The memories of going to Arsenal for the first time are some of the most special. I am of an age that The Emirates was my first in real-life experience of the club. The regretful pain that Highbury was never somewhere I got to experience will affect me for eternity.
However, it is people who make the place and despite Arsenal’s new ground’s struggles to generate the atmosphere, I have witnessed some truly brilliant moments in our modern cauldron of red and white. Fast forward to this season and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal has begun to revitalise the connection between the players, performance and supporters in the stands.
The Emirates atmosphere has never been so electric. Part of what makes this club so special is when the noise from the fans echoes around and the chants for players past and present, the manager and the club get exponentially louder as more join in.
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However, there is something artificial at times when either travelling to different grounds or watching other British sides on the tele and the same tunes that the words of your club cling to suddenly have a different chorus of words. Everton fans singing, “We are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.” This was always one that bothered me, completely irrationally.
But it is not like Arsenal own these specific songs and most of the time they’re based on existing melodies. However, that could be about to change thanks to a man named Louis Dunford.
Dunford has released a song this year called 'The Angel' which centres around the happenings of life in north London. In a promotional video, he speaks about his hope that fans who have come to see his shows will sing along, likening the chorus to that of a football chant.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever played it since it's been released to a crowd of north Londoners. So, hopefully, they sing along. It’s kind of why I wrote the chorus, it’s kind of football chanty, do you know what I mean? It would be great if they all sing along with me," he says.
Oh, and did they? The video posted on Dunford’s Twitter shows the crowd passionately singing with him in what looked quite the moment for the young singer.
However, Arsenal Twitter has now got hold of the video and the video has been seen by more than 400,000 people. It has captured the hearts of the fan base and petitions for it to be played at the Emirates have begun. Arseblog wrote brilliantly this morning about how it had hit a chord with him.
Dunford himself has been having discussions about even changing the lyrics of the chorus to make it more attached to the club. From a personal perspective, I wouldn’t change it. I don’t think it necessarily needs the club’s name for it to feel like an Arsenal anthem.
In fact, there is a semblance of those that know, know, about it. Know what I mean?
It is a brilliant piece of songwriting and we wish Louis the absolute best in his push to see it become part of the matchday experience. It will be quite the moment if it comes to fruition.
