20 years in football the English way

 20 years in football the English way

In the early 2000s it was a struggle to have a ticket or season ticket at Highbury. As a Marseille and to some extent Lens fan I was following Smicer and Drogba.

Journalists at Canal Plus and France Football covering English football confirmed to me that it would be difficult to attend a match with the flamboyant Gunners at a sold-out Highbury. You would need to know someone or queue in front of the marble stairs.

I had still a very naïve vision of the Premiership and I was getting to grips with the history that I had missed because I was more into handball since the early 90s

How can you watch and play football in London?

I happened to get involved with the French embassy team as I was a regular visitor to the same West London pub as them.

I am not proud of this but that is a fact. I was keen to visit as many stadia as I could. I wanted to see the Arsenal play away even if I had to be discreetly in the home end. A bit of a sin. Whilst I became a travel club member with the Arsenal I got to purchase tickets at London clubs (Fulham, Chelsea, West Ham, Crystal Palace).

Got used to commute to bars watching the Arsenal play. Was listening to the radio or watching early highlights of all the matches including European nights.

Bring forward 2022. I was telling a fellow Arsenal season ticket how I had behaved very quietly and very smartly over the last couple of months. It all changed in a blink of an eye. The elephant in the room. Incompetent and bent refereeing. This ruins the game. In handball we have to respect the referees’ decisions. Well. Please do not raise the subject of the semi-final France-Germany in the 2007 Men World Championships. Respect is no longer on the agenda in these circumstances. But the spirit in which one reacts to adversity is what matters. The French team became invincible experts for a prolonged period of time following this incident. Sadly, Arsenal have a tendency to self-destruct these days whilst the infuriated fans are singing 2-1 to the referee as a sign of futile frustration. Mate, its only football. Matter of opinion. Not matter of life or death.

Football in England brings the best and the worst of all citizens from all backgrounds. Fans are being trapped. The experience is not as pleasant and yet its more affordable. The cashless transformation and the COVID 19 outbreak have a negative influence on the matchday experience.

The marketing of beers and the return of standing hinge on the world of hypocrisy.

England almost won the euros and young Bukayo Saka was victimised. He responded very well as he thrives at the Arsenal. And Arsenal fans were very supportive, not least exemplified by the like it song.

I used to say that Anfield Road was my favourite away ground and I would say that I wanted you will never walk alone played at my looming funeral.  Over the last twenty years the atmosphere at Anfield got worse. Not helped by the fact that Arsenal are often getting battered there. Especially if a certain MO officiates on the day.

One challenging thing is getting pennants at away grounds. This is a childhood habit and yet it is even harder than getting Subbuteo back on the Hamley’s shelves.

In my suitcase ready for a Xmas commute that never materialised its full of Arsenal memorabilia. There is an urgent need to get rid of all my football stuff and yet I keep having ambivalent feelings about it. Any value? Any interest? Any trustworthy new owner?

Going to away matches is always better than home matches. Until the away scheme was dismantled. What a great idea lost on the pillar of fake democracy! Twenty years down the line I know that I will not be able to see another Invincibles season in my lifetime. The press were still on their backs back then. The adage of a week is a long time in football got very telling on a famous Good Friday, that of Arsenal blistering win against Liverpool at Highbury.

My nucleus of friends here in the UK resonates around football. Football is a serious matter. It can become very sensitive. One may give a lot of stick and banter but one needs to accept to have some back. What sort of fan are you? When did you get into football? Were you an Arsene fan? Some answers are easier than others. Arsenal were a family club. It has become a business. Tradition and class still pervade at the club. What strikes a chord with me is the true diversity of Arsenal fans.

Got bored of taking pictures at football matches and yet its such a privilege to be able to look back at some fantastic pictures and memories. Getting autographs from players. Getting your shirt signed. Both were also items of fortune and I am now blasé about it to be fair.

One executive director also known as a staunch Liverpool fan who was at the Heysel and Hillsborough admitted to me that in his book priorities were clear. Family first, football then work. This must be borne in mind. Any overreaction can lead to unwanted consequences.

Football chats and football songs created a different life philosophy. Alcohol fuelled behaviour led to unpleasant situations. Wrongly surely footballers are seen as semi-gods and role models. And yet for one night only or on a special lunchtime, something truly amazing can happen and the emotions escape the supporters.     

Manchester City and Chelsea bought their way up the football pyramid and it hurts to hear that Chelski got to be the first and now for the second time the first London side to win the European Cup / Champions League. Manchester City were slaughtered at Maine Road back then whereas they thumped the courageous Gunners at the Etihad earlier this season. When Manchester City came back from a drubbing at White Hart Lane in the FA Cup that looked like a massive upset going the memory lane. In a quest for eternal success Chelsea had 15 different managers when Arsenal only got four. Spurs had 13 whilst respectively Manchester City 8, Manchester United 8, Liverpool 6. The correlation between continuity, loyalty and success is not the straight one. Leicester won the league after a famous escape the year before and following a surprising appointment. Claudio’s departure from Leicester was not as acrimonious as that from Chelsea. Claudio Ranieri has now a legendary status for any Foxes fan in the land.

Moving to a high-octane state of the art stadium is not a guaranteed success. Hinging on very thin margins it happened thanks to a well famous injury time winner by Kun Aguero for the Blue Citizens. That turned out to be a bit painful for the Arsenal faithful as the move to the Emirates stadium led to inconsistent results. Spurs trophy cabinet remains empty whether they played at the new Wembley or the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. In Spain Athletic Bilbao must be missing dearly their old stadium as the recent seasons were very disappointing. The atmosphere is so different. Even the most vocal Arsenal fans would agree that the Emirates can be a bit of a library at times.

Women’s football is becoming more popular or at least its getting more publicity. Arsenal were a fantastic side under Vic Akers. A fiercer competition is now on the agenda. Things are moving in the right direction.  No offence to QPR: playing a FA Cup final at Loftus Road is not as eye-catching as the new Wembley.

Going to a football match in England costs more than anything else. Its more than a day out. Broadcasters are taking clubs and supporters to ransom electing strange kick off days and time. Suits their agenda and they do not care about the football fans. But football does not stop with the Premier League. Both the Championship and League 1 include prestigious teams and the fight to go back up is no easy task. The demise of Wigan, Portsmouth, Southend, Sunderland and Ipswich contrasts with the fortunes of Brentford, Bournemouth or Salford.

One element to consider should be fair play and acknowledgement of a better side. When Arsenal lost 5-1 to Spurs away in the Carling Cup I clapped both teams because we were outclassed on the day. Conversely, I get quickly worked up with injustice. There is an anti-Arsenal vendetta. A bit like Millwall supporters saying its them against us. The Den being one London venue/stadium I have not yet attended.   A lot what said about the Pompey fans clapping Thierry Henry at that famous away FA cup fixture. This is not so unusual in handball to appreciate the opposition’s sublime pass or brilliant goal. In football, in England, the so-called land of fair play it can quickly become a sacrilege.

One human quality is that of not bearing a grudge on someone or something. A true football fan will have his red lines on that front. The Rooney’s dive in front of the away fans, the penalty conceded by Kolo Touré in the Champions League at Anfield, the ghost foul by David Luiz at Molineux are clear and obvious mistakes by the referee, whether VAR is in use or not. There is no point ranting about these decisions, however costly they were. Sadly, we expect things to be right at all times as if a god were to instil the decision-making of all participants. During the 2015 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Aston Villa, one would have forgotten that Villa got robbed of two clear penalty shouts in the second half. They could have got back into the game. Thierry Henry himself involved in a cheating incident with France would mention the early in the match penalty incident during the FA Cup final against Liverpool in Cardiff before the Michael Owen show went on display. Nottingham Forest fans went on Twitter with an open letter denouncing poor refereeing. Fans must abide by a code of conduct. Should the fans not expect the same from the football governing bodies?

There was something truly interesting when on a Saturday morning I was playing or cheering for my local team then going to see Arsenal play home or away on the same day or the next day. Wearing your shinpads and football gears whilst watching professional football. These were the days when one could go through the turnstiles with bags. I had been a football reporter with the local team for nearly fifteen years with so many ups and downs. We even trained on a basket ball pitch with Djibril Cissé near Plaistow. On the same day our team played in 5 a side against Ashley Cole.

Football is a matter of life and death. Going to a football match is marred by personal issues. Watching prima donna on salaries of obnoxious proportion creates a lot of expectations as well as frustrations. Sacrifices on the altar of FA cup match replays. Long in/out commute for an evening  match under atrocious weather conditions. Not many players appear to have the genuine respect for that effort. Again the rapport with handball players is much more pleasant although as the handball gets more publicity or becomes more professional it has lost a bit of its magic. When Robin Van Persie signed the shirt picked up at Dortmund away, he wrote on it ‘nice catch’. This reassured me about the kindness of professional football players in England.

Setanta Sports failure proved the point that football in England was a business. I had access to some confidential stuff when it all happened. This is also how I made up my mind about the governing bodies being corrupt. However, it is not business at all costs. Ethical business. Look at the way Sky embraced the racism and the sexism rows. The cap on away match tickets at Premier League fixtures was a very sensible move. Even if I am not a fan of the Premier League committee members, I must admit that this was the right thing to do. A match ticket for a category A could cost up to 72 GBP for away fans. The only time I got a refund was the 8-2 loss at Old Trafford after a lovely trip to Udine.

Football is boring. One school child with his mask on whispered to his friend on the train. ‘My father watched a football match the other night and I could not be arsed to watch this. Nothing was happening. It was dire for 90 minutes. 90 minutes was a very long time.’ What would you do instead? This is where things get a bid muddy. International matches are a drain on the football season. How can you cheer on players you love to hate all season? Many people dislike football but privately admit having fun during the Euros or the World Cup. There is a social nemesis behind these global events. Rugby has a 80-minute slot. Handball has a 60-minute duration and the playing area is much smaller. Many teams falter after an international break. One of the reasons could be the change in scenery led to an interruption in the confidence of players. On the Sunday morning following the second success by Chelsea in the Champions League final, I was not very happy. I went to Tooting Common and watched young lads play amateur cricket in the park. It was sickening to see how many of their players appeared to be Chelsea fans. The comradery made the whole experience not as boring as one would expect. A Ryder Cup or an Ashes turnaround(s) are probably the most iconic anti-boredom pills. A bore draw at Selhurst is offset by the cheer leaders’ shenanigans. When Arsenal women played Barcelona women at the Emirates a couple of weeks ago under very wet conditions. I used my phone whilst in my seat looking at the IHF youtube page displaying the French women handball team taking on Serbia. Had the impression that the overall level had dropped and I felt so bored whilst I knew another exciting match was taking place. I do not like the fact that replays disappeared in the FA Cup. I do not like the fact that extra time disappeared in virtually almost all domestic professional cup matches. These are not moves to entice more fans and get fans out of boredom. It happened to me that I should go to the Barbican instead of an evening at the football. Well, the movie was below expectations and a tad too long. Boredom was also on the cards. At Arsenal we are very good with entertaining Junior Gunners as they flock to the family enclosure be it at Highbury or the Emirates.

When Eintracht Frankfurt came to the Emirates their fans were so exuberant that they invaded parts of the home sections and ignited a lot of flares. It led to mayhem and a delayed kick off. It was very interesting to see how pundits reacted to fans coming from Germany disrupting the Emirates library. Strangely enough it turned out that it was not that scary. Things could have gone nasty.  Football moved on from the 80s and 90s for the better, at least on these shores now ring-fenced due to  Brexit. In continental Europe hooliganism thrives because the society is very much polarised and any opportunity for social unrest taken up. Their actions on that occasion were more linked to their passion as their club was back into Europe for the first time in a long time rather than the hallmark of social outcast liberation. You may remember that during the dictatorship held in Chile in the 1970s mass executions were taking place during football matches at packed football stadia. The violence of fans is controlled in the main. We noted a resurgence in streakers: on average three per match over the last couple of fixtures taking place at the Emirates.

One famous political violence class underwriter is a season ticket at the Valley. Instead of meeting her on New Year’s Day I bumped into the late Gerard Houllier. I had a very friendly chat with him in our French mother tongue. The Valley is not unfamiliar memories wise. It is probably where I saw the best goal ever scored in the Premier League as a fan attending the match. Robin Van Persie first time volley and you had the impression that the ball had flown into your eyes. Going down the valley of memories I would have to pick three emotional moments linked to work. Having virtually lost my job as part of a redundancy program, I was in tears on the plane to Milan and we then won 5-1 away. My eyes were so much filled with tiredness that my manager told me to go home early as I returned from the famous nil-nil draw Villareal away leading us to a final in Paris. Another line manager gave me permission to leave early and all the trains out of Paddington were cancelled or severely delayed. Such a massive delay that I rushed to enter the Majedski away fans turnstiles with over ten minutes played. The match ended up as a tennis score 5-7 win as one of the best away fan experiences ever and the line manager had also a very funny story to tell as he woke up finding out that we had won the tie.  

Arsenal fans took for granted over twenty years in Europe. It created some amazing memories, formed a couple of friendships. This year we are bereft of European fixtures. As a young fan matches across Europe enabled you to visit new places whilst accidentally watching a football match where an English side is involved. The best example was when we literally got hassled by the ITV mob asking for our opinion on Vigo. Celta away was a very entertaining affair off and on the pitch.

When going to football matches these days you often see young fans with PSG tracksuits. As a Marseille fan who actually played against PSG as a kid and even scored a scrappy injury-time winning goal on my 10th birthday, it could appear a bit sickening and annoying. English clubs unlike their European counterparts such as Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona and PSG do not have multi-sport branding. In a business struck environment this is a massive weakness. Does it come down to tradition? Not necessarily. Would love to see this happening though. It creates economies of scale in some bizarre way.

In England another elephant in the room comes by. The more money you spent the better your team becomes. Intrinsic quality of a player and consistency of performances individually and as a team are far more relevant. The chants across the land of spend some f…. money or what a waste of money… clearly come to mind. Another corollary is that a former player has to be a better manager. But the success of a player on the pitch may be eroded by the inability to manage properly egos now fighting for places on the pitch. Then comes the subject of bad runs by a team. Is it down to the players or the manager? In most cases the chairmen of the affected club(s) resort to a sacking of the under-achieving person in charge of a team. The rout of Saints by Leicester two/three seasons ago was not a reason for recently appointed German manager to be dismissed. That was a brave decision by the Southampton board but it does prove that things are always more complex than initially thought.

Having a visual memory, I am upset at the prospect of losing any memorabilia or any match report or wordings to that effect. Yet, this football frenzy must stop.  As a sports journalist, I had rather be a Paul Bray rather than a Martin Tyler. Not least because they are covering two different sports. Why sticking with football so fondly then? Football is a religion. I got asked not to take any picture when I entered a church devoted to late Maradona in Naples as Arsenal were playing their last group fixture. With so much at stake in terms of emotions and time, football can cement relationships but can also be lethal to married couples. There is also the fear of missing out. The pandemics created a fear of crowds and this can be a valid excuse for dropping out on the odd occasion. On a personal level I was always keen to go to Leeds away and for all sorts of reasons even with a ticket in my possession I got scared to travel up north. And I missed a cracking result just before the Christmas crackers.

We got very close to an absolute disaster. If England were to win the euros at home we would hear  it forever and all the time. It was distressing that it came down to Bukayo’s miss as it came down to Southgate for the euro semi-final in 1996. Much as the song Football is coming home was funny, a happy ending would have disrupted the life of any club football fan in a way that would have been even more painful than Brexit for any open-minded citizen.

The matchday experience is now curtailed by the likes of terrorism threats to an extent that we get deprived of our liberty in a very straightforward way. Anfield Road now operates a no bag policy. But the irony is that home fans are not subjected to the ruling in a very strict manner. This combined with the impromptu works in the park by the stadium meant that the experience as an away fan was horrible. And to add insult to injury a steward asked me to see my ticket as if I did not know my way around, this being perhaps my 14th visit to Anfield. Best stadium/away trip, probably not any more.  

One season I decided to have my long sleeve away shirt signed by any of the willing friends from the away fans’ community. Looking back at it is not the same feeling or same monetary value as the 2003/2004 shirt signed by Thierry Henry himself moments after he got the better of an imperious sarcastic Kirkland. But it’s equally good to have them in my cupboard in Paris. I won a 5 a side tournament playing as a keeper wearing a training top from season 2004/2005. Sadly, at the same time I lost a Marseille hat at a Marseille – PSG match under snowy conditions and whenever I also lost the blue Ericsson Marseille jersey. At least it was not the golden shirt! Talking about golden shirts: this season I bought the Arsenal’s JVC yellow away shirt from the mid-1990s. Simply because I had to use the 10 GBP voucher from Adidas. You will have noticed that the normal price is as expensive as GBP 85 but they are selling at GBP 80. This is a lot for a football shirt. Hopefully it lasts as long as the tracksuits from fellow fans who were around at Highbury when such items were on sale. These days all the products on sale do not last long or get damaged very easily and that is quite frustrating.

In my life in England if I were to drop out from football, I wonder what I would be doing. One day I feel that I should put this behind me. The next day I get well excited by a very good match. Having changed jobs and fearful of crowds due to Covid it has become a strange relationship with English football. I still contend that there is a media-led conspiration against the Arsenal. But the Arsenal is not exempt of blame. I got asked to stop a petition to have travel club manager role reinstated in order to avoid any bad publicity to the person involved. I was even more incensed when his father got his Gunnersaurus status wiped out. That broke my heart.  I am not a family man by any stretch but I am a very sensitive person. What Dan and Gerry did for me whilst at Arsenal away fixtures was just wonderful. I found out that Jill loved the Jaffa cakes so when we played Liverpool away I made sure she had two packs of Jaffa cakes just for her. There is a funny story: I spent a fortune inviting a lady I fancied to a VIP treatment at Highbury for the Arsenal Spurs match in the season 2002-2003 but both the day and the pictures were a bit flat. We lost touch as well. And I missed out on the amazing Carling Cup match won on penalties to which she went but I did not. And adding insult to injury at some point I was working next to a relative of Fabrice Fernandes who at the time was playing for Southampton. When I went to the league match, I could not boast of the 2-0 win for that very reason. At least for Saints fans it was not a 6-1 crushing with that famous Pires goal.  A tad later, I missed out on the 4-goal by Thierry Henry against Leeds on a Friday night because I had no season ticket at the time and from reading the Guardian match report, I had goose bumps. The very first time I saw the highlights of that match it felt unreal and so incredible. This one alongside the 7-0 demolition of Boro and Everton created ironically a lot of anti-Arsenal sentiment amongst the leading football writers.  And the obvious one being Phil McNulty. On the subject of double standards I vividly remember how the Times were berating Drogba as he was ironically the most outstanding Chelsea player. I never got as upset as when Chelsea beat Bayern at their own ground to win the Champions League although I saw one of our work technical directors in the crowd. The previous time was Vata’s hand to the detriment of Marseille. I am not a good footballer but I do know a few things about football. And more importantly I did add a personal experience to that knowledge.

Football is clearly annoying but it did provide me with first hand memories as good as those provided in the later years by handball.        

My English football analysis would have to be in the following order

2002-2005          A LOT OF PASSION and LEGENDARY MOMENTS

2006-2009          A LOT OF UPS and DOWNS

2010-2019          FRUSTRATIONS ARE GROWING

2020                 PAUSA por el COVID. TODO POR LA TELE.

2021-2022          IT TAKES TIME TO GET BACK ON TRACK

During many games I no longer used my camera either because the existing one was damaged or never wished to have a new one. Then it became prohibited to bring cameras at football matches.

It is clearly difficult to get great pictures in an environment so hostile to fans.

 

Whether in handball or in football it is pleasing to see that the ladies are more in the know than the lads/boys/gents. However, on the social side of things, the drinks contest is heading the opposite direction. Sky has a recording aimed at picking up on the Gilette Soccer Saturday most hilarious moments. Whilst Arsenal TV and Arsenal Magazine went astray, a football magazine like When Saturday Comes weathered the storm astonishingly. I have gone off Match of the Day because the selection of highlights is so biased and the pundits’ views so predictable. I enjoyed the period when I had Sky Sports free on my phone. It lasted two seasons or so. COVID coincided with the series about Salford and West Ham women. I find it really ridiculous to say Arsenal Ladies or Arsenal Women because at no point we say: oh today Arsenal Men are playing!  We all want manners and the right values but the political correctness has gone too far in business and sports. Individuals are taking offence in a split second and more often than you think it is much ado about nothing.

It is a bit crazy how not very popular the pennants are amongst football supporters.  This is a fact. Let me explain. I was scared of travelling due to COVID. A very rainy day and rather miserable.  A spot of bother? Made the effort, short of Southern trains from Balham due to another series of engineering works, and the journey brought me to the refurbished London Bridge station then South Bermondsey. One fan alluded to the caravans as we walked down the alley way before the stairs where the Millwall Football club sign plate is in front of you. Walking though the police vans and follow the crowd on this road, turn left and walk under the bridge. The store is very tiny and the bar is already rammed with people and we are at least two hours before kick-off. On the website last night, they said that the navy pennant was available. I only saw the England Millwall one. The lady went towards the backdoor checking if there was any left at the back. Nope. She said: give us a ring and we will let you know. Never mind. It is just one of those things. The place looked like a mini kingdom. A bit unreal. A lot of British Transport police everywhere. A dog wearing his Millwall top. The accent and the subjects covered by their fans were really going the way one liability broker told us and the atmosphere was eerie. At least I know my way and I think come next week I would have gone to all the stadia in London. Watching a match on ITV is annoying because you could end up missing a goal. That was what happened once in an England match: England scored during the adverts.

Oakwell has a 9-goal party as day 2 of week-end of upsets marches on. ITV, CTM and Eastern Midlands are ruining my options for tomorrow’s match.

Going into a football stadium is like going to a prison cell for football fans. You have no control as to when and why the match is being played. You have no control over what is deemed ok to bring for your own leisure, comfort and happiness. Any prohibition goes beyond the legitimate purpose and this is sickening.  

Arsenal was the only men's football team who visited Buckingham Palace as the Queen liked Arsene Wenger and the total football that was played at some point. Her death and the subsequent mourning / funeral arrangements led to three Arsenal matches being re-arranged. This overreaction is another typical hallmark of hipocrisy in English football. Mr Auclair new battle is about betting companies and this is also another Pandora Box / minefield. The Everton postponement was possibly on the spur of the moment. The PSV rescheduling was out of order with fans coming from all over Europe and police not being stretched.  As for Brentford away how 2 additional hours earlier make a difference? And travel on a Sunday is not as easy with engineering works, delays, reduced frequency or strikes. 

There is a wide range of corruption and incompetence amongst the referees in this country. I was at MU-Arsenal early Sept/22 and we got robbed again. That disallowed goal and the throw given to MU for their first goal when it was an Arsenal one turned the game in MU's favour. Those abject decisions were as obvious as the dreadful penalty decision for Rooney on the 50th anniversary. Refs are bent, brain-washed, incompetent, inept and corrupt. Even the two new outward looking songs from the Arsenal faithful do not outperform and overcome the huge steamy wrath caused by these PGMOL / Premier League appointed ridiculous and shambolic refs ruing our lives. We should boycott and protest until some kind of shake-up takes place. A lot of noise is made about Qatar but actually the Handball World Cup in Qatar back in 2015 was one of the best events I ever attended. And I have fond memories shared thanks to my camera. Why picking on Qatar when there are so many other territories of huge danger or threats politically and spiritually, lack of freedom (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland anyone?)? Just have a look at the diversity of territories listed as excluded territories on contracts of insurance from one carrier to another carrier. You knew that wordings had to come in at some point in this narrative.