This is the first of what I hope will be many blog posts on Arsenal Calling so I thought I would start by explaining a little bit about why I started this blog and what readers can expect from my posts.
First things first, a bit of back story!
I’ve been an Arsenal fan since taking my first breath (it’s not really a choice in my family but rather something you’re born into) but I really got bitten by the football bug at my first Arsenal away day at Ewood Park in 1998 with my Dad! The atmosphere was amazing and I felt something changed for me that day. It’s been all Arsenal for me pretty much ever since then.
I live in the North West of England and as a result I grew up surrounded by Manchester United and Liverpool fans. I didn’t mind the latter so much but the former were insufferable at times, especially as they were the team to beat in my adolescent years and shared a such bitter rivalry with my beloved Arsenal.
Allies were therefore hard to come by, even through our own successful period, so it was just me and my Dad for many, many years against what felt like our whole town! We watched near on every Arsenal game together for many years, both the good and the bad until his passing in 2016.
Since then I’ve tried many ways to connect with other Arsenal fans online through forums but it’s never quite happened so I decided to start an Arsenal blog. When I go down to London to watch games at The Emirates, I always look on enviously as I pass pub after pub filled with Arsenal fans talking football and giving their opinions on the game. My great hope is that by creating this blog I’ll gain a place where I can talk Arsenal and pass on my opinions on all Arsenal/football matters while also reaching other Gooners out there and creating a bit of dialogue and even our own community further down the line. Big aspirations from a first post, but who knows?! I’ve seen it happen before so why not?!
As far as the content of my posts, I like to think I’m quite balanced and fair in my opinions on the games and my club as a whole. If we were deservedly beaten, I’d like to think that I’m fair enough to admit it however, a defeat, I’m quite bad tempered for the next 30-60 minutes so I’m going to try and avoid posting anything during this ‘cooling off’ period. I feel I’ve gained a good knowledge of both Arsenal and football as a whole during my years of following football but I’m not going to be posting deep dives into small technical details of formations and player habits. I’ve read many posts on other blogs that going into massive detail on every aspect of the game and although I find it very impressive, it’s not something that interests me that much so I don’t plan to delve into that much detail (although never say never!).
I grew up during a truly great age of Arsenal teams from the double winning teams of 1998 and 2002, to the Invincibles of 2004 so I’m naturally nostalgic and will often be referring back to these teams at times and likely posting dedicated articles relating to matches and players from these periods and later during quiet periods of the season.
I also take great interest in our academy matches – who wouldn’t after the gems that have come through there recently!! So there will also be blog posts related to academy games and prospects from time to time.
As I mentioned earlier, my Dad was the person who really got me into Arsenal and he’s been the biggest influence on my Arsenal life by far so I’m sure I’ll also be mentioning him or dropping in the odd quote from him here and there at times (but hopefully not enough for it to become annoying for readers!).
So in a nutshell, that’s it, that’s me. Hopefully I’ll hear from many of you by email or in the comments section soon.
Up the Gunners!