-
1968
parents separate, this is important because he now must deal with family problems. The divorce also pushes him to do something to prevent him thinking about the divorce all that much -
1968
dad asks him If he wants to go to a football match. This is Important because this will be his first game and create his love for football and Arsenal. -
1969
Nick misses the opening game Arsenal v Everton because he is on scout’s camp. He gets homesick and his father comes to talk to him. When they find out that Arsenal lost his dad agrees to take him home. This is a important moment in his life because at this point his obsession is taking shape. Around this moment he begins to feel the teams up and downs as his own. -
1972
He sees a man dying. This moment is important because brings death to him. He realises that as he gets older and eventually dies that he does not want to die mid-season. -
1972
After watching a replay he learns that he is on camera. At this point in time he sees how obsessed he is, he understands that obsessions are not fun. This is a less important moment in his life but still important because he now really sees how obsessed he has become. -
1972
On May 5th of 1972 Nick experiences his first cup final and is really disappointed that Arsenal does not win. He wonders if and how he could survive that again. This is important because this is foreshadowing to all the cups that Arsenal is going to lose as he is growing up. -
1972
He sees a man dying. This moment is important because brings death to him. He realises that as he gets older and eventually dies that he does not want to die mid-season. -
1972
Now that he is fifteen he feels that he needs to “graduate” to the north bank, where all the adults stand. The fact that this is so important to him while it seems almost trivial is significant because it shows that football has become more important to him as he gets older. -
1975
Nick stops going to football games because he becomes interested in girls. When his uncle asks him to go to a Arsenal game, Nick feels that he is disconnected with this game. This is important because at this point in his life Nick realises that his time of loving football is over, for at least a period. -
1976
after about a year of not following football that much Nick returns when a new manager takes over. The only reason that this is important is because it marks the end of not following football. -
1977
Nick applies to Cambridge University and attends some games of Cambridge United, he finds it fascinating. The reason that this is an important experience for him is that because he has always cheered for Arsenal he had not realized that you can also cheer for other teams and that is what he starts doing. -
1977
Nick gets his first real girlfriend. This moment is significant in his life because this is the first time that Nick has really loved someone else than his family -
1978
During the game Nick’s girlfriend faints, he does nothing and continues watching the game. Only after the game has ended he feels bad about it and wonders what kind of man football has turned him into. The reason that this a pivotal moment in his life is because he begins to understand that his obsession is far from healthy and could hurt his relationship with other people. -
1979
Nick graduates collage but isn’t happy. He thinks that he would like to write for a living. When Arsenal makes it again in the FA Cup they finally win, He then becomes aware that that is what he wanted for all these years. This realization is very important because he finally gets what he wanted after all this time not knowing that that was what he wanted. -
1980
Arsenal loses two Cup Finals in a year and Nick vows that he will never let football rule his life as it did for so many years. This is a key revelation because as he gets older and wiser he begins to comprehend the amount of damage that his obsession did to him and others around him. -
1983
Nicks knows that part of the attraction to football is watching other people and their behavior, mostly mad. He is touched however when he goes to a non-league game and sees that the supporters and the team is friendly and accessible. The experience lets Nick see that football does not have to be toxic like it is with the Arsenal fans. -
1983
Nick quits his job as a teacher to become a writer at the same time that Charlie Nicholas joins Arsenal. Nicks failures and success seen to mirror that of Charlie. They both fail. This moment is notable because he quits his job and the something comes back. The something that comes back is the fact that Nicks ups/downs follow that of Arsenal or at least a player of Arsenal. He hasn’t had this for years but it shows up again out of nowhere. -
May 29 1985 part 1
After his failure to become a successful writer Nick teaches again. This time he is in London teaching a foreign language class to some Italians. They decide to watch the Liverpool Juventus game in Heysel, Belgium. The English supporters rush to the Italians, the Italians not knowing that this is an English tradition are a bit frightened. Several people are crushed to death when a wall collapses on top of them. -
May 29 1985 part 2
After the accident Nick feels ashamed. He had seen football as almost transcendental, but after this tragedy he has lost this feeling. This is a huge moment in his life because the tragedy changed him in an important way. It made him lose a belief he had held for a long time about football, and is even ashamed that this was a possibility. -
1987
At the Arsenal v Liverpool game of 87 Nick witnesses a lot of racial comments being made. He does not mind fans cursing each other as long as it is not racist. He wishes that players fans and clubs tried to do more to stop racist comments. This development in his character shows that even though his obsession with football is not healthy/rational he at least understands that racism in any context is bad. -
1987
Nick goes to see a psychiatrist because he is frustrated that he cannot find a job. After a few months he goes into a deep depression. He is very disturbed by all the racial slurs that are coming out of fans mouths. Arsenal wins a semifinal, this helps him get out of the depressive downwards spiral. This again shows that Arsenal is becoming his life again as the only way he could get out of his depression is by Arsenal winning a big enough game to lift his spirits up. -
1989
At the Arsenal Newcastle game the stadium gives way. Ninety Liverpool fans die and the stadiums are replaced with all-seater stadiums. This is a important event because at this point Nick realises that he has a sentimental value to the old stadiums but understands that the fan’s safety has to come first. The reason for this realization is that Nick can finally look critically at football and why some decisions are made. -
1991
Nick is hesitant and afraid to write about his obsession of football, but he embraces the misery that football causes and decides that he must write about it. He also feels as if he has come full circle because he is now going again to Arsenal games.