OUTING SEVEN: ARSENAL WOMEN'S VS. TOTTENHAM WOMEN'S
My inaugural Arsenal Women's match on a bright Sunday
Though I have now been to well over 20 Arsenal men’s matches, I had not attended an Arsenal women’s match until this past weekend. Friends of mine who have more regularly attended women’s matches told me the atmosphere would be much more pleasant; it would feel like a family activity, not a gladiatorial chest-thumping competition. On Sunday, Arsenal was playing Tottenham Hotspur, a match which is known the world around as the North London Derby. Ask most Arsenal fans about Tottenham and they will give you a quick four-letter expletive answer referring to the excrement-like character of Arsenal’s (occasionally) noisy North London neighbors. And yet, despite all the baked-in animosity that comes with derby day, I did not know whether the ugliness of a heated historic rivalry would rear its head in a typically pleasant, childsafe environment.
A Brief History of The Arsenal Women
The Arsenal Women’s team was established in the late 1980s and though recent seasons have seen rivals Chelsea dominate the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL), the Lady Gunners remain a continentally-revered side. Why such reverence? Arsenal is the most successful women’s team in England, with 15 league titles and 14 league cups to their name. Additionally, Arsenal remains the only English women’s side to win the UEFA Champions League- the top competition in all of Europe. In short, Arsenal’s women have spent the vast majority of their ~40-year history dominating various competitions. The same cannot be said for the men’s side over the last four decades, love them though I do. In the leadup to Sunday’s North London Derby, Arsenal sat third in the table, behind Chelsea and Manchester City, both of whom Arsenal have already beat this season. Unfortunately, derby defeats to West Ham and Tottenham earlier in the season have derailed Arsenal’s current league campaign. Sunday provided an opportunity for revenge, to make a statement, and to possibly mount one last charge for the title.
The Match
But first, please join me on a brief detour. Few things are more worthwhile conversation starters in England than the weather, as long-term readers of Covering Ground will know. I spent the first half of my weekend in Oxford with lifelong family friends. Though we covered just about every other topic under the…err, sun, we also dedicated a good bit of time to discussing British climate. While hail pelted the roof of the sunroom, we concluded that English weather is best characterized as unpredictable, not least because I arrived on a train bathed in sunlight. With this important judgment in my mind, as I set off to the Emirates I knew in my heart of hearts that the sun in Central London would soon be the rain in North London. But not so! Though the unpredictability of British weather is a force to be reckoned with, it is apparently no match for the North London Derby, which demands pristine viewing conditions. And so there I was in the Upper Tier of the Emirates, watching the Arsenal Women go about their business on a sun-laden pitch. Just to pull the “all seats matter” thread through from my last post, I want to say that the view was once again slightly different. I am now going to tell you about the goals that were scored. There was one goal and it was scored by Arsenal striker Alessia Russo. Alessia played football in college at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC), which has won something like 60% of D1 Women’s Soccer Championships. I know I used the word, but in NCAA-speak, it is technically soccer. Anyway, just about every fan attending the match missed the goal because it happened directly after half-time, and guess where they were? Getting beer, stretching their legs, and missing crucial moments. Where was I, ever the curmudgeonly critic? Getting chips, stretching my legs, and missing crucial moments.
As the introductory passage to this post suggests, the atmosphere stood out as the most intriguing part of the match, both in my anticipation of the day and in my reflections on it. I am going to give a brief summary of the atmosphere and then use more words to describe it. The Short Version: replace all the angry, cursing, drunken, screaming men and replace them with young women and girls. Simple as that. The Long Version: I was at The Emirates for the men’s version of the North London Derby back in September. I would describe the atmosphere as hostile, brisk, tense, and uneasy. The weather contributed to this mood but if I were to give the men’s match a facial expression, it would be a snarl: a condescending peak of the upper lip as if to tell Tottenham fans just how little we thought of them. Sunday could not have been more different. The mood was excited, grateful, positive, and yes, sunny. If I were to give Sunday a facial expression? It’s predictable but it would be a little girl smiling.
In many ways, the best and worst manifestations of football fandom play out in my mind when I compare the men’s North London Derby to the women’s. One atmosphere cherishes football as a chance for the family to enjoy something and the other pits relatively similar people against one another in what feels like a winner-takes-all fight to the death. To be clear, had Arsenal won the North London Derby in September, the day would have been more jubilant. But therein lies the point: no matter the outcome, fans at the match on Sunday were enjoying themselves. For context (because I am about to use plural personal pronouns) I went to the match with a prior Guest of Honor, Celeste (who went to UNC with Alessia Russo and a few other Arsenal players). To our right was a middle-aged woman who may as well have been sitting on a porch- such was the permanent grin she had on her face throughout the match. To our left and in the row in front of us were partners of all combinations, all soaking up the warmth radiating off the pitch and enjoying themselves. The star of the day is a young girl about whom I will write in the “Details” section, but she is the mascot of this experience for me. She had a hand-drawn sign, t-shirt, and poster and spent the entire match yelling. My concluding, Short Version of the Long Atmosphere Summary is this: the women’s match is something I would bring anybody to. I would bring family members who make a point to show disdain for sports and I would also bring diehard football fans. On Sunday I learned that the mass appeal of women’s football is that, unlike the men’s game, it includes the people who don’t want to shout, curse, drink, or rue the ground on which their rivals walk. I think that makes it more accessible. And it made Sunday fun
The Day’s Details
Things We Discussed
I sing Arsenal chants in a British accent
I am not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, it’s performative. On the other, singing just about anything in an American accent would be grating to the people around me. I would probably be slightly less welcome.
Whether to serve local beer or good beer
This feels like a task for the food & beverage team at Arsenal, but I have some aspirations of being their colleague someday so I am going to take a stab at it. For context, Arsenal predominantly serves a lager from local producers Camden Town Brewery called the “Camden Hells.” I do not know anybody who likes it but I know plenty of people who drink it. I understand pushing it as much as the club does for the sake of supporting a local business, but I think Arsenal should also remember they can be a world-class hospitality brand if they want to. The latter consideration makes me quite confident that the beverage selection could use a refresh so that fans want to spend more at the ground.
Messaging first on dating apps
This is a short discussion. Women don’t, men do.
Leaving before half-time and full time
Abysmal showing from me, one week on from complaining about people who leave at half-time and full-time.
Things We Drank
Three bottles of water
One Camden Hells
Things We Ate
Two “Mom’s Bad Boy Hot Dogs With Onions”
What an insane name for what is essentially a bratwurst with crispy onion crunch
One bag of cheddar and onion crisps
Things The Fans Sang
“Alessia Russo’s magic, she wears a magic hat, she could’ve stayed with Tooney, but Skinner is a twat, she came to play for Arsenal, in the famous Red & White, and when we win the Super League, we’ll sing this song all night”
“We won the league at Shite Hart Lane. We won the league at Shite Hart Lane. We won the league at the Shit Hole. We won the league at Shite Hart Lane.”
Forgot to mention earlier- Arsenal have won the league on Tottenham’s ground twice. 1971 and 2004. The latter victory has some serious depth to it. More on that another time, I hope.
Things I Thought About But Did Not Have Enough To Say About
The men’s toilets were empty
Bliss
Things The Young Girl One Row Behind Us Screamed
“Just win Arsenal”
They did.
“I love you, Beth Mead”
I really wish Beth Mead could have heard the sincerity with which she was shouting this. It felt so genuine.
“We hate Tottenham”
She has such good parents.
Thank you, Arsenal…
…see you soon
"a little girl smiling" is perfect. Also glad to hear we were all in solidarity in missing that goal.
Bliss