Oh to be a Gooner, especially in a country where football
means something completely different. Yes I’m talking about the struggles of
being an Arsenal fan from across the Atlantic, in my native Canada. The time
difference, lack of media coverage and the virtually unknown existence of the
club make it difficult to follow my favourite club.
Before I can dive into to any other difficulties about
following Arsenal, I should state that I live in an area 5 hours behind London.
That means waking up early to watch matches on the weekend and having to watch
matches during school hours for weekday fixtures. While fans in England can
watch the matches while they come home from work, I’m forced to set my alarm
just to make sure I don’t miss them. Imagine how I’ll feel during the World Cup
in Russia.
Another problem with following Arsenal is the lack of
exposure from media companies. Only 4 stations play matches, which normally
means the most popular teams are shown so Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Barca,
Real, Bayern. Yes as the years go on, more and more matches seem to be shown on
TV, and now I can catch up to 75% of matches, which is pretty good. Whenever
that doesn’t happen I am forced to watch from my 17 inch laptop screen and hope
the connection doesn’t cut out. It’s not like I mind or anything, except when I
can’t understand the match commentary…
I guess the basically unknown reputation of Arsenal in
Canada means I am a rarer breed of Canadian football fan, but it can be
annoying at times; such as wanting to purchase Arsenal apparel. Only one store
I’ve been into sells it and they don’t even offer customization on anything. Or
the fact that I never hear about the club on the news, and the sports news only
plays the occasional highlight is a bit sad. That’s why I want Canadians to
learn more about the club to make it more popular.
Really I shouldn’t complain because at the end of the day I can
still watch the club, it’s just a bit difficult. Either way, I would and will still
continue to make sure that I watch as many games as I can, simply because I am
a Gooner, and Gooners do whatever they can to support their club.
@ZachAFC
This content was produced exclusively for ZachAFC.blogspot.com and can be reproduced with attribution, please.
@ZachAFC
This content was produced exclusively for ZachAFC.blogspot.com and can be reproduced with attribution, please.
