A guest post from Seebs
Singapore, half time, first friendly of the season, a young side are putting on a decent display in extreme heat. Stupidly I wandered on to twitter, hoping to see praise for Chuba Akpom and Alex Iwobi, only to find many showing frustration at the game. One person twitted “that’s 45 of my life I’ll never get back”, I couldn’t believe it. At first I was annoyed and I was going to add a sarcastic reply however, as I know the person and know their passion for ARSENAL, I resisted and then started thinking about things that drives supporters.
This is not anything to do with AKB’s and wob’s but actually goes across the spectrum. As we have seen on this forum the arrival of a relationship with ARSENAL is different for everyone and probably means something slightly different for everyone as well. I think I love ARSENAL more than anyone else in the world and I would imagine most would inwardly feel the same boast (whether you’re from N5 or north Australia). I know there are people who spend more money than me and I know there are people who spend more time than me on our beloved club but I validate my illogical reasoning with the hurt I feel when something bad happens to the club or the elation I feel when even the minor positive happens. My life is undoubtedly affected by the club and my wife understands that our diary is guided by the diary of ARSENAL and knows she will lose me on certain occassions and I am unavailable even to listen to a conversation at some points. She says I love ARSENAL more than her and jokingly I say that’s because I’ve loved ARSENAL longer than I’ve loved her, but in all seriousness there is a commitment there. This love means I hate anybody attacking my club, I love watching even the most boring game, I would never walk away or turn off even if we were getting stuffed and reading about our history feels me with a warm glow.
I do think of the club as “THE ARSENAL”, an institution full of class that you have to pay your dues to truly belong. I remember at a wedding I went to many years ago, two young lads were introduced to an uncle they hardly knew, there Mum said they had just started supporting ARSENAL (although knowing their family there would have had little choice). Their uncle stood up straight and almost ceremonially shook their hands and welcomed them in to an institution he said would be with them all their lives. This red and white cloak we all wear as we go about our daily lives manifest itself in different ways, on here we support everyone hoping they will come good while others have a standard of which they believe must always be matched to be truly representative of a great club. This standard has obviously been raised by Arsene and invincibles and there are fans who will match every game, every player and every situation with not just invincibles but the best of the best of the invincibles.
As I look at the many ARSENAL books in my collection and the massive history columns that make up the ARSENAL empire I can understand those who say this or that is not good enough for our great club however if you look deeper into our history you would find many who if judged with hindsight would fail the modern fans test. In my first Highbury years there was a CB who wasn’t blessed with the skills of Bobby Moore in fact many would include him in the list of our worst ever CB’s, his name was Terry Mancini and as a young defender I loved him. He scored one goal but it was a very important goal and it helped ARSENAL stay in the top division that year. Modern day fans would have castigated him but he is part of our history and part of “THE ARSENAL”.
Arsenal, in whatever form turn me on, I still get the infantile excitement and nerves I got when I was a kid, whether its watching on the telly, getting off the train on match days or sitting in a cold rickety old stand on a Monday night watching the stiffs. There are many fans however who have let their love of the image, the institution, the banner, “THE ARSENAL” get in the way of their pure enjoyment of game. So I would ask them once again do you love ARSENAL or the idea of ARSENAL?
cheers,
Seebs (arse or brain)
Positively Arsenal 
The old red and white mistress eh Seebs? Fantastic write up by the way.
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Nice article, but not sure how anyone can compare the love of their partners to the love of “The Arsenal”.
It’s always going to be Arsenal, 90 minutes of passion twice a week and a few pints with your mates must be better then anything else in the world!
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Lovely Seebs – the “red and white cloak” – top image.
I usually travel through Stevenage on the way to and from the game on the train and ponder which one of the Arsenal mob piling on and off might be you ? I shall look for a tall, dignified chap.
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Thanks Seebs…sums it up perfectly. Fortunately my lovely wife is now a passionate gooner so no problems there. But on our honeymoon, I took her to Highbury and she was entranced when we were shown on to the running track. She boasted to friends later that day, how she was impressed by the Arsenal CRICKET pitch. Beam me up Scotty!
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Michael Gooner @MickTheGooner 11h11 hours ago
Just 14… Arsenal’s Trae Coyle scoring an incredible goal from kick off vs Barcelona. Remember the name!
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A5, im tall bald and normally wear a stevenage ARSENAL top from 1998
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http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11698/9922287/abou-diaby-set-to-undergo-a-medical-with-west-brom?
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Seebs: this is a brilliant and deceptively simple piece. You get right to the heart of it all. All I can say is that it is some kind of relief to find others who are afflicted with the same kind of blind idiocy. The moment when you feel a genuine love for someone you have never met before simply when you realise they support The Arsenal is one of the odder ideas I have had to come to terms with.
But my God, anyone who professes to support the club who dares to find fault with any of its players or management…well then I feel a genuine hatred.
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Thanks for the kind comments although I think I should have got someone to proof read it first
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Just got in after a long trip a_or_b so just seeing your labor of love Excellent. I love these stories from the heart, showing that you truly get it.
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Very enjoyable and interesting piece, Seebs. I must say its the Wenger’s years that did it for me.
However, having just read his interview with Nick Callow in the Guardian the great man is rather unimpressed with “too positive and on the other hand too negative” comments. So should we positivistas be less effusive in our praise?
I don’t think so, I think we have it just right on here….
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Arsenal director Lord Harris says we are trying to sign a world class striker, who wants to join us, and we are willing to break our transfer record to do the deal, but it may depend on his club getting the player they want in first. Also says AFC tried to sign Cech last summer and that we have enough money to sign any player in the world bar Messi and Ronaldo.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3172642/Arsene-Wenger-sign-wants-200m-bank-m-glad-didn-t-buy-Raheem-Sterling-says-Arsenal-director-Lord-Harris.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
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That’s as good as a post can get and I mean it wit utmost sincerity. Well done a or b.
My perception of what the love of your football club should be to be supportive even when you think some things are wrong. It all comes down to the word “think”. I laugh when I hear people say Dein would have “forced” Arsene to buy X player or Z. Most people forget that Dein could have only negotiated for a player who Arsene thinks will improve the squad. I love Arsenal with or without Arsene. And so do I Love Arsene as a man with or without arsenal. I’m as optimistic about our chance of winning the premier league and champions league as I was b4 the invincible season.
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That’s as good as a post can get and I mean it wit utmost sincerity. Well done a or b.
My perception of what the love of your football club should be to be supportive even when you think some things are wrong. It all comes down to the word “think”. I laugh when I hear people say Dein would have “forced” Arsene to buy X player or Z. Most people forget that Dein could have only negotiated for a player who Arsene thinks will improve the squad. I love Arsenal with or without Arsene. And so do I Love Arsene as a man with or without arsenal. I’m as optimistic about our chance of winning the premier league and champions league as I was b4 the invincible season……
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Sorry I sent the post twice.
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All Quiet On The Western Front.
Been on my hols. Northumberland, Durham and York. Average weather but it brightened up in York which is a lovely place – shame about the football team.
Just been reading Lord Harris’s comments – just what Arsene needed, huh? Who gave that dumbo a place on the board? No relation to Bomber Harris I suppose? He’s just put all the prices up 25%. My sense is that we’ll see no action before mid-August at the earliest.
I’ll go back to sleep.
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Lovin’ that a or b.
Arsène on Ems cup:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=7ly8UC-9sYg
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Thanks for post Seebs.
As for Lord Harris, there might be a difference between what he actually said and what the newspaper journalist wrote what he said.
Of course, he could have just had a big liquid lunch with old Peter Hill Wood at the Ivy.
the £200m in the bank line has been bitten on by the usual WOB’s.
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I’d never heard of this carpet blagger before this infamous interview.
Does he fancy himself as some kind of new age PHW?
This all reminds me of the summer where iG said he had cash burning a hole in his pocket which led to some spectacular meltdowns and breakdowns from which many groaners never recovered, unfortunately for them as AFC signed up a certain German shortly thereafter.
Based upon past form from the bordroom wallahs, when they make such pronouncements they don’t care about the demented yet expert WOBs e.g.: saying they had cash when they didn’t in order to protect the club’s revenue etc.
So who knows what he is up to, trying to push along other deals, ducking and diving amidst smoke and mirrors and vapour transfers, being blind drunk etc…More importantly: who cares!
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A loan for schezzer makes sense on every level?
The worry was he’d stagnate and get bored as a reserve. Keep his dad’s gob shut and more importantly give him a chance of reclaiming his national shirt. It was the injury he had before the last euros that led to his loss of form (in the Euro’s) and losing his place to Fabianski. he needs to play when fit i guess. When Schezmond reclaims the polish shirt he’ll be much more settled IMO.
Does this mean that Cech was indulging in even more billy banter with his shirt number selection? He’s a cheeky sod!
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lord harris’s interview actually contains very few actual quotes from him, and he states little we did not know – £200M in the club accounts(he did not say £200M to spend on transfers – Wenger has asked for certain players(we all know its the manager who picks the targets, it should be no other way), Wenger wants a world class striker and it might mean us breaking our transfer record(as that is £42.5M would anyone be surprised if we broke it for a world class striker), the likes of Messi and Ronaldo are outside our transfer scope(who did not know this), money was tight when we moved to the Emirates, but it is not an issue now(again who does not know this already)
having said all that, I do think its an ill advised interview, but as someone else pointed out, Harris is probably trolling the AAA’s, just like Hill-Wood done so very well.
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I think Bielik and Reine-Adelaide trained with the first team today, so might get game time in the Emirates cup, we will have a better idea when the squad for tonights Arsenal XI v Boreham Wood is revealed.
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http://www.arsenal.com/pressconference
and seemingly Wenger said Lord Harris is wrong, Arsenal do not have a striker lined up, but “we are looking at strikers”
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can’t help but think that Flamini and Szczesny being doubts for the Emirates cup actually means they are both leaving very shortly
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Wenger: “We have plenty of strikers and goals in the squad. We want more goals from non-strikers.”
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Wenger on Szczesny going on loand “He was open-minded,” he said. “He was ready for a fight here and he was ready to go somewhere and play. I believe he trusts me on that.”
Wenger on the comments of Benzema’s agent “1000 per cent is a lot, so that is quite convincing.'”
Wenger loves to troll the journos
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http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20150724/teams-news-welbeck-flamini-and-alexis
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arsenal’s game v Boreham Wood tonight has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch
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AW “Money in the bank does not mean profit. We lost money in the last six months. You can be bankrupt and have £200m in the bank.”
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He’s talking bollocks – I have never met anyone who is bankrupt with £200 million in the bank
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He is the one with the masters degree in economics Andrew!
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The audit should now be complete, and Lord Harris has perhaps out-flanked the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust? The Statement of Accounts and Annual Report 2014/2015.
This has priority:
The Group’s fixed rate bonds and floating rate bonds are secured by a mixture of legal mortgages and fixed charges on certain freehold and leasehold property and certain plant and machinery owned by the Group, by fixed charges over certain of the Group’s trade debtors, by fixed charges over £59.3 million (2013 – £54.2 million) of the Group’s bank deposits, by legal mortgages or fixed charges over the share capital and intellectual property rights of certain subsidiary companies and fixed and floating charges over the other assets of certain subsidiary companies.
refers to Note 17, Creditors. Amounts falling due after more than one year.
The new report, should be the same, subject to the rates prevailing on 31st May 2015.
With no income to speak of for June and July 2015, that reduces the bank balance by £100 millions!!! Monthly expenses, dear reader, monthly expenses, wages, other operating expenses, the difference between the debtors and creditors.
Take as read, the AST and the Swiss ramble, can be ignored!
Come out, Passenal, I caught you loitering around the supporter who eaves-dropped the Arsenal big-wigs, in Singapore. Metorthorically speaking, of course.
I also caught up with Northbank and his preamble on the 23rd July 2015, L’Halogen, Place Pie, Place des Corps Saints….Les Celestins.
Northbank prefers Vinnie Jones to Per Mer!
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I don’t know how many times I have to tell you NOTH that there is someone else on Twitter who uses the name Passenal, even though I was here first. If you were half as smart as you think you are, you would pick up from our posts that we are not the same person.
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All I can say is that Lord H of Carpetville has flushed out some massive bell-ends. And our own Passenal is not one of.them.
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passenal what is your “twitter handle” I follow one of you i think
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When Cech was signed, there were words about it being good for the younger keepers because they could learn from him. So I don’t really understand how Wojciech is going to learn from him if he’s in Rome. But I’m a thick bastard.
Looking forward to seeing two good games at the weekend. Especially the chance to see the likes of Akpom and Iwobi and other youngsters who we don’t get to see much.
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oddest rumor of the summer is that with Szczesny going to Roma on loan, and Martinez set to go on loan for the season too, that Arsenal are looking to sign Perugia’s former Italy goalie Marco Amelia (33).
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Seebs, I’m not on Twitter, I only post here these days
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Great post. good stuff. If you travel from Stevenage Seebs then we’ve almost def made eye contact or some such. I board at welwyn garden. Will look out for a tall bald chap in an old shirt.
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ARSENAL are playing today! ARSENAL are playing today! wha hooo ……wheres Steww’s post.
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