Bangladesh may not be a dominant force in world football, but the beautiful game is still dear to the hearts of Bangladeshis. This love for football is not limited to just international football. There is also a growing community of European club football fans in the country. Some of them have gone the extra mile and earned the seal of being an official fan group. In this series, Prothom Alo tells the stories of these fan clubs. In the second instalment, we tell the story of Arsenal Bangladesh.
All or Nothing, a documentary series from Amazon Prime, released its newest season on 4 August. This time, they chronicled the 2021-22 season of the North London club, Arsenal FC.
For Bangladeshi fans watching the series, there was a pleasant surprise in store. In the second episode of the show, for a few seconds, a banner named, ‘Arsenal Bangladesh’ could be seen in the stands of the Emirates Stadium during an Arsenal FC match. Below that name was the Bangla translation of Arsenal’s motto, Victoria Concordia Crescit, a Latin phrase which means ‘Victory through harmony.’
Many Bangladeshis must have paused and then rewind those few seconds to make sure their eyes didn’t deceive them. But after seeing the Bangla words and the word Bangladesh in the banner, a couple of questions must have naturally popped into their minds.
What in the world is this ‘Arsenal Bangladesh’ and why is its banner at the Emirates Stadium?
Let’s start with the first question. ‘Arsenal Bangladesh’ is the one and only official supporters group of Arsenal FC in Bangladesh. It achieved its official status almost nine years back and is the second oldest supporters' group of an English club in Bangladesh.
As for the second question, Arsenal FC allows fan clubs from across the world to hang their banners on the balcony of the Emirates stands. Still, getting the Arsenal Bangladesh banner there was no mean feat, as Arsenal FC has fan clubs all across the globe, all of who would love to place their banner at the venue.
Arsenal Bangladesh is one of the lucky few to secure a place. The banner is now at the venue permanently, symbolising the Bangladeshi fandom of the club.
“For me, as a member of Arsenal Bangladesh, seeing our banner at the Emirates Stadium is one of the most rewarding things ever. Our member Asad Zaman was the man behind it. He single-handedly made it possible,” said Adil Mahmud, the founder of Arsenal Bangladesh.
Although it became an official supporters group in 2013, the journey of Arsenal Bangladesh began in 2008.
At that time, Facebook was just starting to gain popularity in Bangladesh and football fan groups were few in number.
So when Adil, who was studying at Dhanmondi Government Boys’ High School in the capital, discovered ‘Arsenal for Life’, a Facebook group run by Bangladeshi Arsenal FC fans, he was quick to join.
“Our journey began on 24 February 2008. On that day, Monsur Ahmed Mishu and Annany Rahman created the ‘Arsenal for Life’ group. I wasn’t a part of the group from the start. I joined a bit later,” said Adil.
Adil’s love for Arsenal FC and ‘Arsenal for Life’ only grew greater with time. By 2012, ‘Arsenal for Life’ had become more than a Facebook group. They had already held their first ever get-together at the Shawarma House restaurant in Dhaka. The time was right for the group to take the next step, attaining official status from Arsenal FC.
It was a bold step, also a complete shot in the dark. And the one to take that leap of faith was Adil, unbeknownst to his fellow members.
“I was one of the younger members of the group. Seniors like Monsur bhai, Annany bhai, Minhaz Ahmed bhai, and Tanvir Ferdous bhai were leading the group. Without telling anyone, I just sent an email to Arsenal, applying to become an official supporters club,” said Adil, who is currently working as a senior engineer at Ulkasemi Limited in Toronto, Canada.
“It took some time, but Arsenal FC responded. The response from their end was positive. They also appreciated us approaching them like this. After getting a positive response I informed others. They were all thrilled by the news,” he added.
Before getting the official stamp from Arsenal FC, they had to fulfil some criteria. Firstly, they needed to have a certain number of fans in the group and register them on a yearly basis. They were also instructed to reach out and collaborate with all Arsenal FC fans in Bangladesh.
“After fulfilling their criteria, we finally became an official supporters club on 9 September 2013. We are the second supporters club to get official recognition in Bangladesh. But we tried to make our launch a memorable one, that’s why we opened the page, ‘Arsenal Bangladesh’ on the 16th December,” Adil said.
The official stamp bolstered the group activities. The group began hosting screenings in restaurants for its members more regularly. The screenings were not only happening in Dhaka. Chattogram and Sylhet Gooners also got to watch Arsenal play on the big screen together.
Arsenal Bangladesh also has a football team of its own since 2014. The team is comprised of members of the group and has taken part in different amateur competitions.
“Arsenal Bangladesh has a football team and we try to play on a regular basis. We went to a few supporters club tournaments in the last nine years. We are still open to participating in such tournaments,” Adil said.
On 5 April 2014, Arsenal Bangladesh participated in ‘Be a Gunner Be a Runner’, Arsenal FC’s charity fun run event.
“‘Be a Gunner Be a runner’ is an exclusive Arsenal charity that was organised by Arsenal all over the world. Numbers for the runners were sent by Arsenal FC. We printed those and ran 6.4km in Gulshan Society Park opposite the Police plaza. This happened in 2014.
“Many Bangladeshi Gooners registered for that event and we tried to distribute water, food and t-shirts to the participants. Generally, we try to participate actively with Arsenal,” Adil said.
In 2016, they took the next step by launching Arsenal Bangladesh membership cards.
“Our members can register and obtain the membership card for a fee. With the card, we provide a bunch of Arsenal-related goodies. The membership card holders also get discounts in some restaurants and retail shops,” Adil informed.
They held their first Membership Pack Launch event on 6 October 2019, in Dhaka.
“I, Rahat Ahmed and Mushrif Ahmed Omi worked tirelessly to deliver the package to the group members,” said Adil.
In the launching event, they also gave their members the gifts Arsenal FC had sent them on the occasion of the club winning the FA Cup in the 2016-17 season.
It was not the only time Arsenal FC showed their appreciation for the Bangladeshi Gooners. In October 2019, the then club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sent a special video message, thanking the Bangladeshi fans for their support.
Arsenal Bangladesh also holds Fantasy Premier League competitions, FIFA contests, and football tournaments among its members. They also hold regular podcasts in their group, which are organised by members Yamen Haque and Abir Rezwan Shuvo.
Arsenal Bangladesh page currently has a followership of 13,915. The official Facebook group got renamed ‘Arsenal for Life (Official Group of Arsenal Bangladesh)’ in October 2019 and currently has 4.4 thousand diehard Arsenal fans.
Along with founder Adil Mahmud, Mushrif Ahmed Omi, Kaiser Ahmed Nehal and Yamen Haque are running this fan group.
Since Arsenal Bangladesh’s formation, Arsenal FC has had some brief trysts with success, with three FA Cup and four FA Community Shield wins. But the once ‘Invincibles’ have fallen from their grace.
The North London club, who have been champions of England 13 times, are the third most successful football club in England behind Manchester United and Liverpool.
But since the 2015-16 season, the North London club have not even finished in the top four of the league, and subsequently have been left out of the biggest European club football competition, the UEFA Champions League, for the sixth year running.
Mikel Arteta’s men came close to returning to the top 4 in the 2021-2022 season, but costly defeats against teams like Brighton and New Castle United cost them as they finished fifth, two points behind North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal have been proactive in this year’s summer window, roping in Manchester City players Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinnchenko, midfielder Fabio Viera from Portuguese club FC Porto and Brazillian forward Marquinhos from Sao Paolo.
With the reinforcements, Arsenal enjoyed a very successful preseason, winning convincingly against teams like Chelsea and Sevilla. Jesus was in red hot form, scoring seven goals in five matches.
“If Arsenal had made it to the Champions League, then we would’ve attracted better players and the equation would have been a lot different. But still, we have signed proven Premier League players. Things are improving in the club, the team is playing better. There is a process in place under Arteta,” said Adil Mahmud.
“New signings Jesus and Zinchenko are proven Premier League performers. They have done well in the pre-season and we hope they will perform well in the season,” he added.
Arsenal FC has begun the 2022-23 Premier League season on the right foot, with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on 6 August.
Arsenal FC fans in Bangladesh are holding out hope for a better season with a return to the top 4 and one or two domestic cups. But they are also being realistic with their chances against more settled and stronger teams.
“We have the same expectations as last season, finishing in the top four. We would also like to play the final in at least one domestic competition and in the Europa League.
“It will be difficult to compete for the FA Cup as there are other very strong teams like Manchester City and Liverpool. But we will give them a fight for the title,” Adil said.