For approximately 21 years, I have had little to no meaningful affiliation with football.
That may sound unusual, especially for someone who grew up in an environment where football loyalty could sometimes feel almost as serious as family loyalty. But my relationship with football has always been different.
And the truth is, my distance from football fandom was not simply because I lacked interest. It was a deliberate decision.
The Experience That Made Me Step Away
I was in Junior Secondary School Year 2 when I witnessed something that stayed with me for years.
Some of my friends and classmates were deeply invested in football. Their emotional attachment to their respective clubs was serious.
There was a particularly memorable period when an important match took place shortly before our examinations. The examination was scheduled for the following day.
Some of my friends supported teams that lost.
What I observed afterwards made a powerful impression on me. They were genuinely devastated. Some appeared demotivated and emotionally unsettled. Their disappointment was not simply a passing conversation about football. For some of them, the result seemed to affect their ability to focus on their studies and prepare properly for the examination.
The next day, some recorded poor academic performance.
As a young student, I found this difficult to understand.
I remember thinking about how the result of a football match could have such a significant influence on someone’s concentration, motivation and academic performance.
For me, it was a lesson.
I made a quiet but deliberate decision.
I did not want football fandom to have that kind of control over my emotions, my concentration or my priorities. I did not want the result of a match to determine whether I could focus on school, work or the things that genuinely mattered.
And so, for the next two decades, I largely stayed away from serious football fandom.
Barcelona, But Only Casually
That does not mean I never watched football.
At some point, I casually identified with FC Barcelona.
I was not a serious football fan, but I enjoyed watching the skills of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. There was something entertaining about their creativity, movement and brilliance.
But even then, my interest was casual.
There was no deep emotional attachment.
A Barcelona victory did not make my week. A defeat did not ruin it.
I watched football occasionally and appreciated individual brilliance, but I deliberately avoided becoming emotionally invested in the culture of football fandom.
I remember Barcelona defeating Arsenal 2–1 in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France in Paris. Barcelona won, but I cannot honestly say that the result transformed me into a devoted supporter.
Life simply moved on.
Twenty-One Years Later, Why Now?
Over the past two decades, I have lived a serious and exceptionally busy life.
- Education.
- Research.
- Teaching.
- Professional development.
- Entrepreneurship.
- Family.
- Projects.
- Deadlines.
- Building platforms.
- Pursuing long-term goals.
Football remained somewhere in the background, something I could occasionally see or hear about, but never something I actively followed.
Until now.
Perhaps I am at a point in life where I increasingly understand the importance of leisure. A productive life still needs room for enjoyment. A serious life should not mean a life without relaxation.
So, I began to reconsider football. Not as an obsession. Not as another source of pressure. Not as something that would determine my mood, productivity or academic and professional performance. But as leisure. As entertainment. As a cultural experience. As an opportunity to relax, participate in conversations and occasionally enjoy the shared experience that football creates.
Enjoyment should never become emotional captivity.
Arsenal: The Strongest Overall Alignment
I have chosen Arsenal.
Why?
Arsenal combines several things that appear central to my own outlook: education, internationalism, inclusion, youth development and institutional ambition.
The club is not simply globally recognised. It has a significant community infrastructure and operates within London’s diverse social environment.
For someone interested in journalism, education, digital transformation and international knowledge exchange, that combination matters.
As someone whose work sits across journalism, education, research, digital transformation and international knowledge exchange, I found several points of genuine alignment.
Knowledge and Development
Education and development matter deeply to me.
I have spent much of my professional life teaching, researching, mentoring and supporting the development of others.
I value institutions that recognise the importance of developing people, particularly young people.
Arsenal’s commitment to youth and community engagement therefore creates a meaningful point of connection.
A Global Perspective
My life and work increasingly operate across geographical and cultural boundaries.
I value international collaboration, intercultural exchange and the circulation of knowledge beyond national borders.
Arsenal’s genuinely global identity fits naturally with this outlook.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity is not simply about representation.
It is about recognising the value of different experiences, voices and perspectives.
Living and working across different contexts has reinforced this belief for me.
Arsenal’s identity is closely connected to London’s multicultural environment, making this another important point of alignment.
Women and Girls
I also appreciate Arsenal’s historic importance in women’s football.
Any modern institution that takes development seriously should recognise the importance of creating opportunities across gender and social boundaries.
That dimension of Arsenal’s identity matters.
Ambition with Continuity
I believe in ambition. But I also believe that ambition should be connected to purpose, continuity and long-term development.
Growth should have direction. Success should not require abandoning the values and history that give an institution meaning.
Arsenal’s combination of history, institutional tradition and continued modernisation reflects something I find compelling.
There is value in respecting where an institution has come from while continuing to ask where it should go next.
No Club Is Perfect
Of course, I recognise that Arsenal is a major commercial football institution.
No large organisation is perfect.
There will inevitably be differences between stated values and everyday realities.
I do not expect perfection from any club.
My decision is not based on the assumption that Arsenal will always get everything right. It is based on relative alignment.
Among the major clubs I considered, Arsenal offered the strongest intersection between my academic identity, global outlook, interest in development and commitment to inclusion and social impact.
But Let Me Be Clear About the Kind of Fan I Intend to Be
I am still learning this football thing.
After more than twenty years of very little interest, I am not suddenly planning to become an overtly emotional football analyst.
I am not looking to spend my weekends arguing endlessly about referees, transfers or why someone missed a penalty.
I want to enjoy football. I want a bit of leisure. I want to be able to watch a match, understand the conversation, enjoy the culture and perhaps occasionally celebrate a good result.
I also want to blend in.
For me, football will be part of a balanced life, not the centre of it.
So, please, no unnecessary drama. My emotional stability is not going to depend entirely on whether Arsenal win on Saturday afternoon.
I have lived far too long without football to suddenly allow a 90-minute match to determine the quality of my entire week. My experience in Junior Secondary School remains with me.
I saw what happened when football became so emotionally important that a defeat appeared to affect my classmates’ ability to focus on an examination the following day.
That experience taught me something early.
Enjoyment should never become emotional captivity.
I intend to support Arsenal. I will watch. I will learn. I will enjoy the conversations. I will celebrate good performances. I may even be disappointed when we lose.
But I do not intend to surrender my emotional stability to 90 minutes of football. Arsenal will not determine whether I have a productive week. A defeat will not prevent me from teaching. It will not stop me from researching. It will not cancel a deadline. And it certainly will not be allowed to affect my commitment to the things that genuinely matter in my life.
Football will be part of my leisure. It will not become the controller of my life.
That said, I do understand that supporting a club requires some commitment. So, here we are.
After approximately 21 years without any meaningful football affiliation, after years of casually observing Barcelona because Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o were simply brilliant to watch, and after living an intensely busy life focused on other priorities, I am finally choosing a club.
And I have chosen Arsenal.
🔴⚪️
This is official now. After more than two decades of deliberately avoiding serious football fandom, I am finally becoming part of it. This time, it is intentional.
Not because of pressure. Not because everyone around me supports the club. Not because of trophies alone. But because, among the choices I considered, Arsenal represented the strongest alignment with the values that matter to me.
I am still learning. I am still discovering the culture. And I am still committed to maintaining a healthy perspective.
I want to enjoy football without losing myself in it. Perhaps not the loudest. Perhaps not the most dramatic. But definitely intentional.
🔴⚪️ I am now a Gunner. Full of Arsenal. And together, we are the Gunners.
Key Takeaways
- Football fandom once cost a classmate their focus before an exam — a lesson that shaped a 21-year deliberate distance from the sport.
- That distance was a choice, not apathy — I watched occasionally but never let results steer my mood.
- Returning to football is about leisure, not emotional captivity.
- Arsenal was chosen for values alignment: education, internationalism, inclusion, youth development, and community impact.
- No club is perfect; the decision rests on relative, not absolute, alignment.
- A match result will never dictate my productivity, teaching, or research.
#COYG 🔴⚪️
