I can’t stop loving Arsenal! By Sylvester Kwentua
Kanu Nwankwo, a former Arsenal player is a cult hero in Nigeria! After the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta where he practically rescued the Nigerian under 23 team from losing to Brazil, he became the darling of every Nigerian, including me! So, Arsenal signed him from Inter Milan back then, they practically signed over a million Nigerians, who were ready to support the club he played for! Kanu Nwankwo introduced me to Arsenal football club.
For more than 25 years I have supported this great Arsenal club and I must confess, I have had good, bad and ugly experiences as an Arsenal fan.
THE GOOD: if I was asked to pick the best moment I have had as an Arsenal fan, I will surely pick the period when we went a whole season without losing a league game! I still hope to witness that from Arsenal again before I die. There are several good times I enjoyed with Arsenal, especially the period when we had Thierry Henry as our chief attacking player. The Champions league final against Barcelona in 2006, is another good moment I enjoyed, although we lost the final to them. Who can forget 2002? The year where we won the League and the FA cup Double! The season where we got Man-Utd’s buttocks whooped was another one for me (I have brothers who are all Man-Utd fans and being the only Arsenal fan, I enjoyed rubbing it into their faces then). The most recent good moment I have enjoyed as an Arsenal fan, is the FA cup we won in 2014, after several years of not winning a trophy! Guys, we all know how the joy of winning a trophy feels like, don’t we?
THE BAD: I have a lot of times I have felt bad as an Arsenal fan. The several times when we have been knocked out of the Champions league round of 16, ranks top on my list! The times when we could not keep our star players and losing them to our direct rivals, also made me sad. Losing the Carling cup final then to an Obafemi Martins inspired Birmingham F.C, made me go berserk! Starting every season brightly and then fading out before the middle of season can’t make a fan happy, can it? Now, things seem to be following the same pattern this season; we got knocked out of the Champions league round of 16 (again) by Bayern Munich (again) with our worst ever drubbing at the Emirates. Next week, we may lose our star players to more ambitious clubs and we may end the season trophyless, after starting brightly again! How bad can it get mates?
THE UGLY: The only ugly experience I have as an Arsenal fan is seeing Wenger still coaching my darling team! This man is finished tactically and football wise! Does he need God to personally come down from heaven and ask him to leave before he knows his time is up? Wenger please go!
Despite all my experiences as an Arsenal fan, I am still proud to say I remain an Arsenal fan for life! What about you folks?
Sylvester