Our member Syed Ismail shares his visit to The Arsenal to watch the team take on West Ham

“Arsenal FC! We’re by far the greatest team! The world has ever seen! And it’s Arsenal!!!” 

_A Memorable Chapter in a Lifelong Love Story_

After 3 decades of support (since Caltex Cup Singapore 1991!) and a combination of almost a hundred jerseys, magazines and memorabilia, I finally got an opportunity of watching Arsenal in action, at home turf! And with that, I could sing the song above (and so many more) with about 60,000 other gunners from all over the world. No more singing alone (yup, I sing even when I’m watching matches alone).

Since it was my first visit, I included the stadium matchday tour. I must say, I felt like a star struck teenager. I wanted to take photo of every image I could see and buy almost every other memorabilia. I must say, it took a while for my age and wisdom to take over!

I told my wife, “Nketiah will score for us, just like he did in the International Champions Cup @ the Singapore Sports Hub, back in 2018!”

And boy was I on cloud nine when the Eddie indeed scored! I hope that gives him the lift he needs, to fulfill what he is fully capable of. You can say, I’ve a soft spot for him. 

I was also glad to catch a glimpse of King Henry and Messiah Wenger walking to the terraces. And I also loved the opportunity of singing “One Arsene Wenger” to the man himself, while he’s physically present at the stadium.

The manner in which the gooners silenced the visiting supporters (lotsa friendly banter, no love lost i guess) was also a sight to behold. There seems to be a young gunner movement – Ashburton Brigade or something like that. They were full of singing & drumming & rousing the crowd, from pre match right up to post! I did wish it was “Sp*rs” though! Haha, greedy me.

All in all, it was an awesome experience. Thank you, to Dhanesh, Connie and everyone else from Arsenal Singapore Club for making this dream come true. The fact that this coincided with my honeymoon makes it even sweeter. Hope the live matches doesn’t end here, my pocket and my ministry of home affairs willing 

Regardless of our final position end of the season, I’m gonna savour the memory of boxing day 2022, for many years to come