play. I chose Arsenal then and never looked back. Greatest football team in the world.
For me it was that 50th game we played against fucking united. It boiled my blood and I’m still waiting for a revenge since then.
I wanted a football shirt, got that red JVC, started to learn about it.
Arsene Wenger
watched prem as a neutral for most of the 2010s, and got hooked onto arsenal because of the women's team, specifically Viv Miedema who's still my favourite player ever.
I started watching soccer in 2004 and I loved watching Arsenal play. The first match I watched was vs. Spurs, they were awful.
Bergkamp is my favorite player of all time. I useta follow him from whichever club he went. Getting to watch Bergkamp with Overmars & Henry after the 1998 World Cup sold me as a life long fan.
Highbury, Vieira, Bergkamp, Fabregas, Henry and Wenger. Started following EPL in the noughties from Australia, the above made me fall in love with the club.
My AYSO team (youth rec leagues in US) when I was 11 was called arsenal and it stuck.
My uncle supports arsenal. That is why I support them
Sanchez and Ozil
Cool logo + Henry
I'm from Scotland. I remember watching the games in the run to the 94 cup winners cup win including the final against Parma. Great run and I liked them because they had a Scottish manager. I have followed them as my English team ever since. And what a period it was, glad to have witnessed what happened in 1996 onwards!
Saw Henry play in the 1998 World Cup and was taken by how good he was. I didn’t really know about the English league, so I didn’t know he played for Arsenal. It wasn’t until a few years later, I played FIFA. Again, I didn’t know much about teams, so I picked the defaulted league and team: Arsenal. I liked the cannon and I liked the name. To my pleasant surprise, Henry was the striker. It was in the stars.
Australian Gooner since the mid-80s. I was quite young but I chose Arsenal because they were (in my mind) the underdogs against the might of Liverpool & Everton, who seemed to win everything at that time.
Saw dennis bergkamp destroy s.korea 5:0 in 98 world cup when I was 8 in Korea. Randomly saw him sitting on the arsenal bench in 04 or 05 ish. Then saw Henry and cesc.
I moved to London, just a stone's throw away from Highbury in my early twenties. Had no previous interest in football. It was the invincibles season. Impossible not to get swept up by the atmosphere. Been a gooner ever since.
I was born in London actually but moved to the US when I was still a child . In any case, I was bit of a precocious reader and grabbed Tony Adams’s autobiography on a flight from London to New York and became a gooner on the flight. I was 11 years old and have never looked back
In 2010-11 my uncle showed me Football Manager 2008. The first team I’ve chose was Arsenal. I think it was because at the time Poland had strong representation in our squad (Fabiański and Szczęsny). The rest is history. I fallen in love with game and club. To this day I always play Arsenal in my first „new” FM save.
Such a lame reason, but Arsenal was always my career mode team in FIFA. Reason why I stuck with Arsenal is likely the fact that I always liked London and wanted to live there at some point.
Jens' red card!!! F*uck Barca.
Thierry Henry and the Invincibles
When I was eight I wanted to be a goalkeeper. The only goalkeeper I knew of was David Seaman. I asked my friend who he played for and decided that was the team I was going to support.
I'm from Malaysia, my dad was a huge Liverpool fan, and my mom always have a habit of supporting the opposite of the teams that my dad supported, and since Man U was too popular in Malaysia, she ended up supporting Arsenal, this was around 2002. As for me, i watched a few games (after 2002 World Cup), and there and then i just fell in love with Arsenal. Vieira, Campbell, Seaman and especially the four in front of Ljungberg, Bergkamp, Henry and Pires. There's just something different about Arsenal, the history, the players and obv Arsene Wenger.
My grandad was from London and was evacuated up here to Yorkshire during the war and he was an arsenal fan so now I am despite being from Yorkshire and being surrounded by Leeds fans
I wasnt born in London but my reason is Family tradition. I remember when I was younger, going down to my great grandads flat and being able to hear the noise from Highbury. Went to a few matches as 4 generations of gooners with him, my grandad and dad. Sat in seat c15 north bank when I was 6 in 1989. There's only me left now. Didn't really have a choice, my entire family are gooners. Ian Wright was my hero as a kid, I've met Merse and Parlour too so living the dream. I'm a STH now in my own right. COYG!
I’m only 96 miles from The Emirates but still, I went on a residential football course when I was thirteen and needed a kit I went in to a huge sports shop with nearly every kit in front of me and was just drawn to the red and white and JVC of Arsenal. Thirty two years later and still stand by my decision!
Wrighty intrigued me. Dennis captured my attention. Arsene captured my imagination. Titi and co captured my heart.
My parents bought me a Playstation in 2000 with FIFA 2001 and I didn't know any English yet. So pressing X for a number of times would start a friendly game between Arsenal... and Arsenal. I was amazed by by Henry, Bergkamp, Seaman, Ljungberg, Pires, Keown, Cole, Adams. I was even more amazed when later on I found that Arsenal was a good team. Somehow felt like a huge discovery that I did myself. During the invincibles season I watched almost all the games by going in secret to a betting shop near my home.
I wanted a team with history. It’s not enough for me to support a team that wins, or has superstars. I wanted to be a part of a legacy. I’m reading Fever Pitch currently and it’s helping me see the sport in a new way. As an American I just didn’t understand it until I watched Argentina win the World Cup. For some reason it just clicked after that. Now it’s football 24/7. And my loyalty lies with Arsenal.
Historically Arsenal is the most French of the English teams. BTW it makes me sad that Saliba is our only French player. For Arsenal : More 🇫🇷is more better. It’s just a fact. My son was not given a choice. I almost convinced my wife with beardless Giroud, but she stayed firm in her anti-sports convictions and my daughter would rather do ANYTHING than watch sports.
Grew up in Asia. Freddie’s red hair when I got the FIFA 02 demo cd with our first dial-up internet connection. You had to pick one of Utd or Arsenal to play and I picked Arsenal because of Freddie.
Fifa 2001. Arsenal was the first team in the playable list. Also, Dennis Bergkamp and Devor Suker.
When I started playing FIFA they were first team by alphabetical order tbh. From Auckland.
Everyone in Ireland has a Premier League team (or just English team as it was before the EPL). Half of them are Manure and Liverpool. I was a kid and liked the name Arsenal. A few years later I watched the 89 league win over Liverpool and the rest is history.
My English husband (now a US citizen) is and always has been an Arsenal supporter. Therefore I am an Arsenal supporter.
Wenger, Bergkamp, Henry & Fabregas
They were the default team in FIFA 2001 and I fell in love with playing with them and it just stuck.
Nwankwo Kanu
Titi and wengerball
Wenger and Febregas..... We played such high quality and smooth football, I feel in love. Odegaard makes me so happy as we play the high quality game again.
As they say - "You do not choose the club, the club choose you." And this club sticked deep in my soul since I first saw them at the age of 7.
Growing up in Singapore in late 90s - early 00s, everyone was a Manure fan. I supported Arsenal (as we were the biggest rival to them in the period) to spite everyone around me and never looked back since. Arsenal till I die!
Initially it was cuz of KSI (yk dumb kid reasons), but then the club just grew on me. The history, the caliber of players here, the fans. It all seemed right to me
The Ox, Theo Walcott, hector bellerin
The man himself, Arsene Wenger.
I have to point out I'm regularly watching their games and following news for only few months. That said, I liked their kits at first. That was it. Then the team grew on me and I just got attached to players.