Guest Blogger Deep Down South - Aaron

Hi guys, my name is Aaron, aka 'Jackbroni'.

I’m the guest-blogger for this week and like every one of you sitting in front of your monitor reading at my blog article, I’m also an avid Gooner. I was invited by SgGooner to write this article to tell you guys how it is like, staying 'Down Under' in Australia, where cricket and rugby predominates football. Like in the US, they have a different interpretation to the term 'football' and when you try to use this term to chat up with any of the Aussies, it ALWAYS occurs to them that you are referring to the game played with 18 people in each team and the players use hands and legs to kick the spheroid ball between the big tall posts.

Let me start by telling you more about myself...

I come from a family in which my fellow uncles were avid football fans and also decent players themselves back in their secondary school days, representing their school (Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary). My dad is a Man Yoo fan through & through and he had his chances in trying to convert me to a devil too but my passion for The Beautiful Game did not come until when I was in the polytechnic. Not that I did not appreciate football before, I actually supported the past Singapore national heroes like Fandi Ahmad, Lim Tong Hai and Abbas Saad when they went on to win the famous Malaysia Cup.

That period of football crazy was pretty short-lived as my interest switched to basketball and that pulled me away for a pretty long time, until one fine Saturday night, when the very sublime Arsenal brand of football caught my eye while I was browsing through the SCV sports channel. I can’t remember who the opponents were, but a very typical Henry goal (where he springs the offside trap, outruns every damn defender, rounds the keeper and slots home using the strength of a 7-yr-old kid) rekindled my passion for football. Since then, I’ve been a weekend football addict that will do anything to feast my eyes on EPL action, and in particular, the Gunners.

My time in polytechnic was all about grabbing the Newpaper everyday to read up on Arsenal news and thrashing every single team on my PS2 with the Gunners. (yes, I’m the type that would thrash Man Utd in my PS2 first before the real match begins on Sat) My time in the army did not prevent me from watching Arsenal's live matches too as I managed to catch all of Arsenal's midweek Champions League action (including the final in Paris).

However, after traveling for 7000km 'Down Under' to this captain cook – founded Australia, I realized that it is the almost microscopic traces of EPL action here that makes me feel uncomfortable. Almost everyday, walking past the pubs, I see their television broadcasting either rugby or cricket (with the exception of tennis or the Socceroos occasionally).

As I began to wonder if I would ever meet an Australian Gooner in my 2 years here, I surprisingly met one - in the form of my course advisor. He is a real fanatic and has this 'Arsenal shrine' in his office where he collects and displays all of the old arsenal newspaper articles, merchandises and figurines he has collected over the years. He even subscribed to ATVO and watches 'live' matches at home. Most of the time when I see him our topic would be more about Arsenal instead of academic work.

As for how I was able to catch my weekly dosage of EPL medication for my addiction, I must say I was fortunate enough to be able to find a website that allows me to catch them all with a cheap one-time fee and after clicking the button 'PAY', I’ve been able to catch every Arsenal game to date. (except for the derby match when Arsenal won 3-1)

I've not been to the Liz to catch an Arsenal game yet, hopefully, when I return back to Singapore in December for a brief stay, I would be able to join the magnificent dudes in Arsenal Singapore and along with SgGooner, to cheer on our favourite Gunners!

Thumbs up for the young Gunners for winning the derby in style!

Cheers!