Gooner (n.)

Goon (n.) (go͞on) slang
1. a thug ; an aggressive and violent guy (a.k.a hired goon)
2. a stupid or deliberately foolish person

Photo: James Garcia

I actually never knew where the term “gooner” came from. I knew that a gooner is a supporter and a gunner is an Arsenal player, but why the difference? And why gooner? Today I looked it up. Of course, nobody agrees on the origins of the word, but there are several theories.

1. The Accent theory
   This one seems pretty logical. Indeed, it’s easy to see how the word gunner could turn into gooner overtime. Although, some people point out that Newcastle’s toons are actually the ones due to the accent thing. An alternative theory on the accent is mentioning norwegian fans (or swedish sometimes). This theory is considered to be the club’s official version.
2. The Hooligans theory
   If you love football history, this one is interesting. Apparently, The Gooners were once a feared and famous group of supporters in London (along with West Ham’s Inter City Firm and Chelsea’s Headhunters).
3. The Insult theory
   This one is my personal favorite. In this case, gooner was used as an insult from other club’s supporters. Arsenal’s supporters then decided to use it in response to the mockery. I love that one because it brings the idea of ​​turning insult into pride (like in the LGBT community where gay men use fag (or pédé, in french) as a way to show that they aren’t ashamed of who they are or what people call them).

Samuel Gunner is a french freelance soccer writer & designer living in Montreal. Founder of the Medium publication on Arsenal FC, you can follow him on Twitter.