How I Became Fascinated with a British Football (Soccer) Club nearly 4500 miles away
Four years ago, I was sitting in my room on a Monday night and playing the soccer video game, FIFA 15, with one of my good friends. After using multiple teams already, my blood was starting to boil from the anger and frustration from being on a losing streak. Little did I know, I ended up finding a team which would soon engulf the rest of entire life. This team is the Arsenal Football Club.
But before that, let’s rewind about 12 years to when I was in elementary school. During this time, my mom decided to sign me up for a local youth soccer league. According to her, I enjoyed the practices during the week. However, when it came for gameday on Saturday, I would freeze up and would beg to not go to the game.
A first impression would be soccer was not in my future, and I would live the typical American male life watching football, basketball and baseball. And for awhile after that moment, I was focused on those sports. However, in 2014 during the 2014 World Cup, is when my sports interests permanently changed.
I remember watching the USA games during that World Cup and especially the emotional roller coaster against Ghana. I had intense joy and patriotism when Clint Dempsey scored within the first minute, only to feel defeated when Ghana equalized to bring the score back to 1–1 in the 82nd minute. I then lost my cool when John Brooks scored a header in the 86th minute which ended up being the game winning goal. I can picture to this day Brooks jumping up and having not the most aesthetically pleasing goal, but it went in the back of the net and that is all that matters.
Now, fast forward to the Monday night in September playing FIFA 15 with Arsenal. My friend was using his favorite team, Chelsea, and was on a winning streak. After losing three times in a row, I scrolled through the English Premier League and found this red badge with a cannon on it. My initial reaction was, “Why would anyone want to name a sports team Arsenal?” After seeing the how fast Arsenal’s players were, I decided to try them out for a couple of games. I ended up winning going on a two game winning streak. A couple weeks later, I decided I needed a Premier League team to follow, so I decided to follow Arsenal.
Watching Arsenal play has made me feel nervous on almost every occasion they play. In August, they played Chelsea in the second game of the current Premier League season. Chelsea scored two goals in the opening 20 minutes, and I almost turned off the game because of the humiliating play in the game. Luckily, I did not turn it off, and I got to witness Arsenal come roaring back in the last 15 minutes of the first half to bring it 2–2. After the second goal, I was so excited and almost yelled at my TV. The second half dragged on and Arsenal ended up losing 3–2 with Marcos Alonso scoring the game winner in the 81st minute after a lapse in concentration from Arsenal’s defense.
Arsenal (2) vs. Chelsea (3) Match Highlights
After following the club for a couple of years, I decided to buy some of the jerseys which caught my eye. It was in the 2017 summer transfer window where Arsenal purchased my favorite active player, Alexandre Lacazette. Lacazette is my favorite player because I enjoy his play style. He is not the fastest or the tallest player, but he has a high intelligence for the game and always seems to be in the right position in the right time. Once Arsenal bought him for a then club record, £57 million, I felt compelled to buy his Arsenal jersey. This jersey has easily become my favorite Arsenal jersey, and I try to remember to wear it every time Arsenal plays a game.

My passion for the club has had me do things that I would normally not do. One of these things is wake up at 6:45 am on a weekend morning for a 7:00 am kickoff. Since the TV coverage is live and the games are in England, the 5:00 hour time difference between England the US east coast time zone causes some issues. It gets worse after time changes because European time changes are not in sync with American time changes.
I do not know what I would do without Arsenal. Being an Arsenal fan has allowed me to develop some friendships which would not have happened otherwise. I try to watch every Arsenal game however I can.
Eventually I would like to fly over to England and sit in the Emirates Stadium, soaking up the gameday atmosphere. Some would think it is crazy to support a sports team almost 4500 miles and a 10.5-hour flight away from you, but Arsenal has become my favorite sports team, and that affinity will not be broken.

