My name is Alastair Wood and I am a drug addict.
No, I’m not addictied to Class A drugs, tobacco or even alcohol. Purely and simply I am addicted to the establishment that is Arsenal Football Club. I live, sleep, eat and breathe Arsenal, and quite simply The Gunners effect my life in a very profound and moving way. That is why I have chosen to start writing about them. Watching football matches put you through extremely emotional peaks and troughs, sometimes against all sense of logic. Ever watched a game that your team has won yet come away feeling empty, as if there should have been more? Or one where your team got stuffed yet you came away with a feeling of pride for your teams performance? I would be willing to bet a steak dinner you have (offer not technically valid!). As much as you scream at a television, or sound off to your mates, from my experience there is no better way to get out how you are feeling than to write it down. Others may disagree, but its my column so I can say what I want! So this is why I am doing this now. Will people be moved by what I am saying? Heck, will they even read what I am saying? Possibly not. But I will continue to write them anyway because Arsenal is a way of life to me and this helps me express how I feel towards them.
But it all could have been very different. Let me take you back to 1988. Margaret Thatcher was still British Prime Minister, Ben Johnson was found to be a drugs cheat, Hulkamania was running wild in America and the Premier League was still 4 years away. I was a contented 6 year old who was about to be introduced into the wide world of assocation football. When my dad first mentioned it to me and asked which team I wanted to follow, I asked back the question that any enterprising 6 year old would ask. “Who is the best team in the league, Dad?” So there it was. I was a Liverpool fan! So for the next 2 months while the season was on holiday, I waited in anticipation for the season to start. Okay, technically I didn’t really know the rules and certainly had never seen the game but I was faced with a season where my team, the BEST team, were going to win lots of games and ultimately win the league. But then my Granny decided
to throw a spanner in the works. It turned out that she had decided not to get me a Liverpool strip for my birthday as the sponsor was changing soon and knowing nothing about football, she got me a Man Utd shirt instead! So not wanting to upset my Gran I was now a United fan! ARGHHHHHH!
Things weren’t looking good for young Ally Wood, but luckily a life line was thrown to me. My dad had tickets to a pre season Makita tournament at Wembley and I was going with him! The teams involved were Arsenal, Spurs, AC Milan and Bayern Munich. Now as I had no interest in the foreign teams I had a choice of supporting Arsenal or Spurs, both of whom I knew nothing about. But in the end it was an easy contest. Arsenal began with an A and so did Alastair. Arsenal’s number 6 was Tony Adams, and I was 6 and had a name beginning with A so really there was no contest. The fact that Arsenal stuffed Spurs 4-0 just confirmed what a good decision I had made. This time however I was sticking with Arsenal. Nick Hornby famously wrote how he was wooed by Arsenal’s style, or lack of, play and knew immediately that Arsenal were the club for him. My reasons were no where near as profound. I was 6 years old and there was a team I had seen with lots of As in its name. That was good enough for me!
So as you can see, on another day, in another time line I may not be typing this now. Instead I could be an arrogant Man Utd fan, harking on about how Henry can’t finish for love nor money and how cocky Wenger is while gorging myself on prawn sandwiches. Worse I could be a paranoid Liverpool fan, harking back to the good old days when journeymen like Biscan and Diouf didn’t disgrace the hallowed Anfield turf. As for being a Spurs fan … sorry, thats too scary a thought to describe! As for Arsenal, well we may be the domestic team of the moment but it won’t last forever. I have been lucky as I have never seen a fundamentally poor Arsenal team play, but as the decades go by, it could easily happen. But what I can say for sure is that every player that puts on the club jersey will bleed, sweat and ultimately pay the price on the football field, and if he doesn’t he will be cast out of The Marble Halls never to be seen again. There is an underlying spirit at Arsenal, a never say die attitude which will always do us well. I may only be 20 but I have read a lot of Arsenal’s history and I can only come to the conclusion that there were seasons over the past 80 or so years where all that kept us up was that fighting spirit, because frankly the team was rubbish. Now we are in the 21st Century that spirit will carry us forward, onwards and upwards. At the very least it will ensure we never fall and for that Arsenal fans can be truely grateful.
Ok, I have rambled on a lot, but I hope you have enjoyed what you have read. Please feel free to send me feedback on my first ever column, you can e-mail me at afc4life@hotmail.com. All that I ask is that any criticism you give me is constructive and I am happy for suggestions for future columns as well! I will try and update at least once a week, and if there are crucial matches on I will maybe post then too. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Hot Stuff!