An American Arsenal Fan?!
Hell yes, baby! And damn proud of it. You see, living in the United States means that I have nearly no one to talk to about my favorite sport (my wife puts up with my blather, but that’s about it). Football was immensely popular here in the 1970’s & 80’s, and like most kids growing up then, I put in my decade of playing on local town teams. We played in the streets and empty lots, went to watch the NY Cosmos in Giants Stadium… but then, it all just died. Due to horrible attendance records, the NASL dried up in 1984, and I lost touch with my favorite and only sport at the age of 16.
Fast-forward 22 years… my family and I move to a new neck of the woods, with a new cable TV provider. I’m flipping around the channels and I stumble upon a game in merry old England. I think to myself “eh, it must be a title game of some sort, otherwise it wouldn’t be broadcast here.” But it wasn’t… it was just a regular EPL season game. I look at the channel guide to discover that what I’m watching is something I had never heard of before… The FOX Soccer Channel. *gasp* A channel that shows nothing but soccer 24/7?! Holy crap! Can this be true? It is, and I’m in football heaven. So, I start watching the games, mostly EPL and some Champions League fixtures and I’m right away struck by how much more genuine it feels compared to what I remember as a kid. Just better, somehow. I tried getting into La Liga and Bundesliga, but I kept getting drawn back to the EPL & CL.
So, I figured I better get myself a favorite team! But how? I’m not from England. Who’s the local team for me? So I start thinking… wait, I’m English on my mothers side by ancestry. About 500 years ago (seriously, 500), my ancestors were the Shermans of Dedham Vale, Essex County. I didn’t see a Prem side for Dedham, so I started looking for the next biggest town. Colchester… hmm, no Prem side there (although The U’s are heading in the right direction – if they get up to the Prem I’ll have a dilemma). Next biggest town in the neighborhood? London. Ok, there’s a bunch of Prem sides there. Hmm… so, I picked one at random: Arsenal. Cool sounding name too. The Gunners. Badass… and I’ve been watching them ever since. And, the more I watch, the more I know I picked the right team. The conservative yet technical way they move the ball can be simply mesmerizing.
So, that’s my story as an Arsenal fan. Yes, a short one, but I know I’m hooked on this side. I started watching the EPL thinking I’d just see who I liked as I went… but I got sucked right in once I watched the Arsenal play. I’ve watched many other teams, but I keep coming back to my Gunners. Even when they lose they’re great to watch. So, now I’m looking forward to relearning and reacquainting myself with the favorite passtime of my youth, and learning about my new side.
What you’ll find on this site is just my commentary on football in general as I follow the fixtures, mostly Arsenal’s. I’m in no way affiliated with Arsenal or any official football related organization. I’m just a fan shooting out comments from the other side of the pond. Feel free to leave comments or send me a message. GO GUNNERS!
Truly inspirin how you came to choose Arsenal.
I’ve grown up with football, and cannot live without it. It’s England’s staple sport, and I think most people here would agree is the biggest regular event of the weekend – other than going out drinking maybe?
My best mate supports Arsenal, and I can understand why. It’s there builf-up play, pasing and teamwork that makes it so entertaining to watch. They don’t score many goals, but they are damn good fun to watch, and when they do score, it is normally intricately planned.
Keep shooting.
December 13th, 2006 at 6:33 pmThanks, Wez! It’s never more true than it is now, too. I fanatically watch every Arsenal match I can, even if I have to watch some hokey stream through Chinese TV over the net when there’s no TV coverage here. But I find I’ll happily watch any EPL match that’s on. If I weren’t married with kids and had roots here, I’d have to seriously consider moving to London so I could go to the matches >8)
December 27th, 2006 at 2:47 pmHey, what a great Valentine day for the Arsenal fan? It`s really an amazing day for us.Bolton was the only team which can make us to play the same but now i hope the great guns will make it up to the final.
February 15th, 2007 at 4:54 amI agree with that! It’s looking better and better. Man U are out of reach in the EPL, but man am I ever excited for next year.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:47 pmJack – funny how much I saw myself when I read your about section. I played soccer as a kid in Philly, and hadn’t given it much thought till I got FSC on cable this past winter (I live in Phoenix). I was hooked immediately. I don’t have a favorite, but lean towards Arsenal (I watched a lot of Boro games because that was what was on) for the same reason – they play a wonderful game of soccer. I’m having a hard time dealing with the loss of Henry and wonder whether they’ll be ok without him. He didn’t have the biggest impact last year so I guess we’ll see.
July 29th, 2007 at 12:31 amHi there Matt, thanks for stopping by. I think we’ll be ok without Henry. He was very important to the team, but I think they’ll move on and we’ll see some others step up big this year. I’m really looking toward RVP11 & TR7 to step up, but really… it could be any of a dozen players on the team who make huge plays this year. There’s just so much young talent on the verge, it’s very exciting.
And Boro… have to agree with you there. Great side to watch play. Big things coming from them this year, I expect.
July 31st, 2007 at 11:21 amgood to see the mighty gooners are affecting people all over the world the way its affected me all my life. would be grate to speak and exchange views of my love of the arsenal with the yanks. GOONERS FOREVER!!!!1
September 24th, 2007 at 1:29 pmWelcome Liam!
September 24th, 2007 at 2:19 pmThe Gunners transcend borders. How can any honest lover of the beautiful game behold the technique of The Arsenal and not admire? Of course, if you’re from merry ol’ England, you probably support the club you grew up near, for better or for worse. But even the most staunch supporters of other clubs respectfully give Arsenal the nod when asked who plays gorgeous football. Agreed… GOONERS FOREVER!
Hello, fellow American Gunner. I see that you and I have Fox Soccer Channel as our common means of producing an American Arsenal supporter.
When’s the last time you got over to see a match? I’m headed over in Feb.
Anyway, I too have an Arsenal America blog, you should check it out some time.
Cheers and keep up the good work!
January 10th, 2008 at 6:19 pmHi there Timothy, thanks for stopping by. What’s the link for your Arsenal site? I would like to check it out. The link under your name took me to a photography site, which by the way, has some really cool shots. Nice work! Very gritty stuff, which I dig. Have you ever seen the Abandoned Places website? Similar sort of photography. You might like it if you like decay: http://www.abandoned-places.com/
Oh, and haven’t gotten over to see a match yet, but dying to. Wanted to get over before Highbury closed up shop, but couldn’t make it happen. Are you going for the Blackburn match? It won’t be as fun now that Savage moved to Derby.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:56 amHey,
It’s great finding some kindred spirits who share the love of great football.
I’m a recent convert to the beautiful game who finds the EPL to be by far the greatest thing going. I am in fact sitting here as I write watching Man U disassemble Newcastle, shaking my head at the brilliance of Ronaldo. I guess as a Gooner I can’t cheer for Man U but you sure as hell have to respect them.
Anyway, thanks for the site and please let me know if there are other sites for us Arsenal fans on this side of the pond that you recomend.
Go GOONERS!
January 12th, 2008 at 2:48 pmHi there pdx, thanks for stopping by. I was watching the Man U match myself, and at the half I thought perhaps Newcastle could hold them nil-nil… but then the dam broke. 6-0… ouch. What a drubbing. I hope it doesn’t come down to differential this year!
January 14th, 2008 at 10:21 amHi Great Guns, I wanted to contact you about something Arsenal related (you can probably tell what it is about from my email address. If you could contact me so I can send you more information that would be great.
Thanks
March 28th, 2008 at 2:24 amholy cow i found another american arsenal fan wish i can keep up with there games now that i dont have cable no more
gael clichy is my fave player 
January 17th, 2010 at 1:06 pmYou’ll be happy to know Gael was back on the pitch yesterday after a long spell out with a back injury.
January 18th, 2010 at 10:13 am