The day I knew football is cooked was when we piped City 5-1 last season, and the media and rival fans started dragging us instead of City. That shit still hilarious. 🤣
Just saw a video on Instagram where an Arsenal fan pointed out that Gabriel shirt sales increased by 350% AFTER he missed the penalty. He also pointed out that, even after TWO black Arsenal players missed penalties, there was zero racist comments online from Arsenal fans towards Eberechi Eze or Gabriel.
WYKYK
I love my club and its fans.
Arsenal genuinely makes us feel like we are the greatest club in the world, and we act like it.
The fact that we won’t listen to anyone telling us otherwise is what makes the critics mad.
More than a club.
The idea that Arsenal became a cultural phenomenon because it signed Black players is too simplistic.
Like much of London, Arsenal positioned itself as a club that extended belonging towards the margins. Not racial margins alone, but the margins of football's imagination.
Kanu arrived after heart surgery that could have ended his career. Bergkamp arrived carrying the weight of a disappointing spell at Inter. Henry arrived as a talented but unsettled player still searching for his place. Kolo Touré was potential before proof. Arteta arrived as a midfielder many thought was entering decline, only to be entrusted with the captaincy. Wenger himself was a foreign manager challenging the assumptions of English football.
The pattern was not diversity for its own sake. It was recognition before validation.
Arsenal repeatedly seemed willing to see people not simply as they were, but as they could become. It trusted before consensus arrived. It built a reputation for offering a second chance, a fresh start, or a path to fulfilment where others saw limitation, uncertainty, or decline.
That is why former players, injured players, and out-of-contract players so often found their way back to Arsenal. The club developed a reputation for treating people as more than their immediate utility.
Representation matters. But recognition creates loyalty.
People did not just see players who looked like them. They saw an institution that appeared willing to enlarge its definition of who belonged.
You are taking the fucking piss. You can break a coppers nose in an airport and walk free, but hurty words on the internet will get you three years.
This country is done. There's a different justice system in play depending on who you are.