Three sunny months of sporting joy

Just over a year ago, Crystal Palace won the FA Cup at Wembley, beating Manchester City by a goal to nil, a result enjoyed by every football fan who doesn’t support Manchester City, one of the richest clubs in the world, and still under suspicion of achieving their Premier League domination through playing fast and loose with Financial Fair Play rules. (If you are not familiar with the story, simply Google “115 charges”.) It was Crystal Palace’s first-ever trophy, they were the underdogs, they slayed a baddy, the game was packed with incident and excitement, and the winning goal was scored by Eberechi Eze, a loveable, joyful player with an infectious style and smile, and who was transferred to Arsenal a few weeks later.

My youngest son, who, like the rest of the family, is a devoted Arsenal fan, responded to the result by getting on the tube with a couple of friends and travelling to south London, where Palace play, and celebrating in pubs with the delirious locals. At the time, his cheek made me laugh, but there’s a kind of twenty-first century wellness logic to it. If your own team isn’t providing you much happiness, just hop on a train and find it somewhere else. I hadn’t come across this idea before, but a year or so later it was everywhere - in north London, and then in many cities across North America. Maybe he invented it.

A year later, he could take part in celebrations that he had earned through years of heartbreak. Arsenal’s joyful May began with a three-nil win over Fulham at the Emirates. If you had told me at the beginning of the season that they would beat Fulham three-nil at home, I would have shrugged. Arsenal are better than Fulham, every year. If you had told me the result a couple of hours before kick-off, however, I’d have been amazed.