Our member Dominic Chin shares his visit to The Arsenal to watch the team take on Nottingham Forest in November 2024.

I hadn’t been to the Emirates Stadium in quite some years, but I knew it was time to share the experience with my son. Many thanks to Arsenal Singapore who made this possible for us. As we set off after lunch to the Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest game, little did we know that our day would be filled with excitement and adventure.

The journey didn’t exactly get off to a smooth start as part of the Piccadilly Line was closed, forcing us to change our train route and take a detour to get to Finsbury station. But as we walked to the stadium in the typical London drizzle, the atmosphere started to build as we joined the crowds of other fans also making their way to the game.

Despite the initial setback, we still managed to arrive with some time to spare, allowing us to take in the sights and sounds of the stadium. We snapped pictures with the statues and stadium, browsed the merchandise booths, and soaked up the pre-match excitement. As we took our seats, the anticipation was palpable.

The highlight of the day came when the entire stadium erupted into a rousing rendition of “North London Forever” – literal goosebumps. It was a moment I’ll never forget, singing along with my son and the rest of the crowd.

Forest were good in the early part of the season while we, on the other hand had a somewhat rocky start to the season. But the nerves calmed when we saw Odegaard getting the start after his return from injury. He was instrumental to our team and it showed, by the 12th minute we had scored… only for VAR to rule it out for offside. But Saka followed up shortly after to get us into the lead. 1-0 to the Arsenal as the chants rang out.

We got to halftime only one goal up when we should have been miles ahead. But Thomas soon doubled our lead, and we watched Nwaweri score his first league goal for us as we won the game 3-0. We controlled the game from start to finish, and it was an imperious performance.

As we left the stadium grinning from ear to ear, my son turned to me and said – “Best day ever!” I couldn’t agree more. It was an unforgettable experience, one that we’ll cherish for years to come.