Month: May 2026

Plane ride to paradise

Amy O3 Comments

The next morning it was back to Heathrow and a connection through Dublin, then the long flight to Chicago. I was surprised to see so many Arsenal shirts on my flight to Dublin. In fact, all three of us in left row 28 had been to The Emirates the night before.

Interestingly, Aer Lingus does not land in Chicago in the International terminal so you go through customs in Dublin. After getting off the flight, you are routed through literal TSA, where your carry-on bags go through Security again and then you go through passport control.

In the Security line, we were told by a harried TSA agent to remove our shoes unless we were age 75 or older or under 12. A passenger in the line a few people in front of me asked if he had to remove his shoes if he was Global Entry. The Security agent waited until he was out of earshot and muttered, “Yes, you have to remove your shoes even if you are a prick with Global Entry.”

I took my shoes off cooperatively, hoping no one would think I was over 75. Then I slinked over to Global Entry, which I am also lucky enough to have. It does save a ton of time when you return from a trip. Even if you have to remove shoes along the way.

It never occurred to me that I’d have to get through customs in Dublin and the timing of my connection was kind of tight. I had time to have a cup of tea and we boarded the flight to Chicago shortly thereafter. I had spent time in both Heathrow and the Dublin airport reviewing content after the Arsenal match. Since there was so much activity after the match, it was a while before the normal manager interviews were produced.

One thing that surprised me in the Mikel Arteta interview was his comments about Man City’s match with Bournemouth which was to take place that same night I flew back to Chicago, Tuesday. Up until that point, Arteta had been dogged, when the press asked him what he hoped would happen in any upcoming Man City match or would he be watching Man City’s next match, that he was only focused on what he can control. He insisted each time that he can only focus on the next match his team plays. And they would work as hard as possible to have the “right” to win it.

In contrast, every time Pep Guardiola, Man City’s manager was asked a similar question he spoke openly about how he was rooting for Arsenal’s opponent. When Arsenal were going to play West Ham next, he said jokingly that he had offered to West Ham to serve as an assistant coach. He had said there was “no doubt” that Burnley could take something off of Arsenal. And with regard to Arsenal’s last match of the season against Crystal Palace, he openly supported them. He made a special point after Man City’s match against Crystal Palace to shake the hands of many Crystal Palace players, to put an arm around them in camaraderie.

So it was interesting in speaking with the press after the Burnley match that when Mikel Arteta was asked if he would watch Bournemouth vs. Man City, he said he would watch it with his family and that he was going to be Bournemouth’s biggest fan. No more being focused only on his next match and what he could control. A strange turn of events.

To review the title race as it stood on Tuesday morning, if Arsenal won the last match against Crystal Palace away, there would be nothing Man City could do to stop Arsenal from winning the title. If Man City won both of its upcoming matches, the one against Bournemouth and the one against Aston Villa, and Arsenal tied or lost to Crystal Palace, the title would be Man City’s, decided on the first tiebreaker, goal difference.

There is no way Man City was going to lose to Aston Villa. Aston Villa are managed by Arsenal’s old manager, Unai Emery, and he usually radiates tremendous bitterness against Arsenal. And Aston Villa were solidly in Champions League spots for next year with no concerns they might fall out. And finally, Aston Villa were playing in the final of the Europa League this week, Wednesday. They had a great chance of winning, and winning equals party and, let’s face it, after that who cares about winning the last match against Man City?

So that left two hopes for Arsenal. #1: Win away from home on Sunday against a good team, Crystal Palace. Or #2: hope Man City ties or loses at Bournemouth. It wasn’t a crazy hope. Man City didn’t look good over the weekend, regardless of their ultimate win, and Bournemouth has a great record at home. And Arsenal lost to Bournemouth when they visited recently.

But you know. It’s Man City. I felt pretty resigned to having to sit through a tight, horrible match against Crystal Palace next Sunday. And the many things can happen in that match.

I was going to be on the plane back to Chicago during the Bournemouth v. Man City match and almost certainly would not be able to watch it. I’m pretty sure I would not have even tried. I feel like when I watch, Man City inevitably scores. Especially if they are losing or tied when I start watching. I usually try to not even follow the score line, which probably would have been possible even on the plane.

But the match was going to be over several hours before I got off the plane and I was hoping to be able to know our fate at some point before that.

It did not happen. I was unable to connect at all with wifi on the plane. I watched three movies, two of which I had seen before. I ate pasta lunch and a snack. I listened to calming music for the last 45 minutes. I had my phone fully charged so I would be ready to go the second we touched down in Chicago.

And remember, I was hopeful, but I kind of just knew we were going to have to get through that last match on Sunday. It’s been that kind of year.

The wheels hit earth and we were still skidding to a stop when I had my phone in hand and off airplane mode. A few seconds later I was trying to open the BBC Scores and Fixtures page in Chrome. It loaded interminably and then, bing, bing, bing. So many text and What’sApp messages coming up, one after the other. Congratulating me on the title, woohooing at me, OMGing me. All from different people who don’t know each other, so surely they were not banded together to punk me?

And then the BBC page loaded. It was already Wednesday in England so the BBC page was showing the upcoming Aston Villa match in the Europa League rather than Tuesday’s results. I clicked back to Tuesday and there it was. Man City had only managed a 1-1 tie with Bournemouth. A gap in points they could not overcome with only one match remaining.

Arsenal were Champions. For the first time in 22 years. For the first time since they’ve been my team. And it doesn’t matter what happens on Sunday.

I was overcome with joy. And so much relief. And on a plane with a bunch of strangers and not able to shout out with glee. I was harboring so much of it in my body. Tears rose in my eyes.

The rest of it is a blur. Since returning to Chicago I’ve wasted so much time watching the celebrations all over the world, including the Arsenal players celebrating from their training center where they watched the match together.

One thing stands out more than anything. As Man City was playing and it was looking like they would not win, Arsenal fans started leaving their houses and flats all over the city of London. They walked, rode, and drove over to The Emirates like Monarch butterflies coming back to their home.

Thousands of people around the stadium and on the streets of North London. Hugging, crying, singing, celebrating. Being washed in champagne. In this moment where there was nothing planned by the club and no one expected even to see the players, they needed to be together.

They stayed there for hours. A few players did get over to The Emirates at about 5 a.m. and took selfies with the remaining die hards.

The other thing that stands out in all my viewing is the wonderful video released by Arsenal that I think sums up this season so beautifully. The club was ready to go if the moment struck, but that video might have been consigned to the trash heap. Probably several others have in the past few years. Arsene Wenger to kick it off! You know I love that.

Mikel Arteta was nowhere to be seen in the videos of the players celebrating for several days when finally a few photos were made public of him with the team in a nightclub somewhere in London Tuesday night or Wedensday morning.

It came out more recently that Arteta did not watch the match with his family as he said he would in the interview after the Burnley match. A plan for players and staff to watch the match at the training center had been made at the request of the players on Tuesday. Martin Odegaard had asked Mikel and his staff to be there. But at the last moment, Arteta found himself in the viewing space and realized he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be present. Instead he drove home, where he found his family watching the match. He went into his yard, lit a fire, and commenced barbecuing. He stayed outside for the entire match. He said it felt like forever. At last his son came out the door. He was crying. “We are champions, Daddy.”

What a beautiful moment for the young man who has worked so hard in his first managerial job. And for his family who no doubt bore much of the stress. And for the players and all of us who joined them on this journey.

There is a different takeaway. Arteta didn’t watch the match. I didn’t watch it. I understand Declan Rice didn’t watch it. We were controlling what we are able to control, which is making Arsenal succeed by not letting Man City see us looking at them.

You’re welcome, Arsenal community.

Penultimate challenge

Amy OLeave a comment

The club had been so happy with how things went before the Atletico Madrid match a few weeks ago they suggested for the Burnley match that fans “Greet the coach.” When I first saw the announcement from the club I thought it was some event where you get to see Mikel Arteta. But then I rewound in my head what happened before the Atletico Madrid match. They asked the fans to be in the road outside the stadium to welcome the team bus. Bus = coach.

It was quite early, though. They suggested arriving for the event at 5:45 p.m. and then the bus–er, coach–would come through at around 6:15. But the match would not start until 8, a long time to be at the stadium.

I decided I would go. Being all riled up before you enter the stadium seemed like a good plan for all concerned. I did take the precaution of acquiring a sandwich and some chips from Pret a Manger to eat before going into the stadium. The stadium grounds seemed kind of empty as I stepped out of the Arsenal station. I had expected a lot more people. But then I got to the west end of the stadium. It was packed. And the road beneath it was jammed with thousands of people. I waded in and joined the chanting. The fans went through all the player chants they could think of and then the general chants. Suddenly, people began lighting red flares and red smoke was everywhere. It had a pretty overwhelming smell but I found as a short person I could keep my nose mostly under it. And then, there it was, looming through the red smoke like a giant whale in bloody water. The coach carrying the players. Just as quickly, it was gone.

The fans gathered there hung out for quite a while. While I was waiting for the coach I had spotted the famous tunnel where an artist known as “Northbanksy” has placed graffiti art focused on Arsenal players. As many times as I’ve been to the Emirates, I never knew where it was. I wandered over and took some photos and then went back through the grounds and sought out a picnic spot. There is a lot of seating near the Tony Adams statue but I decided that the area near the Arsene Wenger statue would probably be a bit less populated. I would have one peaceful moment before entering the stadium.

As I walked over, I did notice a large group congregating by the statue. But I was right. On the benches facing the statue there was only one other guy. Like me, he had a Pret a Manger bag. We raised our bags toward each other in salute. And in front of the Wenger statue was an enormous group of delighted Asian Arsenal fans. They took dozens of pictures of their group in various poses in front of the statue. After enjoying his dinner, my picnic companion leaned in toward my ear as he left the scene. “They must have paid a fortune for tickets!”

Having eaten my sandwich I walked all the way around to the other side of the stadium and entered, made my way up to the concourse outside my section in the Clock end. There was so much time, I invested in a Guinness and watched the pregame analysis on Sky Sports as well as you can with no sound on the television. By then the starting lineup had been announced and it was a nice-looking one with Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze both starting in midfield and Kai Havertz at striker. Most else exactly as the game at West Ham, which started pretty similar to Fulham and Atletico Madrid. Big exception being no Ben White, who was seriously injured in the West Ham match. He won’t be back this season and was replaced in this match with Cristhian Mosquera. And of course with Odegaard in the lineup, Myles Lewis-Skelly was listed as a substitute.

Since I last wrote about Arsenal’s standings in the league, not much had changed except for after the win by Arsenal at West Ham, Man City had a match at home against Crystal Palace, which they won handily, 3-0. Which means no matter what happened in Monday’s match against Burnley, Arsenal could not win the league on Monday. And, if Arsenal did win the match, the title race was going to go into the last week, probably even into the last game. Man City had won the FA Cup on the prior Saturday against Chelsea. To be honest, they didn’t look like much but they had enough in the tank to win by scoring once, late in the match. Their next Premier League match would be Tuesday against Bournemouth. And then both Arsenal and Man City would have matches on the last day of the season, Sunday.

And if Arsenal did not win against Burnley? Well, technically all would not be lost but we’d be out of the driver’s seat. We’d have to hope for a lot of bad stuff to happen to Man City. A club for which not much bad stuff usually happens.

Burnley has a player formerly with Man City, Kyle Walker. I saw reports in Social media that Kyle Walker had promised Burnley would take something off Arsenal. Given the state of social media, I don’t know if that comment actually was made. I also saw that Man City’s coach, Pep Guardiola, had said he has “no doubts” that Burley could produce something. However, you ask yourself, if Burnley could win at will, why they didn’t win enough games to stay in the Premier League? Their relegation has been certain since April 22. And who did they lose to that day? Man City beat them 1-0 at Burnley. Still, in their most recent match, they did manage a draw at Aston Villa, often a tough place to visit. And even though as a team they have very little reason to dedicate themselves to a win, the players have individual reasons to impress. When they go down to the Championship, Burnley might need to lighten their salary load so some players may find themselves sold back into the Premier League. Scoring a goal against Arsenal might give a Premier League team reason to consider your plight.

I made way to my seat where exactly one other person was already sitting in the row and it happened to be right next to my seat. We chatted a little bit about the seats (his was a season ticket), kids, jobs and, naturally, Donald Trump, as the section started to fill up. He told me my seat was owned by a guy who moved out of London and, yes, the change in match date and time had been what contributed to him selling on the exchange. The fan to my left also had bought his seat from a season ticket holder and was as delighted as can be to be there. He introduced himself to everyone around him and received a warm welcome. Speaking of warm, because it was a night game, there were cannons all along the East side of the stadium shooting flames into the air. We were far from the cannons but the warmth in the air when they shot into the sky was unbelievable. The people on the East side of the stadium must have been cooking.

Like every team, Burnley probably has three kits. The one they chose for this match, light blue and and lighter blue stripe, had an effect from distance similar to Man City’s home kit. It did make me feel uneasy.

The stadium was loud loud loud. North London Forever was about as intense as I’ve ever heard it and the chants were nearly nonstop. Because I was in the Clock End, Arsenal were driving toward the goal in front of me for the first half. Burnley started strongly and a bit worryingly, but Arsenal regained control. As expected, Burnley kept many players behind the ball at all times and breaking through was challenging. Working in such close quarters, Burnley would get the ball and lose it to pressure, followed by Arsenal getting the ball and losing it to pressure. There was a lot of time wasting, particularly by Burnley’s goalkeeper. Kyle Walker was booed every time he touched the ball.

Arsenal were able to get several shots off. One, by Saka, was deflected out for a corner kick. Saka took the kick and went short. Even though Arsenal fans seem to hate short corners, no one near me complained. There was a near-glorious moment a bit later when Leo Trossard took a thundering shot that hit the goal post farther from us. The ball rebounded to a place the nearest Arsenal player was unable to get to it. Not too long after that, Burnley managed a scary counterattack that ended with a misfired shot. Phew.

A bit later Saka drove into the box and as he went to kick the ball it looked like he was fouled. Never before in that stadium have I heard such sustained boos for the referee when he waved it away. The subsequent VAR check agreed with the referee. We didn’t like it. I’ve seen that one on TV after the match and still think it’s a foul on Saka. The defender only gets to the ball because he’s hooked Saka’s foot. I’m just glad Saka was not badly injured. That was one of those awkward moments where something bad can happen.

After some sweet team play ended with a shot by Odegaard being deflected, Arsenal were given another corner kick. Saka took the kick again, across the goal into a place that I think many goal keepers would be able to get to. Kai Havertz jumped into a cloud of blue shirts and had no problem hitting the target using his head. We went crazy as he ran in front of us to celebrate in the corner. A trademark set piece goal for this crazy season. A lot of hugs and high-fives in our section.

Saka had one more shot before halftime that wasn’t far from the goal, but a miss is a miss.1-0 as the stadium emptied out for beer and a bathroom break.

At this point, many teams might open up in quest of an answering goal, but it seemed Burnley were determined to limit the damage. They deployed roughly the same strategy in the second half as the first. It was frustrating for sure. There were a couple good Arsenal attempts on goal that ended with missed shots by Eze. There was at least one attack by Burnley into our end that resulted in an errant shot well above the goal. The most worrying event involved an incident with Kai Havertz. It occurred far from where I was and I did not have a good look at it. Havertz apparently fouled a Burnley player and received a yellow card for his troubles. But the incident went to a long VAR review to determine if it shouldn’t really be a red card. We would have played 25+ minutes with 10 men if VAR intervened.

VAR’s determination was that the yellow card was good enough. Gyokeres had been warming up on the sidelines before this was happening so perhaps the subsequent substitution Mikel Arteta made did not 100% reflect a decision to not take any chances with Havertz on a yellow that referees might be inclined to take make-up action on later. Whatever his reasoning, Havertz was removed for Gyokeres shortly thereafter in a three-sub replacement that also saw Myles Lewis-Skelly replace Eze and Hincapie replace Califiori.

At this point, the crowd was trying hard to stay behind the team but it had been painful. Not much good had happened. Not much bad either, but that’s besides the point. We were hanging onto a one-goal lead. Logically, Burnley had done very little to trouble us, but it only takes a moment. And we had taken a number of shots that for one reason or another failed to hit the target. Fouls were flying fast and furious. I was almost more worried someone would get injured. We need everyone to stay healthy.

That’s a lie I’ve told myself. The thing that had me more worried than anything was, without a doubt, that they might score.

The fourth official announced 7 minutes of added time we had to get through. Then David Raya was fouled badly and fell awkwardly right in front of us. He looked to be in a lot of pain but eventually was able to continue. And again, yes, I’m worried about injuries. Briefly. There were more Arsenal subs. And now, with the pause in play for David Raya’s injury and the subs, no one in the stadium knew how long we had to hang on for.

I’m dying.

After a long lifetime, the whistle blew. We had won. 1-0. I was shaking, more than I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve felt shaken at the end of a match many times this season.

And then, because it was the last home match of the season, even though it was late “on a school night,” most people in the stadium stayed in place to hear speeches by Martin Odegaard and Mikel Arteta and celebrate the players as they walked around the pitch to cheer and be cheered. When Mikel Arteta stepped to the microphone the stadium broke out in the must uproarious version of “We’ve got Super Mik Arteta” I’ve ever heard. It was repeated again and again, each time louder than the last.

He might never have gotten to speak, but he broke in. He sounded close to tears as he thanked everyone in the club and the fans for their support. He reminded us we have one more match in the Premier League to go after.

We would have to live in this uncertain world for one more week. After which we would know if we have what it takes to bring this title over the line.

Did I feel confident? I’m an Arsenal fan. We have been through so much. 22 years since we last took the title. I’ve been a fan for more than 15 of those years. Too much could happen. Has happened.

So, while I felt hopeful and I thought these players, this manager, could do it, “confident” was a bridge too far.

What fools these mortals be

Amy OLeave a comment

My flight into Heathrow arrived later than normal because flights were pretty expensive. I ended up booking a flight that connected through Dublin. The extra leg was welcome because it allowed me a bit more sleep before getting on the Tube. I often fall asleep on the Tube from Heathrow to wherever our hotel is, but usually my husband is present and awake to be part of ensuring we get off at the right stop. Not this time. Although he, my son, and I kept trying to get tickets for the match even after I booked my flight, no tickets materialized.

I held off booking my hotel until two days before I departed since we were hoping my son and/or husband might make it. Do you book a hotel for one, two that are married, two that are not married, or three? I ended up hedging and selecting something appropriate for two that were married, a room at The Exhibitionist, a tiny, somewhat kitschy hotel in Kensington close to the South Kensington Tube stop. Easy access to the airport and on the same line as the Arsenal stop, albeit not super close to the stadium. Great neighborhood we’ve been in a few times and it worked well for me. They checked me in immediately upon arrival and I took the opportunity to take a short nap before showering. A full bath with both a tub and a separate shower, and the rain head was serious about my cleanliness.

I’d booked cheap groundling tickets to A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for the evening. Good activity to do on your own, reasonably priced so you can bag it if you’re too tired or the weather is bad. This is a comedy in the star-crossed lover genre and one I know pretty well. It’s probably one of the more accessible Shakespeare plays and very popular among park theatre productions.

It was a Sunday evening and although the play was well-attended, it was not incredibly crowded either. The Globe does a great job of involving the audience to keep things fun and interesting and they outdid themselves on this occasion. Before the play even started, they had the audience singing in rounds, practicing dance steps, and reciting sections from various Shakespeare plays. The groundling section was mostly populated with young people who were happy to participate and, once the play began, seemed to really enjoy it. The play was fun and well acted, but being in a really engaged audience made it even better. The actors occasionally brought members of the audience onto the stage to perform various roles and everyone had a wonderful time.

The play started relatively early and ended at dusk. The walk back to the Tube over Millennium Bridge was particularly nice. There were very few people out on a Sunday evening and I was surprised to be able to hear the birds calling as I walked over the bridge and enjoyed the views to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Shard.

Sleep was somewhat elusive that night (reference the afternoon nap described above). I had made plans for Monday in light of the match in the evening and the fact my husband was not with me. Visiting gardens is probably not at the top of his list, but I figured that would be fun for me. A few months ago, I had watched a movie on Netflix called Dare to be Wild, based on a real, past participant in the Chelsea Flower Show named Mary Reynolds. I won’t pretend to know everything that happens in the Chelsea Flower Show, but part of it includes a landscape competition. Mary Reynolds had a big idea and applied to enter the competition. Her idea was selected to be built out and the movie was about all the problems she had to overcome to bring her vision to fruition, and win. Anyway, the Chelsea Flower Show was days away from my visit and therefore not a possibility, but an event that takes place starting in advance of the flower show is “Chelsea in Bloom.” During this festival, many shops in the Chelsea neighborhood decorate their storefronts with floral displays. This year, around the theme, “Out of this world.”

I had decided to spend some time visiting Chelsea in Bloom, but my bad night’s sleep had me out in Chelsea much earlier than I originally planned. This was a good thing and a bad thing. Chelsea in Bloom started that day and some shops were still just working on their displays when I went through. To the good, though, I was able to enjoy most of the displays before the crowds set in. Most of the displays used real flowers. Not only were the displays beautiful and sometimes just fun and creative, I enjoyed how different shops interpreted the theme. There was a lot of outer space influence, as you might expect, but sometimes “Out of this world” was interpreted as out of the world of England. For example, there was a floral exhibit of cactuses. And sometimes it was interpreted as imaginary creatures, like unicorns and mermaids. It was so lovely and fun to see how people walking to work or to school were reacting to the displays. Everyone seemed so happy.

After walking all through Chelsea I decided to revisit Fortitude Bakehouse, a bakery near Russell Square my niece had told me about that I visited once last year. Famous for their cream-stuffed beignets that aren’t available until 11 a.m. It’s lunch! Fortitude was not really close to my hotel or Chelsea in Bloom but whatevs. I had time on my hands. Today’s flavor was pistachio and raspberry. Half of one would be plenty, even for lunch, but I took mine into a pretty park and ate the whole thing. With tea to wash it down. Delicious. Not health food.

I stopped by the hotel for a quick nap (yes, making a habit of this on my short trip to London) and then set out for a nearby garden called Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, a few Tube stops and a short walk from my “home” Tube station, South Kensington. Kyoto Garden was a small, peaceful, and lovely Japanese garden. I enjoyed visiting the “Dutch garden” as well. Not much was blooming there but it was very nice, with orderly plots.

I headed back to The Exhibitionist for a quick change into my Arsenal jersey. It brings good luck. And we need everything to go our way. Including, but not limited to, luck.

Adrenaline junkie makes a decision

Amy OLeave a comment

Not long before I retired, I was working with my tech counterpart on a thorny problem in our financial planning software that we needed to solve quickly. I had been working from home since the pandemic, and while we were working through the problem, happened to run into my husband on a trip to the kitchen to get more coffee. “Why did I get into this profession?” I asked rhetorically. My husband scoffed, “Because you’re an adrenaline junkie.”

My life post-retirement involves very little adrenaline. I work occasionally in a food pantry, menial tasks like making sure shopping carts are returned from the parking lot to the pantry or breaking up boxes or packaging diapers. I take fitness classes. I work in my garden, where I am currently establishing the hardscape for what I am calling my “secret” garden. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I read.

Frankly, only my life around Arsenal involves regular adrenaline. Watching games, I’m almost always in a state of anxiety. Maybe more this season than in other seasons, because the stakes are so high and the games have been so tight. So many games decided by only a goal. A few games lost because we let a late goal in.

In a year in which we are so close to winning the Premier League and the Champions League, imagining the good things that could happen–or the bad things–have actually made me lose sleep. It’s an admittedly stupid reason to lose sleep, but explain that to my wide-awake self in the middle of the night. It will fall on ears that can’t begin to care what you have to say about it.

My available time has caused me to build more of my habits around matches. Podcasts come out before the match, to anticipate what may happen, and come out after the match, to revisit what happened and why. So in a normal week this season, there has been a match over the weekend and a match during the week. That is a minimum of two matches and four podcasts. Plus I almost always watch more than just our match in a given week. Usually, much much more. Sometimes with high stakes for Arsenal and some not. And every day I take in news–from the club, from news sources covering football, and from blogs. Way too much from social media. I’ve learned that there are some sources that are actively bad for me and I’ve tried to cut them out or at least minimize their presence in my life, especially at a sensitive time. After a bad loss, for example, I will lean on sources that are more thoughtful and steer clear of click-bait and hot takes. But then I’m left to my own brain, which is its own fun house of histrionics.

One of the reasons I love watching matches live at the Emirates is there is counterpoint action to my anxiety. Something about shouting or singing together with others can be a bit of a change of subject as the action is unfolding before you. If I’m singing that Gabriel is the king of Brazil because of something awesome he just did, I might feel less inclined to have a fit over someone’s subsequent misplaced pass. Or I might have a defensive or protective reaction if the crowd starts to show its frustration over something that happened on field. I love this team so much; how can anyone be mean to them?

And so many things happen in a group that big that bring a smile to your face or are especially touching, like when the Arsenal fans sang to Smith-Rowe when he was injured in the Fulham match or when everyone sings North London Forever at the beginning of the match. And when things have gone well, there is nothing better than sharing that moment with a giant crowd. We overcame something together and now we’re on an adrenaline high together.

I enjoy watching football on my couch in the Chicago suburbs, or I wouldn’t do so much of it, but it’s not the same as being in the stadium.

Ever since I was able to first attend a number of matches during the 2015-2016 season, it’s been my goal to try to be at the last home match of each season. That’s because I’m always sure this is the year we’ll get the Premier League trophy and it will be bestowed upon us on that day. Because my original access to tickets involved a share of season tickets, I would make a request at the beginning of the season to have that last match. Usually, no one competed with me for that date. That was in the days where I guess no one except me thought winning the Premier League was going to happen. That got harder after I successfully got the tickets for the last home match in 2023 and Arsenal really did come close to winning it for the first time in a long time. They just kind of ran out of gas at the end and Man City won.

After that year, the demand for tickets increased a lot and for whatever reason there wasn’t room for me in the group that shared the season tickets anymore.

That’s when my husband and I joined Arsenal as “Red” members so we could participate in the ballot and, failing that, in the Arsenal ticket exchange. It’s worked out pretty well for us. We normally ballot for every match unless we know for sure the timing won’t work. When we’ve really wanted to attend but didn’t succeed in the ballot, we’ve almost always been able to get tickets on the exchange, but it requires a lot of work and repetitive clicking. And you can’t ballot until very close to the match, usually less than a month out with results being shared several weeks out. Then you have to be able to set up flights on short notice, which sometimes means big expense. We’ve mostly gotten lucky on that, too.

Always if we’ve failed to get tickets, we’ve failed to get tickets for both of us. Usually, that failure has come for the most important matches. Matches in the quarter- or semi-finals of the Champions League, for example. Last matches of the season when the title is on the line. For example, the last match of the season in 2024, when Arsenal might have won the league if only Man City lost that day. (We could not get the tickets, but Man City also did not lose in the end.)

Arsenal’s last home game this season was to be against Burnley, a team that appeared to be headed toward relegation at the time the ballot was made available for application. But Arsenal were doing well and the ballot was especially popular. We learned we were not successful in the ballot on March 31. For about a month I tried to get tickets on the exchange with no success and really very little selling activity visible. Then Sky Sports, the broadcasting company that gets to control the world, decided to move the Burnley match from a Sunday afternoon to a Monday night. Terrible for the fans who had tickets and made travel plans, etc. And not a great time for a match.

But for us, that created opportunity since it meant the new game time might not work out for everyone who had a ticket and maybe there would be some action on the exchange.

Now that I’ve explained this, I think you might see that dealing with the exchange is a different, sick source of adrenaline in my life. I was listening to an episode about gambling on the podcast This American Life a few weeks ago and one of the things they mentioned is that a gambler who is not addicted to gambling will process a near-miss while gambling, correctly, as a loss. But a person who is addicted will process that near-miss as a win and double down. That’s how I am on the exchange. If I see a ticket for sale and I’m not successful in buying it, that will count for me as a near-miss and I will become dogged about continuing to try. Fortunately, counter to gambling as an addiction, there is not much money I can lose due to my addiction to the exchange. I usually can’t even get to the stage where I can give them my money.

Because Sky Sports is a jerk, a few tickets did come up as I anticipated and I was able to snag one within two days of the date change. On the exchange, you can designate people in your friend group and it’s possible for me to buy a ticket and assign it to anyone in my group who is eligible, in this case, myself, my husband, or my son. My son usually can’t attend because he’s a tax accountant and the Spring is so busy, but he wanted to attend this one.

I always assign the first ticket I get to myself, then work on a ticket for my husband. I always jokingly say it’s because of the airline’s admonishment to “put your own mask on first before helping others.” In reality, it’s because getting to most matches is probably more important to me than it is to him. And getting to this match, the last home game of the season? That’s my value, not his. Still, he is happy to attend, likes to attend. So, as usual, I assigned that Burnley ticket to me.

And that was it. I was never able to get another ticket despite hours of trying across 2-3 weeks. And I saw so few, I had very little confidence one would turn up late. Neither my husband nor my son were able to find a ticket either.

My husband and son only wanted to come to London if they had a ticket for the match and only I had a ticket. At some point a decision had to be made. Do none of us go? Do I go alone?

I had a fair amount of guilt about being the only one with a ticket. I second-guessed my decision to always assign first to myself. And it didn’t feel quite right going without them. I’m the biggest Arsenal fan in my household but love of Arsenal is shared with my family. It’s a pleasure partly because it’s shared.

At the same time, it’s the last game of the season. In a season in which Arsenal really might win it all and really might be awarded that trophy that night. And even if that didn’t happen, would still be an important game.

My husband was pressing me to organize my flight before fares rose prohibitively. I sat with him on the same couch I normally stress out watching Arsenal and described why I was struggling to make a decision. My husband is a good listener and as we discussed my reasons for going or not going it became clear even to me I was not being logical. At all. I didn’t have good reasons to go or not go.

I put my headphones on, started listening to the Arseblog podcast, and went out to work in the garden. The podcast was about the West Ham match we had just won, barely, and with some late drama that almost saw us conceding a goal until it was ruled out (rightly, say all Arsenal fans) by VAR. A tie would have put a serious dent in our quest for the title.

At some point, even though I still didn’t have a logical explanation, I knew what I should do. I came back in the house and booked a flight.

Where they belong

Amy OLeave a comment

“I’m in tears.” That was the text message from my former colleague at the conclusion of the Arsenal semi-final match vs. Atletico Madrid. I had not heard from him for more than two years when he left the company we both worked for. He is a huge Arsenal fan and if we have little else in common, we do have that. He even has “Arsenal” tattooed on his forearm in giant, brand-correct letters. And that tearful sensation seemed to be the feeling many Arsenal fans had, including me. You just wanted to reach out to people who can understand what we’ve all been through. And relive it. And smile for once.

What a wonderful week! It seemed everything came good. Arsenal managed to beat Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal and on aggregate, putting us into the Champions League final in Budapest for only the second time in Arsenal’s history.

And Man City dropped points in the Premier League the day prior by only tying Everton. It was a mad match, with Man City scoring first near the end of the first half, then Everton scoring three unanswered goals, then (of course they did) Man City scoring two goals near the end of the match. We vowed not to watch the match on TV. It’s been established as bad luck. But we did occasionally check in on the scores.

Which means Arsenal are in the driver’s seat for the Premier League. Win the three matches remaining and we are Premier League champions. And in Champion’s League, we have to win just one more match.

I say that as if it’s easy. Only the math I employed there is easy.

My husband and I were not ultimately able to get tickets for the Atletico Madrid match, which we understood was a likely outcome at the outset. We put in the work on the exchange, but it was not to be. We ended up watching the match, somewhat coincidentally, in The Hope, the pub where we watched the Real Madrid quarter-finals when we couldn’t get tickets that time either. It’s not really an Arsenal pub and it was not packed with people but most of the people who were present were Arsenal fans. And we got a good result in that pub for Real Madrid, so it seemed like a good place to be.

I say that as if it was just fine we couldn’t be there in person. It was not fine. The atmosphere at the Emirates looked amazing. Best ever. The club encouraged fans to be on hand to greet the players’ bus as it rode into the stadium and it looked like pure pandemonium. There was a big light and cannon show before the match. A huge, new tifo. And the stadium was so loud. Definitely a good counterpoint to the first leg that was in Madrid. Which was loud and came, bizarrely, with numerous rolls of toilet paper unfurling.

Mikel Arteta surprised everyone by rewarding the starting players who had done so well in the Fulham match, contrary to the prevailing narrative that he would use players he rested for that match. He didn’t make a single change in the lineup. And they rewarded his reward by playing well and dominating most of the match. There were a few scary moments but Arsenal looked really solid.

Only one goal was scored, but it was enough. Just before halftime, William Saliba spotted Viktor Gyokeres starting a run down the right flank and made simple, long pass. Gyokeres was given some time to control the ball and loft it to Trossard on the opposite side. Trossard pushed the ball toward the goal and made a solid shot, which the goal keeper punched out. Atletico’s defenders seemed asleep at the switch, but there was Bukayo Saka to hit it past the keeper and into the net. Not beautiful in the traditional sense, but it created some beautiful feelings.

Most matches do not seem won when Arsenal are up by only one goal, but this one kind of did. Arteta was able to make earlyish subs in the second half and get some rest into players who had done heavy lifting over the week and we were able to keep Atletico under control.

The celebrations at the final whistle were incredible. Some fans were in tears, some players were in tears. There was a lot of jumping and singing. Cannons were shot off again. Even Mikel Arteta did a crazy little dance with Trossard. In a funny turnabout, instead of giving his jersey to a fan, a fan gave Saka a scarf. Declan Rice was interviewed after the match and said the dressing room was “chaos.”

We’ve been home for more than a week now and Arsenal have already played West Ham in the Premier League, a cagey 0-1 win. One of the narratives for the half week until the West Ham match was played was Arsenal haven’t won the Champions League competition, why have they celebrated so much after winning only the semi-final? Celebrate when you win something. So in the press conference before the West Ham match, Mikel Arteta was asked what he thought about that.

Arteta said he hadn’t heard that kind of talk. Ultimately, he said, “You have to respect every opinion and place them where they belong.” The reporter who asked the question followed up, asking where Arteta has placed these opinions about the over-celebration. “Where they belong,” he said, obtusely, with a smirk.

Man oh man, I love this guy. I love this team.

Paris Saint-Germain won their second leg against Bayern Munich in the other semi-final a day later, so Arsenal will face PSG in Budapest at the end of May. PSG was chill about the win that placed them in the final. In one form of celebration, their fans lit cars on fire in the streets of Paris.

PSG are certainly favorites to win the competition, but I’m counting on Arsenal to give it a go.

And, naturally, hoping to be able to complete at least one sanctioned celebration this month.

Planet Earth is blue

Amy OLeave a comment

Our trip to London to take in the Fulham match (and hopefully the Atletico Madrid Champions League semifinal match), was oddly dominated by David Bowie and water. That, and clicking in the Arsenal exchange every spare moment for a ticket to the Atletico match. My husband’s childhood friend was in London at the same time we were, so we also had fun catching up with him.

David Bowie had been a minor character in my teen world. I knew some of his music, most notably Space Oddity, a rock ballad about an astronaut who goes to the moon, but something goes wrong and he floats away, never to return to Earth. That particular song, a line from which I’ve borrowed as the title of this post, was initially released in 1969 but was re-released in the United States in 1972. Other versions have been released since then, but it’s the 1972 version I’m familiar with. Something about that song really captured my imagination. In my interpretation of the song, Major Tom decides not to go back to earth and enacts his ship’s malfunction. Apparently that is not how David Bowie saw it. Major Tom floated hopelessly away in his broken spaceship.

My interpretation is better.

I remember one of my high school classmates declaring “David Bowie is so gross.” I didn’t know enough about him to have an opinion but I had seen pictures of him and knew he did something very few men did at that time: he sometimes wore makeup and clothing more commonly associated with women. I was living in a conservative area of the country, but there is probably no place in the world that despises individuality and demands conformity more than high schools of the 1970s.

I had really loved Queen in high school. Funny now that I think of it that David Bowie would possibly be “gross” but Queen was A-ok. Bowie’s music took a turn that intersected more with my mainstream sensibilities in the early 1980s. I loved the collaboration he did in 1981 with Queen’s Freddie Mercury, Under Pressure. It’s still one of my favorite songs. And later it rubbed me the wrong way that Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby started with the same musical hook. (I feel more inclined to forgive Vanilla Ice now that Arsenal fans use Ice Ice Baby as the base of a chant to honor Declan Rice. Rice Rice, baby.)

David Bowie exploded into the mainstream with Let’s Dance in the early 1980s. I had moved to Denver after college and was working, but didn’t yet have enough money or income to buy a car. I was carpooling with one of my colleagues every day. He was the first openly gay person I’d ever known and often he would cajole me into accompanying him to one of the gay bars in our neighborhood before he dropped me off at my apartment. So many handsome men. None of them interested in me, other than as a human. It was pretty sweet. Let’s Dance and Modern Love were big hits on the dance floor. I think that’s where I decided it’s always ok to dance alone. And was the start of me thinking everybody just wear what you want. Be who you are. Try out stuff until you’re clear. Even you, David Bowie. (And I think he would say “No shit. That’s what I did.”)

Anyway, that is a long preamble to our visit to the new David Bowie exhibit in London called You’re Not Alone at Lightroom, a “multimedia spectacle” that will “transport visitors into the iconic performances and creative mind and spirit of one of the world’s most visionary and influential artists.” It reminded me of Frameless, the interactive art exhibit we visited when we were last in London.

After a brief introduction to a life timeline for Bowie, you enter a large auditorium-like room, the walls, ceiling, and floor being used to project images, video, artifacts supporting narrative about how and why Bowie created as he did. I guess it’s technically a documentary but creatively delivered and very well done. There’s very little I enjoy more than being immersed in creative process, and David Bowie left behind exceptional records about his work that were the basis of the presentation. And it did include Space Oddity in full, which allowed for some interesting visual effects.

We found that so interesting that we made a point on a different day to head over to V&A East and V&A East Storehouse, new extensions of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

At V&A East we visited fascinating exhibits on “Why we make,” focused on the impulse to create and the process of creation. Not merely creation of art, but furniture, clothing, housing. I have found the Victoria & Albert museum in Kensington to be overwhelming, but the V&A East is very, very manageable and no less interesting. Bonus: it has a patio with a great view of the area where the Olympic stadium is. Which, by the way, is currently the home of West Ham. Arsenal were to be playing West Ham at London Stadium the weekend after we visited. We made sure to walk over and spread our Arsenal cooties all around the ground after visiting the exhibits.

The V&A East Storehouse is a short walk from V&A East. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s literally a storehouse for objects owned by the Victoria & Albert, but not currently on display in the museum. Except it’s the fanciest Storehouse you’ll ever lay eyes on. It’s a museum-like storehouse. You can walk around and look at the objects, which we did.

You can also visit a special area devoted to David Bowie. The David Bowie Centre is a permanent archive for David Bowie’s possessions that was given to the V&A. It contains a small exhibit that includes some iconic costumes worn by Bowie, objects he owned, and a narrative and artifacts about how some of his music was written (including hand-written starts at several songs, including Space Oddity, which was written almost like a play). It also includes archives of interviews, articles, reviews that are not on display but can be accessed upon request. He must have understood his own importance or he would never have retained all that stuff. And I guess he was right about his importance or the V&A would not now have it. Great exhibit.

Space Oddity tells us “planet earth is blue,” and we understand it’s blue because of the water on its surface. Our visit to London, coincidentally, included several water-related activities. The River Lea lies between the V&A East and London Stadium and there’s a place on the edge where you can rent a swan boat. Along with a bevy of school-aged kids, we decided we needed to do that. We discovered that swan boats are just the right size for me to peddle at 5′ 2″ and completely wrong for my husband at 6′ 2″. After a very short trip down river, we crossed this activity off our list.

On one of the days we were in town there was a boat festival, the IWA Canalway Cavalcade, near something called “Little Venice.” Having seen Bangkok’s version of “Little Venice” in January, I wasn’t expecting much that resembled Venice. Although the one in London did not, in the end, look at all like Venice, it was very charming and fun to see all the houseboats gathered together. There were many vendors and activities for the kids and we enjoyed walking along the canal on a nice day. My husband noticed that you can take a boat from Little Venice over to Camden so we hopped aboard and enjoyed the scenery for the 45-minute ride.

We also did a walking tour of the hidden River Fleet. This is a river that once visibly flowed through early London but became nasty, dirty, stinky and was covered with roads in the 1700s. It’s now, more or less, a sewage canal. Once before we had tried to find the headway for the river, but with construction near it along the Thames it’s impossible to see. But you can “see” and hear it underneath streets in parts of London.

Tourist taking photo of picturesque River Fleet.

We did a few things that have nothing to do with David Bowie or water, but do take place on Planet Earth. We visited the Somerset House for the 2026 SONY World Photography Awards exhibit. The exhibit included entries by amateurs and professionals in various categories, including portraits, landscapes, still life. I have no idea how they picked winners. It was all so good.

We also went over to an event called Sicily Fest. This was in a big hall in Islington, and held a bunch of vendors selling Sicilian food and drinks as well as a very popular Sicilian band. We attended a church service at Southwark Cathedral, home of Hodge the cat, who indeed was wandering around during the service and stopped by to sniff my husband.

And, as always, we found ourselves in a number of Fuller’s pubs. In my favorite experience, on the first day we were there, we really loved the glasses the Sutton Arms served our London Pride in. They had a depiction of the Thames that was very cool. We asked the bartender if it were possible to buy one. He said “Just take one. We have so many. And they always just walk away, especially with people drinking outside.” We were not quite in the sticky fingers frame of mind. While we sipped, ate a very delicious pizza, and watched the world go by through a large, open door, I googled how easy it would be to buy a glass. We found that Amazon could deliver such an item to us in the UK but not in Chicago. We enjoyed our beer in those beautiful glasses and left them behind. Here’s hoping enough will be retained by the London pubs for us to enjoy one again on a future trip.

I would have to be there

Amy OLeave a comment

As we were circling the Emirates in advance of the Fulham match, I overheard a conversation between several Arsenal fans walking behind us. They were discussing how they plan to view the last match of the season, which will be played away at Crystal Palace. The conversation took on tones of people imagining winning Power Ball: How would they spend all that money?

The impact of our losing against Bournemouth and Man City two weeks prior had put a giant dent in our title hopes which had been looking great for most of the season. Technically, if Man City were to win all their matches and Arsenal were to win all our matches, we would be tied on points earned. The league winner would then be decided by tie breakers, first being goal difference, second being goals scored. As of the time of the Fulham match, Man City and Arsenal were tied on goal difference but Man City had a higher number of goals scored. And in Arsenal’s match the prior weekend, at home no less and against in-a-world-of-hurt Newcastle, we had barely eked out a winning goal. It was pure torture to watch. And, needless to say, was not a harbinger of needed goals galore. Meanwhile, Man City looked to be turning into a magnificent machine as they so often do in the Spring. Depressing stuff.

So this conversation on which I was eavesdropping outside the stadium seemed particularly fanciful. The most hopeful fan was telling his friends he imagined he would watch the last match of the season between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at a pub in North London so he could experience it with Arsenal fans. And if Arsenal were winning by many goals, he would hop on the Tube and head over to Crystal Palace’s stadium, Selhurst Park. Because, as he explained it, “I know I can’t be in the grounds, but I would have to be there.”

My husband and I hadn’t been successful in the ballot for tickets to the Fulham match but then were eligible to look for tickets on Arsenal’s ticket exchange. I had felt confident we would be able to get tickets for this match and we had done the unthinkable, booking nonrefundable air tickets and hotel before we had any match tickets. With a million clicks I was able to find tickets the day before we travelled to London. Interesting that there had been so much angst online about Arsenal’s prospects for the Premier League among presumed fans (Bottled again!) while at the same time, fewer ticket holders than usual were selling tickets and a greater number of people were wanting to buy them. The market for tickets speaks more softly then the internet but methinks it tells more truth.

I could understand the feelings of my overheard compatriot in wanting to be ready in case the good thing we’ve all be dreaming of looked like it might imminently happen. While I was not quite ready to imagine planning that final day of the season, I was certainly charmed by the sentiment. I could see him outside Selhurst Park in the cool of the early evening, maybe his pint glass still in hand, looking up at the stadium lights, and smiling at the sound of cheers inside the stadium. Dreams fulfilled.

Using the exchange means my husband and I were not sitting together because you really can only get one ticket at a time. Both of our seats were in the club section in the North Bank, but mine were in the West corner and my husband’s were in the East corner. I was in my seat in time to see Arsenal’s pre-match sendoff for Per Mertesacker, our intrepid former defender who’s been in charge of Arsenal’s youth academy since he retired from playing. Always loved that guy. He, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, and Hector Bellerin formed the last really excellent defensive line I can recall until recent years.

I wondered if the stadium would erupt with the chant we’d used for him. He did reference it in his short remarks, calling himself a “Big friendly German” instead of the word starting with “F” we actually used, very lovingly. Although there usually is no hesitation on our part about flinging out some pretty rude chants, for some reason the one we used for Per only 10 years ago felt a bit culturally inappropriate now. Anyway, if the chant was only sporadically sung during the presentation before the match, he got a big round of applause for the good work he’s done with the Academy.

Three of the Academy’s protégés featured for Arsenal in the Fulham match. Mikel Arteta reached into his wildest dreams and determined that Academy alumnus Myles Lewis-Skelly would start in midfield, something that only almost happened in (I think) an FA cup match earlier this year. On that occasion Myles instead ended up replacing Riccardo Calafiori at left back when he was injured in the warm-up. That replacement was not fully unexpected: Myles made his big breakthrough at 18 years old last season at left back when Calafiori had a long-term injury. Myles was very, very good at left back. But this season we’ve not seen him much in any position even though he’s mostly been healthy. Other players have been preferred even though Calafiori has been injured a lot. Somehow Myles has not been giving Arteta what he wants to see. Football qualities aside, Myles seems to be of very different character than Arteta as well. I wonder if he rubs him the wrong way. A bit of a show boat. A trash talker. New Arsenal player Martin Zubimendi has been the preferred choice in midfield for most of the season, but he was a substitute on this day.

Bukayo Saka is also a product of the Academy and we were pleasantly surprised to see him in the starting lineup after a lengthy period out with an achilles strain. He’s been playing a few minutes from the bench for the last few weeks. We’ve seriously missed his influence in attack. And wunderkind Max Dowman, still a part of the Academy at 16, was on the bench as a substitute.

It turns out that Fulham has several Arsenal Academy alumni as well, which is one of the reasons I have a small affinity for Fulham. Alex Iwobi was out injured for this match but Emil Smith-Rowe was named as a starter. These players left Arsenal at different times, both after playing for a few years in the senior team and both under circumstances that have not damaged Arsenal fans’ high opinions of them. In particular, Smith-Rowe has Favored Son status. He was an integral part of Arteta’s early teams that showed sparks of an exciting future to come. Unfortunately, he’s experienced many injuries and is not the player he once was, or promised to be. Even at Fulham, he is often used from the bench and starts mostly when others are injured. Fulham also have goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who formerly played for Arsenal. The other reason I kind of like Fulham: they long had American star Clint Dempsey before he briefly went to the Dark Side, Tottenham, and then to the MLS.

In any case, I put my “small affinity” aside. Today Fulham is my mortal enemy.

In addition to the surprise of Myles Lewis-Skelly at midfield and Bukayo Saka starting at all, Mikel Arteta had put together an unexpectedly swashbuckling lineup. This match was sandwiched between two Champions League fixtures and it seemed today’s lineup was designed to protect and rest players who would be in the next leg of that competition only a few days from now.

If swashbuckling was the intent, Arteta got more than his money’s worth. This was probably the most exciting and inventive Arsenal I’ve seen for a while. Myles Lewis-Skelly was masterful, kept everything ticking. Riccardo Calafiori and Eberechi Eze were chaos merchants. Bukayo Saka and Leo Trossard brought bite to our attack we haven’t had for a long time. Viktor Gyokeres, who has taken so much shit about his technical skills and goal contributions (which actually are pretty darned good), fought all day and delivered good build up play, better than I’ve ever seen from him. Declan Rice, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, and David Raya were all excellent.

And the Emirates was rocking. So, so loud. In these times when the team isn’t doing so well and the fans are a bit depressed, you often hear pundits and podcasters asking something to the effect of “is it the players job to excite the crowd or the crowd’s job to excite the players?” I’m glad no one was navel-gazing on this question when I was there. The players were doing the best they could and the crowd was doing the best they could. Whether they believed the other guy was doing his job or not.

I was sitting in front of an extremely loud fan. He was so off-key and so loud, you just wanted to join him. And maybe cover him up a bit. It was not easy. His funniest bit was in chant commonly sung by Arsenal fans over the past 3-4 years. The chant goes like this:

We won the field at Anfield

We won it at the Lane

Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford

No one can say the same

We’re in Arteta’s army

We’re Arsenal through and through

We’ll sing it in the North Bank

And in the Clock End too

Allez allez allez (repeated a bunch of times)

At some point over the last few years, fans altered the second line slightly: “We won it at the Lane – TWICE!!!”

And this guy behind me added one more new thing. After we sung “We’re Arsenal through and through” he shouts “Where do we sing it?” Well, you know the answer. “We’ll sing it in the North Bank and in the Clock End too.” Such a dumb little thing. It made me smile every time.

Arsenal’s first goal came pretty quickly. A pass from Lewis-Skelly to Saka, and Saka left the Fulham defensive marker on his backside on the grass. He sent the ball across the goal to an onrushing Gyokeres, who tapped it into the net.

There were many chances after that that didn’t produce goals that stood (Calafiori had one in the back of the net that was called back because he was offside) but it was all so fluid and beautiful no one seemed too fussed about it. About beer-thirty when fans need to get out to the concourse before halftime to be in line and slam one before the second half starts, Gyokeres ran onto a through pass from Eze and passed to Saka, who was dividing two defenders with his run toward goal. There was no stopping Saka: he fired it near post. 2-0.

I may be imagining this but I felt that goal riveted many a beer-loving person to their seats. They were quickly rewarded. Trossard broke down the left side and made a looping cross to the waiting forehead of Gyokeres. It’s said he’s not a particularly proficient header of the ball but he did ok this time. 3-0 by the time the first half whistle blew. I had been hugged and high fived dozens of times by my peers in the North Bank.

The scoreline gave Arteta freedom to make subs and get rest for players returning from injuries. As a result, the second half was quieter. There were fewer chances for Arsenal and more for Fulham. Unfortunately, Fulham’s Emil Smith-Rowe went down at some point, injured. But he is really our Smith-Rowe. We sang the chant we used when he was an Arsenal player as he limped around the field back to the tunnel. I feel for this talented player who just can’t catch a break physically. My fervent wish is that he ultimately has a path like Eberechi Eze, back to us in good health and with hard times behind him.

We held on and so did Fulham. 3-0 at the end.

We celebrated with a few songs from the DJ and then I ran out to meet my husband by the Arsene Wenger statue outside. It was a very cheerful walk over to Arsenal station, my compatriots singing at top voice.

As we changed trains at St. Pancras Kings Cross a fight nearly broke out between a few Fulham and Arsenal fans as the Fulham fans sang “Bottled again, Bottled again, Bottled again, olé, olé.” Even people who just saw their team destroyed 3-0 felt free to taunt us. Luckily, peace managed to prevail.

I wish them no ill will in–where are Fulham?–11th place. And these men, probably living in their mother’s basements. Cozy.

Man City wasn’t scheduled to play until Monday, two days on. We would hold the lead in the League at least until then.