One kick in the gut I’m prepared to take

Dear Arsene

It was, by and large, a very happy union. I have been an Arsenal fan for longer than I can remember and our relationship in the 22 years you were at the helm of the club was more good than bad. It lasted longer than any of my three marriages, the longest of which was 14 years (and another four years during which we lived together).

Like in my first marriage, to the mother of my three children, things were rosy in your early days at Arsenal. The missus and I were young and in love and we built a home with one, then two and then three beautiful girls. Thinking back, we drifted through life in something of a haze, enveloped by the love we had for each other and our offspring.

Your arrival at the club in 1996 was similar, from what I remember. I had no confidence in Bruce Rioch and was thrilled to hear he would be replaced by a little-known Frenchman who had had spells with Nancy and Monaco in France and Grampus Eight in Japan. Surely anyone was better than Rioch.

As it was, you only took a season to find your feet and then steered the club to the league and FA Cup double in 1997/98. I fell instantly in love with you. That adoration grew as time progressed …

Guy Hawthorne

in 2001/02 you did it again, taking Arsenal to another double. The FA Cup followed in 2002/03 before that incredible run the next season when the side went unbeaten on its way to the title. The Invincibles, they were dubbed, and that’s how I felt with my personal life at an all-time high. Another FA Cup win came the next season, after which the cracks started to ap- pear.

Arsenal then went 10 years without picking up a trophy and my personal life reflected their lack of success. I got divorced, remarried and got divorced again (seven weeks after tying the knot) and remarried and got divorced for a third time.

Fast forward to 2013/14 and I had just moved in with my current better half, a fantastic woman who turned my life around. Similarly, Arsenal got back on the winning trail with another FA Cup victory and followed it up by retaining it in 2014/15.

I am still ecstatically happy in my current relationship, but things did begin to sour between you and I. I remember saying last season that I felt you had given your best years to the club but it was time for a change, some fresh thinking to build on the fantastic foundation you had laid. I said the same this season, a number of times, but when you finally went public with your decision to quit, it was like a kick in the gut. Not dissimilar, in fact, to the feeling after each of my divorces.

I don’t miss any of my ex-wives. In fact, I’m happy I’m out of those marriages. But despite all the heartaches of the past couple of seasons, I will miss you. Thank you, Mr Wenger, for the memories, the good of which far outweigh the bad.