Super Tom Fan and Arsenal Singapore member Melody shares her maiden visit to The Arsenal match day with us. Cheers Melody!

Date: 16th December 2017
Match: Arsenal vs Newcastle
Score: 1 – 0 to The Arsenal

Matchday started off with lunch at Piebury Corner, where it was nice to meet/catch up with fellow Singaporean Gooners! After lunch, we went to collect our tickets, followed by meeting Mark, the club’s Supporter Liaison Officer.

The excitement in me grew with every passing second. As we waited for the arrival of the first team players, Mark started to hand out matchday programmes. To my surprise, the programme had my name printed on it. Never would I have imagined receiving my very own personalised matchday programme! I thought it was a really classy gesture by Arsenal. Gunnersaurus also came out to greet us, and he is definitely my favourite mascot and the friendliest of them all. Then, the moment we had been waiting for: the arrival of the team bus. Seeing our players coming down from the bus was such a surreal experience for me; these players – whom until that day I had only seen on TV – were now literally less than seven feet away!

Finally, it was time for kickoff. It may have been cold and windy throughout the match, but watching Özil’s winning volley made it all worthwhile. Seeing and experiencing fans around the stadium cheering after he scored is something that will stay with me as well. After the game, we met with Ramsey who took pictures with us as well as signed autographs. The encounter may have been short, but hey – it’s not every day that you get to meet an Arsenal player, right?

Besides the match, other things I managed to do during the trip were: watch an U-23 match (where I witnessed Pleguezuelo’s last minute equaliser), go on the Legends Tour, visit The Armoury as well as spend time at Highbury Stadium Square.

Having been a supporter of the club since 2002, watching The Arsenal win live at the Emirates is a dream come true for me. My maiden trip to London is definitely one that I will never forget. #Likeakidinacandystore

P.S. Thank you Arsenal Singapore for giving me this amazing opportunity. Can’t wait till the next one!