This season marks will mark my twentieth anniversary of attending Arsenal matches. It's safe to say that the game has undergone seismic shifts in those two decades, whether tactically, technically or sociologically. I've watched the death throes of the flat 4-4-2 and I've watched the nascent globalisation of the game; I've seen the gentrification of football and I've seen the gratification of wealth. I've migrated from quiet, intimate, under-development Highbury to a state-of-the-art superdome at Ashburton Grove. I've seen Arsenal's aesthetic change from stern and pragmatic to visceral and direct, to élan and cosmopolitan, to considered and elaborate. Football has changed a lot in those two decades.
Many fans feel detached from the modern game. Today's multimillionaires are a step removed from the Tuesday Club you could find in an N5 boozer. Not that I'd know much about that; as a fresh-faced 7-year-old I had more interest in swapping Panini stickers, collecting my signed player photos - free in every junior gunner pack, your choice of player - or turning up to matches in full replica kit, shirt to socks, in case Merse was injured and Graham needed a replacement with a bit of flair than I was buying a player a pint. But with the advent of social media, to me at least, players seem closer than ever. Jack Wilshere is no further than a tweet away. RvP might see the YouTube compilation a friend lovingly compiled of him. Ray Parlour might tell the world what pub he's in or which nag he's backing. In an age when every player to pull on the red shirt is instantly a global superstar, the players are no further away from the fans than they want to be (and sometimes, who could blame them for wanting to be a little further away); they know how the fans felt about their performance and they can soak up the adulation they deserve or give the apologies that fans sometimes need. Today's fan knows every nuance of every player, from the academy boys through to the first team. Want to know more about Benik Afobe's loan to Huddersfield? Check YouTube. Want to know when Vermaelen started his career, and whether they really drink beer shots there? Check wikipedia.
And despite the fact that the beautiful game has evolved so much; despite the changes in location, personnel, tactics, badge, type of net, type of ball, type of player, type of ref; despite the loss and re-instatement of the clock; despite the liberalisation of the offside law; and despite a thousand changes besides, I know that when it comes to three o'clock on the first Saturday of the season, I will have that exact same mix of fear, excitement and ebullience that I had when I attended my first game two decades ago. And I'll be there, in full replica kit, shirt to socks, in case Wenger needs someone with a bit of flare to replace Nasri.
One final thought:
#getWengeronTwitter
Here is the picture of me that they used:
I don't have lego hair in real life (but I am that handsome).
I will take a couple of pictures and post them once I get my hands on a copy of the programme.
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