What Arsenal will symbolise tonight to supporters across the world

By Tony Attwood

It has taken journalists a long time to realise it, but while they have spent years knocking Arsenal and mocking the club’s evolution and development, the affinity for Arsenal among fans across much of Europe and most of Africa has been constantly evolving and growing.

Of course, as we know, anything that is not instantly clear and doesn’t involve making Arsenal look second-rate is normally ignored in the UK media, but that is not how it is in many other parts of the world.

There are, of course, many theories as to why and how this has happened.   Arsenal were one of the first (some say the first) English teams to engage in overseas trips.  Some cite links from Britain’s colonial past.  Some recognise how their country, and indeed most of the third world, are treated by the British media, and see the same level of dismissal and denial handed out to Arsenal by the media.  Their task, like Arsenal’s is seen as part of a need to “overcome the hatred of the entire world”. Some cite more individual leadership, such as the support of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

But as we have often noticed, emotions have a momentum of their own, and it is undoubtedly true that many English journalists don’t know why they tirelessly write knocking copy about Arsenal – they just know that is what they do, and their editors seem to like it.  So on they go, bemused by the fact that anyone should actually support Arsenal.

As for which countries are packed with Arsenal supporters, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya are often noted, but in reality there are Arsenal fans across Africa.

In fact, the momentum in Africa is often noted as being the reverse of that in England.   While journalists in England write ceaseless negative pieces about Arsenal because the other newspapers are also running negative pieces about Arsenal, in Africa, when one newspaper chain runs positive stories about the club, others follow suit.  Someone imports some Arsenal shirts, and they sell out at once, and take on a cult status.   More flood into the country.

Then, as the rights to Premier League games were acquired by legitimate (as opposed to pirate) broadcasters in different parts of the continent, it was noted that the audiences were always bigger when Arsenal were involved, and so broadcasters, able to pick and choose which games they ran, headed more and more toward Arsenal matches, irrespective of which games were shown live in the UK.   Indeed, with the live TV coverage of Arsenal games being notably less than that of clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, the regional broadcasters in Africa started to pick up on Arsenal games and their audiences grew.

Then, as negative tales about Manchester City and Chelsea and their finances grew, Arsenal gained a reputation of an honest club taking on the cheats, and that image helped the club’s viewing figures grow even more.

Matters were also helped by Arsène Wenger, whose knowledge of football world wide, and Arsenal’s restricted finances after the start of the new stadium project, made him look for lower-cost African players.  The impact of the signing of Christopher Wreh in Africa cannot be overrated.

And when this was followed by the signing of Patrick Vieira, the dominance of support for Arsenal was completed, especially as other African players followed, including Kanu and Lauren.   The continuance of the habit among small groups of supporters in some English clubs of booing black players (thankfully, eradicated fairly quickly) only helped Arsenal’s cause.  

Now with the club Champions and playing tonight in the Champions League final, there is yet another new burst of support for Arsenal across many parts of the world as the club continues, for many, to symbolise the notion that equality can reign.

In England, of course, some of us have noted the difference between the way Manchester C have behaved with their use of finances, bringing guilty verdicts in over 100 financial cases against the club, and this too has not gone unnoticed.  But while ManC are seen as the club of oil-rich financial manipulation, Arsenal continue to be seen as the bastion of equality and hope for the underdog and the disenfranchised.

Of course, it is true that Arsenal players, no matter what their colour and what the origins of their family, are paid wages of an unimaginable scale when compared with the wages of those who follow the team from across Africa, but for supporters in many parts of the world, that is not the key point.   Arsenal have come to symbolise the underdog, and as such represent the underdogs in all parts of the world and in all parts of society.

And it is indeed the symbolic status of Arsenal that matters for many supporters worldwide, and never will that be more so than tonight.