Featured Member’s Trip to The Arsenal – Boonk Lim
Our member Boonk Lim shares his visit to The Arsenal to watch the team take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 2023.
It had been raining on and off the week we were in London, but the weather gods were kind enough to hold off the juice on Saturday when I brought my 2 older boys to the holy land that is the Emirates! I have been a Gooner since 1990 and prior to this trip, have only been to watch Arsenal live once, back in 2019 when we hosted Man City and were 3-0 down in 30 minutes. Spent the rest of the game drinking beer and freezing in the North London cold. Not the best experience.
But a stark difference this week was! Fresh off a 6-0 demolishing of RC Lens in the Champions League on Wednesday, we faced a Wolves side who themselves look like they were being fed to the wolves!
The atmosphere at the Emirates was crazy that afternoon! The singing and chanting was hypnotic. My 2 boys who unfortunately are not huge fans of the game, were taken aback by the fervour of the home support. We arrived almost an hour early to soak in the atmosphere and spent half that time listening to the Arsenal fans singing medleys at the top of their voices- “What do we think of Tottenham?”, “We are top of the league!” , “Waka Waka” and “Super Mike Arteta”… the list goes on!
When we got to our seats, it was almost kick off time. The majestic view from the corner of the stadium, behind the Wolves goal, was breathtaking. There wasn’t an empty seat in the stadium and the roar that welcomed the players out was deafening! Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, the home crowd broke out into The Angel (North London). Damn every hair on my body was standing on end!
In the rich vein of form we were in, it was no surprise we scored in the opening five minutes, courtesy of a Bukayo Saka special. Right in front of us! The whole stadium erupted and rocked and cheered like nothing me nor my boys have ever experienced!
The skipper made it 2-0 soon after. Incessant pressure on the Wolves backline ended up with Zinchenko zipping down to the byline before cutting the ball back to a waiting Martin Odegard, who unleashed a first time rocket into the far corner. Again right in front of us! Boom cue again the eruption of cheers and dancing on the stands.
My boys were glued to the action and were starting to recognise players, reacting to the misses and ooh-ed together with the crowd when we strung together a series of passes only to miss the goal by a whisker.
We continued to dominate proceedings in the second half, although we couldn’t make the chances count. With the end of the match approaching, Wolves pulled one back, very much against the run of play. We were all nervous, me and my boys. We were complaining how all that possession will count for nothing if Wolves equalised. But nothing remotely close to that threatened David Raya’s goal and we won the game 2-1!
The streets were buzzing on the way to the Arsenal station. Fans were singing, everyone looked like a part of one big happy family. Even the policeman on crowd control duty was busting out his rendition of All I Want For Christmas Is You as we trotted by.
Overall, an excellent experience for me and my boys. They mentioned afterwards that they never knew watching football can be this fun and thrilling.
And of course they all know what to reply when someone asks the question “What do you think of Tottenham?” It’s the only time I allow them to swear.
Thank you Arsenal (Singapore) Club for giving my family this opportunity. It’s a trip we won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
COYG!!!!!
Arsenal Singapore 