“It isn’t easy being an Arsenal fan…. this season it’s been harder than ever….”
As you may or may not know, I have just finished writing my second book, “Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown), Arsenal 20/21 – The Corona Diaries”, which will be released through Legends Publishing in July.
The project began simply as a diary of the football season from the perspective of an Arsenal supporter (me, obviously). Once it became clear, however, that this may not be the most enticing of reads, I decided to focus on something a little less depressing than Arsenal’s 20/21 season – a global pandemic.
Okay, I jest, but the point is, this was a season that was about much more than football. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you exactly why 20/21 was unlike any season we’ve experienced – it’s a season that is now synonymous with the word “unprecedented”.
The more I’ve been back over the whole thing, doing edits and readthroughs and what have you, the more it’s made me realise just how much we have all been through over the course of the 20/21 season.
I’m not just talking about Willian either.
We’ve been through three lockdowns during the pandemic; two of those were during the 20/21 season. Fans were allowed back in briefly, then not allowed in again, then allowed back in again for the final games of the season.
Throw in the absolute mess that was the failed European Super League, which was followed by protests against the Kroenke’s, and there was enough going on off of the pitch to reduce the actual football to nothing more than a mere sideshow anyway.
When you look at the current situation as far as the pandemic goes, I think it’s easy to forget what we went through to get to where we are now.
Again, I’m not just talking about Willian either.
Ah, the parallels between pandemic life and the life of the football supporter, eh?
At times, I did feel that football was a genuine escape and release from everything else that was going on in real life, whether things were going well on the pitch or not.
A good result would boost the mood, a bad result…. well, it’s only football ain’t it?
“Still, it’s not exactly the end of the world is it? The world, while not exactly ending, really is a shit place to be at the moment, so being irritated, annoyed, frustrated, perhaps even completely over-the-top batshit mental over 22 ridiculously overpaid men kicking a ball about isn’t actually a bad thing. I watched the news on Thursday morning, and saw a nurse in Italy, kitted up in full PPE, in tears as she spoke of preparing to witness something that she had already witnessed earlier this year, something that doesn’t even bear thinking about for most of us, as the second wave of COVID-19 starts to bite. So yes, maybe being irritated about football isn’t such a bad thing. If nothing else, it can give you something to focus on, to take your mind off what is a truly challenging time for all of us to live through. If wanting to launch Lacazette and Mustafi into the clock end is the worst thing that happens to me this week, I’ll go to sleep content. Irritated but content.” October 2020
I guess in some ways this was the perfect season to be a bit rubbish. It’s not like it was a real season anyway.
So, this is more than just a journey through a difficult season for The Arsenal, but through eight months of the difficulties and complexities of life during a global pandemic. An emotional eight months for many of us.
Consequently, what was to be “Arsenal 20/21 – a Diary of a Season” became “Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown) – Arsenal 20/21, The Corona Diaries” ….
The Corona Diaries
Suffice to say, I felt it impossible to write any kind of diary through 20/21 without writing about this global pandemic we were all living through, and everything that came with it.
After all, if this football season was an unprecedented one, then COVID-19 was the reason why.
Interestingly, there were similarities in both Arsenal and COVID-19’s performances during the 20/21 season.
“A tentative and uninspiring start, an awful few months, then just when you think things are looking up, they go to shit again. Then, when you think things have reached their lowest point, something happens to give you hope, and you’re feeling optimistic and looking to the future again….” Arsenal 20/21 – The Morning After, May 2021
COVID-19 and Arsenal – The Perfect Match
November and December were rather traumatic on the pitch for Arsenal supporters. So much so that even the word “relegation” was being mentioned in some circles.
“This was the second game that supporters were allowed into the Emirates since the easing of lockdown restrictions. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of you walked out of there that night praying for another wave of COVID-19 to come along and wipe out football for good.”
Sunday 13th Dec 2020, Arsenal 0 Burnley 1
Many a true word spoken in jest, eh? Just a day after I wrote that, London was moved into “Tier 3”, meaning that the short-lived return of fans to stadiums was over. COVID-19 and Arsenal once again teaming up to make our lives a misery!
“There are of course way bigger issues than football going back to being played behind closed doors. Things are getting pretty worrying out there again now as the second wave continues to take a grip on our lives…….. I’m always one to try and look at the positives in any situation, and the only one that I can think of today is that nobody will have to sit through watching Arsenal losing to Burnley at home in the flesh for the time being. I honestly have no idea what to make of that.”
The Corona Diaries – It All Ends in Tiers, December 2020
Again, what was going on in the outside world made it difficult to be too traumatised by what was going on out on the pitch.
Having said that, it would have been nice to have some good news on the pitch to help take our minds off what was going on off the pitch, even if for just 90 minutes. It’s all well and good taking the “it’s only football” stance, but when football is our escape from the real world, there’s only so much on-pitch misery you can take!
“As I said a while ago; sometimes it surprises you how much Arsenal can affect or compound your mood without you realising. Football is that life raft that keeps us afloat in this sea of misery, but you have to be careful where it carries you…… Don’t get me wrong, I don’t normally have a problem compartmentalising, but that word, “normal”, doesn’t really apply to anything right now, does it? It feels as if while the world of the football supporter is, for now at least, an almost completely online one, it’s no longer a distraction from everything else, but more a part of it. It’s like it now just sits there alongside pandemics, politics, and propaganda….” CBT and Arsenal – the Perfect Match, February 2021
20/21 wasn’t all doom and gloom, however! In fact, as bad as December had been, it ended with two victories, the first of which was a superb 3-1 win over Chelsea on Boxing Day. This was the perfect tonic, not just for Arsenal’s dreadful run of form, but also because the planned relaxation of restrictions over the Christmas period had been taken away from us.
“….that berk off of Have I Got News For You has just told us all that the planned relaxation of lockdown rules for a few days over the festive period has been scrapped….”
The Corona Diaries
Monday 12th April 2020
The Reopening – Part One
“Monday 12th April 2021. The next stage of the roadmap, and the next step towards getting our lives back. Non-essential retail, gyms, hairdressers, barbers and, most importantly of all, the beer gardens, reopen today….. There’s a genuinely different feeling out here today. Again, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s something you can sense in the air. It literally does feel as if people are emerging after being locked away for months. I’ve been out working since September last year and this is the first time it’s felt like this.”
This was a good week as well. That genuine feeling of optimism in the air, I had my first vaccination jab – my own first step towards being free of this horrible virus. What could possibly ruin it?
Well, there was the fact that I had that jab on the day Arsenal were staring down the barrel of a Europa League exit at Slavia Prague, after making a complete mess of the home leg the other week.
“So, there I was, first jab done, beers nicely chilled and fully prepared to be less than nicely chilled myself. These 90 minutes were going to be worse than any side effect that the Moderna vaccine could throw at me. All of our eggs in this Europa League basket, against a team that haven’t been beaten in their last 30 games in all competitions and have conceded just 5 goals at home during their league campaign. What could possibly go wrong???” Thursday 15th April 2021 – Slavia Prague 0 Arsenal 4
As it turned out, this was to be a good week all round, as we turned Slavia Prague over in their own backyard to progress to the semi-final against Unai Emery’s Villareal. No need to go into how that turned out just now, this was a positive week after all!
Indeed, I ended the week with this….
“We seem to spend so much of our time looking at the negatives these days that it’s easy to forget the good things we’ve got going for us. At the very top of that list for me, and I’m most certainly not alone, are the Hale End boys. We might have our problems as a club, we might not have the kind of money some of the clubs ahead of us have to throw around, but how many clubs would love to have Saka and Smith Rowe on their books? It looks as if Balogun is poised to sign a new contract with the club too, which can only be a good thing. You can add Martinelli to the list of positives as well. Thomas Partey with a proper pre-season behind him and having had time to adapt will, I’m sure, turn out to be the player that we all thought he would be. We still have a long, long way to go, but I see no problem with looking on the bright side every now and then. If that means I’m “deluded”, “accepting mediocrity”, “the problem with this fanbase”, or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days, then call me Mr. Deludedmediocrityfanbase.”
I think that’s the perfect place to leave it for this week. I’ll hopefully have more for you next week, including Mesut and Gunnersuarus, The January Blues – COVID-19 Edition and more.
Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown) – Arsenal 20/21, The Corona Diaries is available for pre-order through Legends Publishing now, and you can order your signed, personalised copy here
Islington born and bred, Arsenal through and through.
Published author.
Is Yours Gold? The Arsenal Invincibles Twentieth Anniversary – available now,
Over Land and Sea (and Lockdown), Arsenal 20/21 – The Corona Diaires – released 2021.
Clickbait: Life as a Modern Football Fan – released 2019
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