So, not that long ago, I used to advertise one of my rooms on Airbnb. I became a ‘super host’, don’t you know...

I enjoyed it. Not everyone is happy to welcome strangers into their homes (and similarly not everyone would consider staying when the owner is there). 1/

One of the best things was meeting different people. Mostly, I wouldn’t see much of them - they wanted to go see London and we’d see each other in the morning or maybe at the end of the day.

Some though were keen to chat, and it was always lovely. But there was one couple... 2/

...that travelled from China ONLY because of The Arsenal. They came to stay two or three times with me, each time they’d get tickets for home fixtures as well as away (they did a couple of Europa away trips).

They LOVED being in London and going to watch Arsenal. 3/

They also loved talking to me about living here, being so close to the stadium, the successes, Wenger, the players etc.

They were ALWAYS positive. Always. We’d lose - they’d immediately say “we are Arsenal, we’ll fight back”. 4/

During those last months of Wenger in charge and the toxicity around the club is when they stayed and honestly, it was so good to have them around. They were as passionate as any of us more local, but they didn’t go to games weekly, so maybe that helped them stay positive... 5/

They spent more than most of us though, flying from China twice a season ain’t cheap.

Anyway - I’m not making this about the support of faraway supporters vs local (but it’s an argument that can piss me off a lot). 6/

We won the cup (again (14)) and as with all success and some of the lows, I hear from Li.

So this little thread is just to take a minute to acknowledge what The Arsenal and football can do for us - it’s an anchor for us to connect with others and it does so, brilliantly 7/7 UTA

Yeah - as soon as I got her text message today and had a chat with her, I felt to share it. Love those guys - absolutely dedicated to Arsenal.