MY NEW DIFFICULT BOYFRIEND

BY SIAN MACALARNY

I wasn’t even wearing red. My first-ever match at Highbury, and I wasn’t even wearing red. It was a great match, a 5-3 win over Charlton Athletic in August 2000, days before I started secondary school.

That was the ‘hello’ moment they had me at. I didn’t realise there were that many other people who loved them too. I didn’t realise that I’d ever be OK with standing up and shouting and screaming when we scored a goal. Nor that the pitch was that take-your-breath-away beautiful.

How was I to know they’d become as big a part of my life as they have? How were my mates to know they’d have to start making allowances for my new difficult boyfriend the Arsenal?

This was only 11 years ago. I’m still a newbie, in spite of having had Arsenal in my genetic make up for nearly a century now. But, we’re plodding along. We’ve had our ups and downs but ultimately we’re doing very well together, thanks.

Some of my friends still look at me a bit weirdly when they think about just how much time I dedicate to eleven men and a ball. Then I think of just how easily I could have been one of them. One of the ones who don’t get it, or who don’t well up thinking back on all the brilliant days the Arsenal has given them. Or who, let’s be honest, probably sleeps really well no matter what time of season it is.

What a pointless existence it must seem.