Arsenal fans don dey travel again, this time to Budapest, for di club second Champions League final. Twenty years don pass since di nightmare for Paris, when Jens Lehmann bin see red card after just 18 minutes for di 2006 final against Barcelona for Stade de France. Since dat time, di fans hearts don dey break small.
For 2006, all tings bin look good. Di Invincibles of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires don make English football history two years before. Young stars like Ashley Cole and Cesc Fàbregas dey rise, and Arsène Wenger dey find obscure talent like Kolo Touré, Robin van Persie and Gaël Clichy. Di club dey ready to move to Emirates Stadium, wey suppose help dem compete with Manchester United for di next 20 years. All dem need na to win Champions League to become global force.
But dat day for Paris remain painful. Keith Edelman, di former managing director, talk say dem feel like dem bin rob. Di referee, Terje Hauge, even apologise to Arsenal delegation, because e fit don play advantage as Ludovic Giuly score from di loose ball after Lehmann collision with Samuel Eto’o. Arsenal would don dey 1-0 down, but at least with 11 men. Instead, dem still lead through Sol Campbell, but Eto’o equalise for 76 minutes and Juliano Belletti score winner four minutes later.
Prescient fans fit don know say Wenger era don peak and dey come down. Vieira don leave for Juventus di year before, Pires dey play im last match, Bergkamp dey on bench for im last match too. Henry go join Barcelona one year later. Di new stadium supposed to secure future, but e come just as football finance explode with Russian oligarch for Chelsea and Sheikh Mansour for Manchester City. Even though bond issue for 2006 reduce interest payments, di new ground make Arsenal no competitive.
Edelman tok say dem no get luxury of funding; dem dey beg and borrow to tread water. Di club get £400m debt wey dey like albatross. Dem raise start-up cash through £47m deal with Granada for 10% of di club and 50% of internet rights, wey be peak dotcom bubble deal. Granada buy 50% of nothing, e be amazing deal. But banks no dey keen to lend to football clubs. Dem pitch to 10 banks, all di credit committees say no. Eventually, Nike pay £140m for 10-year shirt deal and Emirates pay £100m for naming rights and shirt sponsorship, but di club dey mortgage future revenues. Barclays loan £120m. E be white knuckle ride.
Arsenal no fit keep up. Dem quibble over £5,000-a-week difference for Cole contract, e leave for Chelsea. City take Touré and Clichy, later Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor. Wenger no win trophy between 2005 and 2014, lose Van Persie to Manchester United and Fàbregas to Barcelona. Di roots of Barcelona revival dey Paris, with Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta on bench, though one 18-year-old, Lionel Messi, sulk because e no make squad.
Football dey move to era of sporting directors and analytics. Edelman talk say Arsène no fit do all transfers alone without David Dein. Dein acrimonious departure for 2007 precipitate stagnant years. Edelman feel say di heavy lifting don do for stadium, but di desperation to bridge funding gap cause fracture of Arsenal board. Dein bin fire for attempting to bring US money, specifically Stan Kroenke. Once Dein go, di board see wisdom of im thinking and pave way for today Arsenal with Stan and Josh Kroenke. Even so, di route back to summit long and arduous.
Fittingly, Mikel Arteta provide significant staging post by lifting FA Cup for 2014 as captain. Yet di pain of 2006 and subsequent decline remain raw even 20 years on. Now, finally, Arteta fit mend hearts broken for Paris.
