Watching your favourite football team can be a day of elation or devastation, depending on how the result goes. But the day is made up of more than 22 men kicking a ball on a perfectly cut pitch for 90 minutes. For 21 – year – old Benjamin Adebiyi, this is a day of escape, joy and ultimately, love.
Football. A sport that captures billions with its ability to shape moods, the names of children or a tattoo decision.
We hear the stories of memorable moments within the sport but hardly the steps and choices that led up to it.
“You don’t support (a football club) because of the trophies or a player, you support it because you found yourself somewhere there; found a place where you belong.” Former Netherlands international Dennis Bergkamp.
For Ben, that is exactly how he feels about Arsenal.
“Arsenal have provided me with moments I’ll never forget, both good and bad. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the ground, at the local pub or simply in your living room, the love you can have for a football club is sometimes indescribable”.
A love story that started through his father, John, the trip to North London begins all the way in West London, Chiswick.
“Ben has always been obsessed with Arsenal, maybe even too much”. John told me with a cheeky smile on his face and slight embarrassment on Ben’s.
But as a football fan myself, I know the feeling all too well.
I accompanied Ben to a game against Brentford on the 9th of March 2024, with the Gunners winning 2-1 win against the Bees, which are ironically the closest Premier League club to the Adebiyi family home in Chiswick.
As the District Line service approached Turnham Green station, I was ready to begin my day with Ben, starting with a Fiji water and Extra Peppermint chewing gum for the University of Nottingham student.
Changing at Hammersmith onto the Piccadilly Line, the handful of people on the District Line had become a train full as we embarked on the second part of our journey to the Emirates Stadium.
The intense heat and lack of ventilation soon became an unwanted feeling but for Ben, and especially London club supporting fans, the discomfort of the tube is one that is dealt with but never complained about… Unless the wait for the next tube is over four minutes.
While with Ben, I bumped into 50 – year – old Danny Johnstone has been following the Gunners since 1984, shortly after his 10th birthday, and like Ben, his father is the reason he supports Arsenal, and using the tube in those days was certainly an experience.
“I grew up in a time where you could smoke on the tube, I think that sums it up.”
With TFL (Transport For London) planning to introduce 94 new trains from 2025, which will replace the current trains that have ran since 1975, which will be equipped with air – conditioning and walk – through carriages, it is a much-needed upgrade in Danny’s eyes.
A person wipes their forehead as the heat of the tube continues to cause issues.
As you get closer leaving Arsenal tube station, the hubbub of people gathering, scarfs donning the face of players, the questions from ticket touts soon makes you realise that football is on the horizon.
Arriving more than two hours until kick – off, seeing the Highbury area this early allowed me to appreciate how much a matchday can offer.
Ben isn’t a stranger to the merchandise that is on offer to himself and Arsenal fans.
“I’ve got my fair share of scarfs, programmes and just general Arsenal merchandise”.
The colours of Arsenal have become a part of the DNA within in N5 and North London, well maybe not the Tottenham area, with a sea of red and white taking over the local pubs and restaurants before entering the streets and stadium.
The area essentially shuts down when matchday arrives, with barriers and road diversions becoming the norm when Arsenal play at home as filtering 60,000 spectators through the confides of London is not an easy task.
The N5 area lives and breathes Arsenal. From Highbury square, which is the site of Arsenal’s old ground and open for the public to walk around, to the artwork that is dotted about on the walls of the area.
Artwork like this, from artist NorthBanksy, can be found a stone’s throw away from Arsenal tube station, just further up Gillespie Road.
Ben has been watching games at the Emirates Stadium for over 10 years but missed out on the glory days of Highbury.
“Seeing artwork like this, using fonts and styles you associate with an older Arsenal, brings a bittersweet feeling for fans in my generation”.
Ben continued with, “Stuff like this that connects us with those who supported and played for the club in the past, I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels like a sign of hope and acceptance from those people.
As we moved closer to the stadium, the feeling in the air changed. It’s a feeling of excitement yet nervousness with most people, not just football fans, having experienced it but unable to truly explain the feeling.
As you cross The Ken Friar bridge, the Emirates Stadium is sneaking through the supports of the bridge before you see the 60,704-capacity stadium in full.
The artwork on the side of the stadium, mimicking the East Stand of the former Highbury Stadium includes iconic moments of Arsenal history within the artwork, again reaffirming the connection of past and present.
Much like the father and son, I am presuming, in the photo, Ben and his father have shared a moment similar to the image and are probably not the only father and son to have this memory.
“The artwork around the stadium could change tomorrow but the feeling of love and happiness you get from just being around the stadium, let alone inside, will never change”.
Being season ticket holders at the Emirates means Ben can always see the Gunners play at home, barring any other commitments, but even then, “Arsenal always takes priority”. He said, with a slight chuckle.
John took Ben to his first game, like many fathers do, with it being a London rivalry.
A 1-0 win against Chelsea in December 2007 with William Gallas providing the winning goal.
“He could not contain his excitement from the moment we left home in the day until he went to bed that night, the only time it was silent that entire day was when he had finally fell asleep”.
A creation of concrete, metal, plastic and other materials should not mean much but to football fans, these creations are called home.
A home they may see once or twice a month and can only be inside for a few hours but it provides a symbol of togetherness within the Arsenal community.
“Even though I’ve done this walk countless times, you always take a moment to just look up at the stadium and take a moment”.
“Thierry Henry, he was definitely the best. He was just too quick. Oh god, what a player he was”.
This is how former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher described the Frenchmen, who has a statue in the Celebration Corner section, just outside the stadium.
The striker is one of six club icons to be cast in bronze at the Emirates Stadium, along with: Arsene Wenger, Herbert Chapman, Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams and Ken Friar.
With the struggles Arsenal have experienced in the past years, none of the players who have come and gone have hit the heights of those held in the highest regard of the Arsenal faithful.
“I grew up watching players like Ian Wright, David Rocastle and Michael Thomas yet a generation of fans haven’t had anyone on that level and it felt like the fans and club were disconnected but hopefully, it looks like that’s changing”.
Being a part of a small supporter’s group in the Midlands, Danny has seen positive change away from the pitch.
“The mood ten, even five years ago, is completely different. The toxicity has gone and us as fans, we have become so much more engaged with the club.”
As a smile left his face, he continued with, “We’ve got our club back, this is probably the best it has been since the glory days of Wenger and co in the 90s and on matchday, you can truly feel it”.
When we entered the stadium, Tequila by The Champs was in full effect as an artist was performing in the concourse; just every ‘Tequila’ was changed to ‘Saliba’ for the defender William Saliba.
The live, concourse entertainment has split opinions, with Ben sarcastically stating, “We are at the football, not Hammersmith Apollo”.
Seeing the pitch made me think about how 60,000 people can gather in one area and sit shoulder to shoulder, regardless of age, race or sexuality but simply because they chose the same team to love.
Just before kick off, the pre – match anthem began. The Angel (North London Forever) by Arsenal fan Louis Dunford is sang by the home supporters.
“This song has come to us, in the right moment to change and go another step at the Emirates”. This is how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described the anthem to the players in the All or Nothing series released by Amazon Prime in 2022.
With the fans raising their scarfs high and the lyrics at the top of their lungs, it created this wall of noise that is one you would relish to represent but despise coming against.
“I’ve never heard anything like it during my time supporting Arsenal.” Ben’s dad, John, told me.
“We used to play The Wonder of You by Elvis before games, but it never sounded as it does now”.
The high fives, hugs with individuals you wouldn’t know without football is all apart of the DNA of supporting a football club with the roar of ‘Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal’ when the team scored, filling the atmosphere of the Emirates Stadium.
The tribalism of supporting a club, learning the songs, the oos and ahhs of a close chance is something that every football fan will understand regardless of the team.
Leaving the ground at full time didn’t mean the celebrations were over. The chants still echoed as people dissected the game with their opinions as they began the commute back home.
“Even though the actual game is over, you can spend your entire week speaking about this game until the next one”.
Ben told me this is the type of hold that football can have on an individual, in a good and bad way.
As we walked away from the stadium, the light of the ground still shone through the gaps of buildings.
For many fans, before starting the trip home, a post – match pint is a regular occurrence, with a high probability that, in the event of a win, more than one pint is consumed.
For Arsenal fans, the main hub for matchday drinking is The Tollington Arms.
Located 0.3 miles and a five-minute walk from the Emirates, the pub has hosted fans for many years.
The atmosphere when we entered was capturing. Despite being well past 10PM, fans were still in full voice as they drank pint after pint and watched Sky Sports on televisions and figuring out the latest they can leave before they’d miss the last train.
“After a win, especially a big game, this place can be rammed, to the point where the line will curve around the street outside.”
But luckily for Ben and me, this wasn’t an issue as we enjoyed our shockingly well – priced pint, a surprise as we were in London, which was perfectly poured as we could hear peoples unique opinions on the same game, we had all just watched.
Throughout this, I followed Ben’s movements for a typical matchday, to showcase his day but I wanted to tell his story before showing who Ben was.
Donning an Arsenal scarf, Ben is one of my closest friends who I met through supporting Arsenal funnily enough.
If you go back through the pictures, you might notice Ben is featuring in a few too.
Football can be a connection and disconnection device, connecting individuals due to their love for the sport as they disconnect from life outside of the stadium for 90 minutes.
Everyone may share similarities and have glaring differences to Ben’s matchday, but one thing is certain.
The love for the beautiful game.
Photographic Journalism 
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