Our member Vanessa Tan shares his visit to The Arsenal to watch the team take on Sheffield United in October 2023.

It was my second visit to the Emirates Stadium but first time watching a match. A work trip to the UK prompted me to write in to Arsenal Singapore asking if there were any tickets left for this match, even though the deadline had passed. I’d like to thank whoever it was who had earlier won the ballot but couldn’t go in the end, for selling the ticket to me. Big thanks to Dhanesh for the linkup!

I was staying in North London so I simply had to walk to the Emirates Stadium. The closer I got to it the more Arsenal fans popped out of the woodwork. Once you hear a group of them chanting Sp*rs is Shit, you know you’re home.  

What an atmosphere! As I reached my seat, I felt almost moved to tears. I thought it was classy of us to applaud the late Sir Bobby Charlton and Everton chairman Bill Kenwright before the start of the match. Well, even Man U needs some moral support these days… 

As you all know, it was a goal fest for us. Nketiah was on fire! After we scored 1-0, the fans sang (you guessed it) One-nil to the Arsenal.  I didn’t see the need to boo any of the Sheffield players as they were clearly a cut or two below our boys. At the same time, my family was watching the game back in Singapore, celebrating each goal with me and texting to say how lucky I was to be at this match. 

It was great interacting with other fans. In my section, I noticed that we were sitting in pairs and it looked like each pair came from the same country. There was a father and son to my left. I met Brega who’s also from Singapore and was on my right. 

During the half-time break, I saw the two members of Arsenal Thessaloniki attempting a photo shoot, with one guy holding up one end of an Arsenal banner that was reversed. They didn’t seem to notice the error. After watching them for a while I told them about it and they had a facepalm moment! I offered to take a photo of both of them holding the banner the right way around. And of course, I did a wefie with them! It’s great to meet Arsenal fans from around the world. 

The funniest fan moment for me was when we were given the penalty after the foul on Vieira. One bloke right behind me yelled, “Give it to Kai f***ing Havertz!”. I grinned at his female companion who smiled sheepishly back. God knows Havertz needs all the help he can get – although I thought he had a decent game. 

I was pleased with the final goal, scored by Tomiyasu. Just the icing on the cake. 

If you haven’t been to the Emirates to watch a match, I’d strongly encourage you to do so. Nothing beats being with fellow Gooners, joining in their singing and chanting, and cheering on our team. 

COYG!!!