A typical Arsenal match day preparation includes,

1. Getting the TV booked. Seriously, if ever a third world war takes place which originates from Karachi, Pakistan, ignore whatever insightful reasons that newspapers publish and remember, it was all over a TV in the Jafri household. Early kick offs on a Saturday and late kick offs on Weekdays are perfectly fine, since they correspond to 5:00 in the evening and 12:00 in the night respectively, thus ensuring an empty TV Lounge. Problems arise at the 3’0 clock kick offs, which means 8:00 over here, which means Prime Time, which means my mother watching the TV. It usually ends up with us sharing the remote, with me watching the Arsenal match during commercials. Long live the commercials.

2. Arranging back up. Electricity is a privilege and thanks largely to the extended network of friends that I enjoy in the locality, I can always count on ending up at a friends house shouting Arsenal Arsenal at the top of my voice in case of a black out.

3. If it’s a derby match, or a cup match, then I have to make preparations for friends coming over. The fact that only two are Arsenal supporters and the rest are Manshitter fans also means a whole new list of taunts which I’ll write about someday.

And what day of mine would be complete without reading the Arseblog? It’s fuckin’ excellent, I tell ya!

Cheers.

Nabeel Jafri.

The Barclays Premier League enjoys a growing reputation within Pakistan. The last five years have seen an amazing increase in the popularity of football and the consequent rise in the number of amateur football clubs. This infatuation can be attributed to the easy availability of both cable and the glamorous insight into the world of football.

 I, for example, have supported Arsenal for almost seven years now. This is a result of nothing more than the fact that the first team I ever won a FIFA 2002 match with was Arsenal. Henry, Bergkamp, Viera and Adams were nothing more than fictional players for me until I saw them in a promotional video on ESPN-Star Sports in Dec 2001. I celebrated the League win of 2002 alone. I boasted about the The Invincible’s to disinterested friends. When Arsenal beat ManshitterUtd in the FA Cup of 2005, I had a couple of friends to taunt.

 Overnight, it seemed in August 2006, many became addicted to EPL. Almost every morning would start off with discussions about the EPL, the regular taunts and the showing off of newly acquired knowledge about the EPL history through Google.

 Like they say nothing would ever be the same again.

 Manshitter enjoys the most support with almost every second football addict fantasizing about Diveriano Ronaldo and Disdain Rooney. They enjoy having a go at Arsenal fans at almost every opportunity present.

 Arsenal fans number significantly less, as was witnessed by the 1:14 ratio at the recent public airing of the match at Old Trafford. Oh, and Arseblogger makes my morning every single day.

 Chelsea fans have risen significantly. Who says money can’t buy loyalty? Chelsea fans are often seen taking on both Arsenal and Manshitter fans.

 Liverpool fans abound. They can be shut up with two words though – Big Three.

 Till the next post, folks, enjoy.

Nabeel Jafri.