Gooner of the North

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This latest blog started way back in February 2011 but it was simply too depressing to finish, until now…

It was a miserable Sunday morning. We checked out of our hotel rooms at 11am, I was still tipsy from a heavy drinking session the night before but surprisingly had no signs of a hangover; I knew that it would catch up with me at some point during the day. It was going to be a long drive home from a very wet and windy Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Luckily I was the passenger and could switch off from driving duties but still felt obliged to stay awake to offer Dan (@WonderDan1977) some sort of company. I wasn’t much use for anything, other than occasionally changing CDs over from one the next and that was a terrible struggle for me.

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For a long time one fixture used to constantly fill me with dread, anxiety, fear…whatever emotion you want to call it.

It is a fixture that has produced more hat-tricks than any other in English football - but for a while, a very long while, it was always one way traffic.

Even in our 1997/98 double winning season, as featured in my previous post, Arsenal’s very next opponent only three days after lifting the Premier League trophy was no other than Liverpool Football Club at Anfield. For 99.9% of Gooners, many of whom were still recovering from their celebratory hangovers, the game meant virtually nothing; most of the Arsenal travelling support would have adopted the hair of the dog approach and turned up just for the party - the same probably applied to the players.

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I watched Arsenal’s 0 v 0 draw with Serie A side Manchester City in a the Mulberry Tree pub over in Stockton Heath, Warrington - it’s one of the few safe havens to watch the Arsenal and support them in the North, without dodging either Darts or Dartboards.

Stockton Heath is a hybrid town of Liverpool, Everton, Man Utd and a growing number Man City glory-hunters which I’m sure I’ve previously seen wearing Man Utd shirts. Anyway, at full-time I quickly finished my drink and went…as I was walking out I overheard a ‘mad-for-it-manc’ boasting with his feral friends…‘This League is OURS, easy innit?’…

It reminded me of a similar feeling I had during the 1997/98 season.

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I’ve been scratching my head as to what to write next for my blog and given the wave of positive feedback from the first post, I am somewhat feeling the pressure; maybe my youthful recollections of a previous game, some old & retro photographs to share with you, a fitting tribute to a previous player or perhaps some serious table thumping analysis of our 2 v 2 lacklustre draw with the wobbly gobs of Wigan.

I’ve decided to go with none of the above for now at least – opting for something a little more contemporary.

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”God created the heavens and the earth – this only took him 7 days (assuming God is male).

Day 1: God said ‘Let there be light’ (assuming God spoke English).

Day 2: God said ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water (strange one for Day 2).

Day 3: God created dry land and all the seas/rivers/lakes…even the pond in your back garden.

Day 4: God created night and day, days and weeks, months and years, and all the seasons.

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