The Morning After
Like many fans, I am waking up a little worse for wear after a few celebratory drinks but still over joyed and full of emotions. I am still getting a hold of everything but I need to get some thoughts out.
The scenes of the spontaneous celebration at the Emirates Stadium were something to behold. The Club has posted a gallery of the photos and it is just beautiful scenes of ecstasy, release, and celebration.
This Club means so much to so many and every once in a while it is nice to be reminded about that.
It has been a long wait, and there have been so many painful near misses. I don’t have the same longevity as a fan as others do but in my 15 seasons following the club (damn it doesn’t feel like it has been that long and I still feel like I am “new” here) there have been a lot of near misses and you wondered if it was ever going to happen for us.
2011/12 - The 8-2 and the frantic deadline day trolley dash. Per and Mikel ended up being pretty damn important.
2013/14 - Top at Christmas but fading down the stretch due to injuries, plus the pain of the 1,000th Arsene Wenger match and the humiliation by Liverpool.
2015/16 - The high of beating Leicester on Valentines Day to the low of losing to Manchester United and Swansea back to back. I honestly thought that might have been the clubs last shot to win the title and that we’d never have it again. It looked that way for a while.
2016/17 - Getting more points than when we finished second, but still failing to make the Champions League. Still the most points for a 5th place team at 75 and matched the tally that won Manchester United a League in 96/97.
2017/18 - That semi-final against Atletico in the Europa League.
2018/19 - Baku and the fading down the stretch as the team failed to handle fighting on two fronts.
2020/21 - 8th place again, the real nadir of the team. I had serious doubts at this point if Arteta was the right man in that late fall period before it turned around.
2021/22 - Spurs + Newcastle away to throw away the Champions League spot
2022/23 - The winter World Cup, the injuries to Jesus, then Saliba and Tomiyasu
2023/24 - Aston Villa
2024/25 - Those red cards (still never seen any of them repeated to this day) and all of the injuries. Donnarumma standing on his head in Paris.
You could probably write even more about the pain that this fan base has felt over the years. Arsenal’s big and active fan base, combined with all of the near misses has made us the easy target for the media and other fans. Trying to be positive about Arsenal online was so often met with a “Warra trophy” and this gif.
Even though we knew we were a damn good team, there was no great response to that.
Now there is. There will be so many bookmarks emptied in the coming days and it will be pretty glorious to watch. If you thought Arsenal fans were insufferable online before, you haven’t seen anything yet because I think that there will be new levels to this now that we have won the title.
All of that pain along the way has made this moment all the more sweeter and special. I am soaking it all in.
I want to thank everyone who has been on the journey with us, I am so proud of this team and this community.
I have so many thoughts this morning. Starting with my first exposure to the Arsenal back in 1970 and the Charlie George FA Cup winning goal in 1971, and ending with my wife, also a gear wearing fan jumping up and cheering Max Dowman down the pitch v Everton on his way to that historic goal. To last night, celbrating with son, who is in Austalia, and my sesaon ticket holding nephew in London in real time as the reality of the victory arrived. It's so great. 22 years is a fucking age in the modern context. I feel we are going to go from strength to strength. Up the Arsenal!