Arsene Wenger is not why I am an Arsenal fan. That's down to my brother's club soccer team taking a trip to England in the summer for friendlies with English sides and a jaunt over to the mainland for Euro '96. More specifically, I'm an Arsenal fan because I was left behind when they went. While my mother, brother and sister were off seeing the sights of Europe, I was home in New Jersey doing normal 10 year-old-things (pogs? Seems about the right time for pogs.) As an apology for being left behind I received two things: a promise I would get to go if his team did something similar in the future (they did; I did not) and a souvenir -- a red shirt with an electronics company on the front of it.
My mom had picked it up while they were hitting the shops in North London, and by the Grace of Bergkamp the red one caught her eye more than the white one. I got that shirt, and I became "an Arsenal fan." Even as a kid I was loyal to the death for the teams I decided were my teams, and that shirt made certain that when I would follow European football, Arsenal were my team. But I didn't start following European football then. I was young, and it wasn't as easy as it is today.
As the calendar ticked on to the new millennium, and Arsene's Arsenal neared its invincible best, I would love to say I was all-in and cherishing in their successes. I didn't even know it was happening.
Sure, when I'd play FIFA I would plays as Arsenal. I came to love Thierry Henry, as one does. While renting a shore house in the Carolinas with a bunch of my fellow 20 year-olds I watched and groaned as the Champions League final slipped away, then immediately went back to partying, not much worse for the wear. It upset me almost as much as an apparently-dramatic episode of The OC rocked the house later in the trip. I was still just a "fan" of the Arsenal. When one guy in the house spent the entire 13 days drunkenly calling Arsene Wenger a pedophile, I shrugged.
That changed for good in the spring of 2009, when I moved into a house with my best friend Kevin. Out of college he had gotten a job with the New York Red Bulls, and in-turn been turned into a raging United fan by his British co-workers, which meant I was finally in a house that was willing to shell out for the soccer packages. I was finally in a position to dive head-first into "my team" in what had always been my favorite sport.
My first matches with true living-on-each-touch investment were in the 2008-2009 Champions League against none other than Kevin's United. We dropped the road leg 1-0, but that's not half-bad when you have the home leg to follow. It was 2-0 within 11 minutes, and 4-0 on aggregate before Arsenal grabbed a meaningless penalty through my future BAE/heartbreaker Robin Van Persie. Welcome to being an Arsenal fan.
I didn't know at the time that I had already missed out on Wenger at his best. I also don't care that I did. It's inescapable that the time for Wenger to leave had long since come, and the past 9 seasons are far from the best the club has had to offer, but they have still given me so much to cheer for. So much to love. So much to look back on with fond memories.
Sagna's header. 5pur2. Theo's two fingers. Giroud to Ramsey to win the FA Cup. Trouncing Tim Sherwood to win the FA Cup. Giroud to Ramsey to win the FA Cup again. That goal. That other goal. Giroud's scorpion kick (I miss you 💖). Terry falling over. Minding the Gap. Lu-lu-lu Lukas Podolski. Arteta. Özil. The Mertestriker. Koscielny. Giroud *sigh*. Ramsey. Santi's little dance. Rosicky's chip. 7-5 in the Cup. Flamini just kicking the shit out of that ball.
Even at his worst, if that is what I've seen, Arsene's Arsenal has brought me so much joy. He is the man who has overseen Arsenal through the game's explosion in America. He is the man who brought in all the players who I've fallen in sporting love with. For many American fans like me, he is all we have ever known. Today marks the first day ever where I've known that Arsenal football club are a thing, and yet Arsene Wenger is not in charge.
I don't know who is next in charge for my beloved Arsenal. I hope it is someone who can return the club to where the supporters are so desperate to see it be again. I hope it is someone, like Arsene, who one day earns himself a bronze statue outside the grounds. Most of all, if he is everything we hoped for and more, I hope that Arsenal fans never forget the moments Arsene brought us throughout his reign, even when he was at his worst. Because, when you get right down to it, three FA Cups in four seasons is a pretty damned impressive worst.
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