“Once A Gunner, Always A Gunner”

Loyalty, Passion, Ardour, Devotion, Gusto, blah blah blah! Alright, this is why we are the Gunners. Or is it?

But then, every Football Fanatic swims in the same river of Supreme Devotion. You ask a Camp Nou faithful, or you go quiz the Rossoneri, they all will give you completely justified reasons. Then what makes us special? What are, in short, Our Reasons?

The reasons may vary. For a Premiership viewer who watches every game from another Continent, it may be the finesse with which the boys pass the ball, and for the Old Granny who lives alone in a one-room dingy in Holloway, it may be the fervour created in the Herbert Chapman Era which still refuses to die. The Invincible team, Michael Thomas’ last gasp goal at Anfield ’89, the touch of class by the Iceman, or Cliff Bastin’s screamer, they may all be reasons. On a personal note, I worship the ground where Arsene Wenger walks, I rejoiced when Thierry Henry ran through the defences in Santiago Bernabeau, my eyes went moist when Belleti ended our hopes of ruling Europe. Oh, and we were talking reasons, were we not?

The history drives us on, the smell of air in Ashburton Grove is magical – almost to mythical dimensions, the Emirates stands like the colosseum of North London, and we know how to play football – the Beautiful Game. Pass and pass and pass – ‘We Pass Life‘ into Football! I remember watching a United game on TV against a lower rung side, and they scored a beautifully fabricated goal after quite a bit of passing. The voice of the commentator still floats in my ears like a sweet symphony -

“Oh, what a goal! Who says only Arsenal can play good football in the country?”

You see, that is how we play. That is how we are taught to play. We know one Professor, and he knows one way of teaching. Period. Remember what King Henry said before leaving -

“Arsenal will be in my blood as well as my Heart. I will always, always, always Remember you guys. I said I was going to be a Gunner for life and I did not lie because when you are a Gunner you will always be a Gunner.”

So true. Keep Gunning..

11Gunners: The Unofficial Arsenal FC Blog And News