Overseas gooners and one in particular

[the playing mantis]

what color stetson would that be jim...maybe if the colors of our home kit ran together.....!

that pic of bg is absolutely classic, the fact that a complete unknowing person thought that was a real genuine pic, and that the arsenal brazil lot had amongst there party a male faced female bodied midget carrying a pint in a sleeveless top, is absoluteley brilliant. just crack up seeing the pick and its just so well done that the uninitiated think its real.

classic.

[Barriecuda]

I am in touch with a lot of Canadian Arsenal supporters, and to a lesser degree some US ones as well, along with the other various nationalities who blog and post on this forum, etc.

I admit, there can be a discrepancy of knowledge, though that same gap exists between local fans too. The fact is, no matter where you live, you might be an astute commentator on the game or you might be a moron. With the availability of information and news these days, I don't think where you live is going to make or break that fact, providing you have an internet connection.

What I have seen is that Canadian and US supporters of Arsenal are often as voracious, vehement, and loyal as those in the UK. There are chapters across the United States and Canada of dedicated Arsenal fans who all get together at specific pubs on match days to be with like-minded supporters of the same club, who do their best in their little corner of the world to mimic the songs and atmosphere of a home game. Many of these fans save up for years to make essentially a "pilgrimage" to one or two Arsenal games - an incredible commitment, if you ask me. If you think tickets to the Emirates are expensive, try adding the price of a cross-Atlantic flight on to that.

Not only that, with the time zone difference, we have Gooners across the US and Canada who wake up at ungodly early hours of their day off simply to watch a game live. The Sp*rs game kicked off at 5am local; 7am EST. I have friends in eastern Canada who made the pub open early so they could watch it live together. That's some commitment.

I have no doubts that Asian, Indonesian, African, or any other Arsenal fans are any less passionate either. Over the weekend I communicated with people from amazing distances on Twitter simply because we had a love of the team in common, and all of them carried a desperate desire to see Arsenal win - a desire that could easily be less, equal, or more than that of an English, British, or European fan.

Simply put, the game is global; if you think proximity makes you a "better fan", you're naive. And in the mean time, I intend to strive to fulfill the first item on the CanadianGunners mission statement: "To be a blog... that stands up on its own to other UK- and internationally-based blogs, known for high quality writing and poignant insight."

[arseofacrow]

Not only that, with the time zone difference, we have Gooners across the US and Canada who wake up at ungodly early hours of their day off simply to watch a game live. The Sp*rs game kicked off at 5am local; 7am EST. I have friends in eastern Canada who made the pub open early so they could watch it live together. That's some commitment.

So, they've got a day off and wake up a bit early to watch a game in a pub?

i must say that's real, hardcore commitment

[I Hate Hleb]

Well said Barrie.

[Herd]

it was hardly often stu

we could still pull in 50,000 for liverpool, man utd, scum and west ham.

seem to remember tottneham v liverpool at the shithole attracting a crowd of 16,000 in 1985 or 86

Henry look at the average attendance figures for the mid to late 70's ,it was abt 26,000, yes against MUFC ,the god forbids and the other london derbies but for the sheff utds of this world we went down way below 20 k for a while.

[LDB]

I read that this 'Asian fans buying all the merchandise' thing is a bit of a myth. The stuff they buy are often fakes and not a penny finds it way back to the club.

[SurreyGooner]

What I wonder is how and why some of the foreign fans come to supporting Arsenal? Personally My whole family are gooners me dad is from North London and used to take me when I was real young, now I can't afford to go week in week out but prices will never go back as we will ALWAYS sell out, because of the amount of tourists that go for the perfect day out. Almost every time I go to the bowl i'm surrounded by Asian tourists who are only interested in videoing the game and look at you strangely when you show a bit of passion... I don't see the point any more.

Support a more local team that you have a proper connection with and can go as much as you can, most of these people are more interested just because we are a good team, for me that's not why you should support them.

[dPmunky]

for me it was simple, back when i was first starting to play the game as a boy i wanted a team to look up to, to study, to learn, to see how men played this game. arsenal happened, at the time, to have some pretty good coverage here in the states. major league soccer was still relatvely new and mostly a joke. little interest, little talent, little coverage. dont know if it was the sega jerseys or the fact that everyone else at school LOVED man u but i picked the arsenal. ever since it's just been my team.

i wish i could say my local dallas fc or kansas city teams are great or even fun to watch...they arent. the mls has come a long way and is getting better but the epl is so much faster it doesnt even compare. youre spoiled, all of you, you get quality football your whole lives and take it for granted while here we've waited for this league to get better(which it has, no doubt) and still are light years behind the rest of the world. this is coming from someone who goes to games whenever i can but going to games here is almost like little league baseball when i can so easily see how GOOD the rest of the worlds leagues are, you feel like you are watching children. being a fan of the game in the states is like being a martian, you're always "that weird guy who likes soccer."


you dont get to pick where you are born or who your daddy is but you get to pick who you root for, for me the why is irrelevant. once chosen though, only your loyalty and honor are important.