As a young kid growing up in the United States (born 1987), options for watching quality football were quite limited. Thankfully my dad was a big fan of the game in general and through Setanta Sports we were able to watch some EPL games. I was just happy to watch any football, but I truly fell in love the first time I saw Henry play in 1999 as I was also a forward with speed (that's where the similarities stop). My dad always encouraged my passions and continued to pay for Setanta so I could watch Arsenal as they won in 01-02 and developed into the Invincibles in 03-04. My family surprised me with a trip to London in April 2004 where I was lucky enough to attend Highbury with my dad for the famous Liverpool match. After traveling up to Scotland for the week to visit Lockerbie since my aunt was on Pan Am 103, my dad gave me one last surprise by taking me back to London for the Leeds game where Henry scored 4. I still have the Henry away kit that I bought with all of my savings at that time. My dad will never admit how much he paid to buy 4 tickets to Highbury in the business end of the season, but my mom always gives him a look when he mentions it. I never thought it would be the last title they would win but then spent the next 22 years starting to fear that I may never see them win another EPL title.
22 years, a wife and two kids under 4 later and being able to share this not only with my dad, who thankfully is still kicking, but my two boys who have become Arsenal fans themselves (maybe not by choice) is absolutely incredible. My 3.5 year old went to daycare this morning in his full kit and told his class and teacher that "Yesterday was the best day of my life. Arsenal won the league and my daddy sprayed beer all over me". He doesn't understand the pain and agony we all went through over the last two decades but he doesn't need to. That's the beauty of a new generation of Arsenal fans. But that journey for me created lifelong friendships spawned by watching matches with supporter's clubs in DC and Boston. Friendships in your teens and twenties fade often but I've found that the ones based around the love of Arsenal have persisted. The texts, calls and FaceTimes yesterday will always hold a special place in my memory.
I just cannot get enough of reading personal stories of Gooners everywhere. Some are like mine. Others differ wildly. But the consistent theme of this overwhelming passion permeating into every aspect of people's lives is just amazing. As Stuart McFarlane famously said in the Prime documentary, "This is my club. I f#$%ing love this football club."
