Arsenal fans, now is the time to show your support

I did not see Arsenal‘s defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup last Saturday.

Okay, that’s a lie…I did not see most of it. As providence would have it, however, I switched on the TV just in time to watch Mikel Arteta lash the ball against the side netting in the 94th minute. Fully expecting the ball to go in, I was shocked – as I am sure some, if not most, of you were – to see the scoreline read Arsenal 0-1 Blackburn.

After watching a re-run of the game the next morning, concentrating largely on what Arsenal did and did not do throughout the game while my oatmeal grew cold in the corner, I was sorry to see the Gunners slump to a disappointing defeat at home. Their hopes of ending that much-hyped eight-year trophy drought took another hit, as Colin Kazim-Richards’ scuffed effort bobbled in off the post.

But as the Emirates booed in unison at the final whistle, what was even more disappointing was the insults that were being hurled at Gervinho, Abou Diaby, Wojciech Szczesny, Olivier Giroud and Tomas Rosicky.

It’s not the insults in particular I am speaking about, but their racist and xenophobic intonations.

Gervinho has not been a fan favourite for the Gunner faithful since his arrival from Lille a season and a half ago. Nobody says it better than a French scout, who was interviewed in the Sabotage Times soon after the Ivory Coast international’s move to Arsenal:

“He can be frustrating. His decision-making occasionally lets him down, and he does have that ability to wind fans up with his performances.”

Gervinho spurning an excellent opportunity midway through the first half fueled the fires of the boo-boys in the ground to turn on one of their own. ‘Go back to Africa’ was just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of the hate that he received.

His anguish was clear, with him sinking to his knees, looking to the heavens in abject reflection of what he should (or not) have done.

But the hate came.

Not in the form of your usual ‘you suck’ chants that were the de facto accompaniment to Kurt Angle taking to the ring in the WWE. No, this was vile diatribe that stemmed from Gervinho’s African roots. So hateful was what the Gooners said, that it does not deserve mention on this site.

The same bile was also flung at Abou Diaby, who was having an off-day in midfield as he tried to influence proceedings in the middle of the park. He too was subjected to racist taunts and insults.

Wojciech Szczesny and Tomas Rosicky, two stalwarts at Ashburton Grove, were subjected to abuse that stemmed from their Eastern European nationalities. Poland goalkeeper Szczesny has many compatriots who now live and work in England, but have stretched public services in some areas to the limit because of the mass numbers in which they have come into the nation.

It is the same with Czech Republic skipper Rosicky, firmly a fan favourite in some parts of the Emirates Stadium crowd. With the British economy beleaguered and far from safe, it is quite obvious that a certain section of the populace will blame, as Ross Geller from Friends puts it, “them foreigners coming in and stealing all our jobs.”

What was most surprising – if all of this wasn’t surprising enough – was the vitriol directed at Olivier Giroud. A constant presence both among the goals and on the team sheet, Giroud was starved of service last night as a he cut a frustrated figure up front. That, however, is still no justification for slagging him off.

Everybody talks of how important Arsenal’s clash with Bayern Munich in tomorrow’s Champions League game is. Well, maybe it’s time certain sections of the fans took a leaf out of their Bavarian counterparts’ books.

The only similarity Bayern have with the Nazi party is that they both had roots in Munich. That aside, Bayern Munich have always adopted a very strict, very firm anti-Nazi policy since their inception.

Throughout the Holocaust, Bayern’s players and staff constantly defied Hitler’s tyrannical regime. Before the Second World War, Bayern was very much a Jewish club, run by a Jewish President and managed by a Jewish trainer.

The team, mockingly called the Judenklub because of the same, have now decided to forever honour their past by dedicating a place to their heritage in the Erlebniswelt museum which they opened this year in their Arena.

Maybe it’s time that the section of fans that was hurling racist abuses at Gervinho and Co. realised their history as well.

Less than a decade ago, did Arsenal not go 49 games unbeaten with a team that contained one German, one Swede, one Ivorian, three Englishmen (two of whom were non-white), three Frenchmen (again, two of whom were non-white), a Brazilian and a Dutchman?

Did a significant portion of that team also not make it to the Champions League final two years on?

This section of fans that did abuse the Arsenal team on racist grounds is very, very small, but that small-minded, small section of people is all it takes to ruin the game for everybody.

Arsenal have always been proud of their status as a club doing things the right way, ensconced in hallowed tradition, and have always been at the forefront of British multiculturalism. Not for nothing did former French Premier Nicolas Sarkozy call the Emirates Stadium “a shining example of Anglo-French cooperation.”

What is necessary now for fans is to get behind the team, so that they can deliver the results when they matter most.

Remember Inter in 2003?

Remember Real Madrid in 2006?

Remember Barcelona in 2011?

Remember AC Milan last year?

Get behind the team so that Arsenal can remember Bayern in 2013.