Ask most Arsenal fans for a highlight of the recently ended season and they’ll likely say Reiss Nelson’s late, late comeback winner against Bournemouth — or perhaps the victories over Spurs. But as for the three-nil defeat to Brighton in early May that all but ended the club’s title aspirations, most will want to consign it to the dustbin, never to be mentioned again. Most, but not all.
Because for Jewish Arsenal supporters — or the Jewish Gooners as we are now collectively known — that afternoon marked the start of something both significant and very special.
As 60,000 fans made their way to the Emirates for that season-defining match, around 100 gathered at the adjoining Highbury House to launch the Jewish Gooners, the newest of Arsenal’s many official supporters' clubs. With limited places available, getting a ticket for this pre-match reception was almost as difficult as securing one for the game itself.
Those who did manage to gain admittance were joined by club figures including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord John Mann. And, of course, there was food. Lots of kosher food. There can’t be many supporters clubs that have a designated kiddush officer on their organising committees.
Jewish Gooners was the brainchild of Sami Steinbock, a lifelong fan who wanted to ensure that our community’s long association with the Arsenal was ingrained in the club’s culture. The location of Highbury Stadium, our home ground until the move in 2006, was in the heart of the once very Jewish Finsbury Park.
Many old supporters recall attending the local synagogue in the morning before sneaking off to their spiritual home in the afternoon. Arsenal’s first-ever game under floodlights was a friendly against Hapoel Tel Aviv in September 1951 (6-1 to the Arsenal if you’re asking).
According to the Jewish Museum’s Four Four Jew exhibition, Arsenal were the first team to rearrange a fixture to accommodate Rosh Hashanah. Off the pitch, there have been plenty of prominent Jews at the club. David Dein’s tenure as vice-chair saw the appointment of Arsene Wenger and the emergence of the modern Arsenal.
The late Danny Fiszman was the driving force behind the redevelopment of Ashburton Grove in order to build the new stadium in the early 2000s. Behind the scenes, Alan Sefton established Arsenal in the Community, ensuring the club operated with a social conscience, using football as a force for good. In short, there’s more than one “Jewish club” in London.
For this Jewish Arsenal fan, the launch allowed me to live out a childhood dream and walk up the tunnel on match day onto the famous pitch. Sadly not to play (although I might not have fared much worse on the day) but to give an interview to the live pre-match programme on arsenal.com. And behind me, affixed to the hoardings on the East Upper Stand, was our newly placed Jewish Gooners banner.
There are many supporters' club signs around the stadium. But it wasn’t until we saw our own in place that we appreciated it was more than just a printed piece of fabric. It gave us a sense of belonging. In many ways, it was the coming together of the two communities that we are invested in — the wider Jewish community and, of course, the Arsenal community.
With Spurs fans persisting in calling themselves the Y-word and rare incidents of antisemitism persisting, we need to do whatever we can to stop the antisemitism that this sadly but somewhat inevitably provokes.
On an average match day, over 1 per cent of UK Jewry will be at the Emirates. Our banner, our supporters club, is not there to help us stand out. It’s there to show that being Jewish and being an Arsenal fan is entirely normal.
Barry Frankfurt is an Arsenal season ticket-holder and Jewish Gooner
Jewish Gooners is on social media @jewishgooners
