Far from the euphoric scenes in London where jubilant fans poured into the streets following Arsenal’s long-awaited Premier League triumph, Gunners devotees in Dubai also experienced unbridled joy.
The club supporters sang, danced and cried tears of joy at Media One hotel on Tuesday night after Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
British expat Kieran Lindsay, who moved to Dubai in 2009 before launching the UAE Arsenal Football Club in 2010, said words would always fail to describe the emotional high he felt as a fan.
“It’s crazy, to be the chairman of the UAE Arsenal Fan Club, for so long and now to have this moment, my first ever win as the chairman of the Arsenal Football Fan Club, it’s also my first win as a fully grown man, I can’t really put into words to be honest,” Lindsay told the Khaleej Times.
“People called us losers. And we had seen Man City coming from nowhere to dominate, we have seen Chelsea become big, Liverpool and Man United. Last night, it was our turn, so you can imagine the celebrations, there were tears of joys, singing and dancing, there was everything.
Following a suggestion from a friend, Lindsay started the club at a small pub in Al Barsha with no windows.
“We called it the Arsenal Heaven. Then we moved to different places and now we are at the Media One hotel. It’s the home now for Arsenal fans in Dubai,” Lindsay said.
Remarkably, Lindsay was at Highbury, Arsenal’s old stadium, before they moved to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, attending matches when Arsenal last won the title in 2004.
“I was 18 when our ‘Invincibles’ won in 2004,” Lindsay said of Arsene Wenger’s team that remained unbeaten in the 38-game season to clinch the title.
“A lot of matches I attended that season at Highbury. We had incredible players (Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires) and they played such amazing football,” he said.
The style of play of the “Invincibles” earned Arsenal millions of fans globally.
Among them was Taurai Fitz-Patrick, a Zimbabwean expat who lives in Dubai.
“I was never much of a football fan until the 2004-2005 season. I started supporting Arsenal because I had heard so much about their football. I was fascinated even though I had not really watched the “Invincibles” season (2003-2004), but the aura was such that I became their biggest fan,” Fitz-Patrick told the Khaleej Times.
But since becoming an Arsenal fan, the only thing Fitz-Patrick had experienced was heartbreak as the Gunners continued to suffer in the Premier League for more than two decades.
Last night, seeing them win for the first time was the greatest moment in Fitz-Patrick’s life.
“The feeling is indescribable after enduring years of both friendly and borderline banter — being called bottlers, perennial underachievers and whatnot,” he said.
“I had never experienced Arsenal winning the league, so for the first time in 22 years as an Arsenal fan, I finally know what it feels like!”
For Thomas Wragg, a British expat who was only nine when the “Invincibles” dazzled the world in 2004, being an Arsenal fan is the greatest identity of his life.
“My granddad was a massive Arsenal fan, and that’s how I became a fan of this club. Whether they win, draw or lose, I can’t help but fall in love with this team. Arsenal will always be my first love,” Wragg said.
But for long periods of the season when Manchester City again threatened to spoil Arsenal’s party, Wragg, like millions of Gunners around the world, was fearing the worst.
It would have been unbearable for him if City had beaten Bournemouth on Tuesday to take the title race to the final day of the season.
“A couple of difficult years of getting so close (when Arsenal finished second), so now to finally get over the line, especially last night, it is such a big relief,” he said.
“If it had gone to the final day (Sunday), I don’t think my heart could have taken that.”
Showing a lot of gratitude to Spanish coach Mikel Arteta for turning Arsenal’s fortunes around, Wragg believes this Arsenal team has what it takes to upset PSG in the Champions League final on May 30.
“I think it’s going to be a tough game, PSG are the best team in Europe now. We are definitely the underdogs,” he said.
“But the way we play, we don’t concede many goals. Maybe it’s going to be a low-scoring game and I hope it’s going to end in Arsenal’s favour. And if we win, this will be the greatest Arsenal team ever — even better than Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’!”
Source: Khaleej Times