I will like to thank @scorumbounty firstly for yet another marvelous initiative and hopefully I win this time :) .

As soon as I read the details of the contest after it was published, I had this completed article in mind about Arsenal Football Club - my favorite club.

I love Arsenal Football Club. It's a deep seeded passion that as only grown over the years. So as I brainstormed through what exactly led me to Arsenal it clicked! Different people love their clubs just as much as I do Arsenal. Some might even be more invested in their clubs than I am. So I decided to talk to some of my closest friends and here's the result.

I will start off with a fellow Arsenal fan, Douglas. I have known Douglas since the late parts of 2012 when we both gained admission into the Medical School. We've clicked ever since on so many levels; games, movies and most importantly Arsenal. This is what Douglas had to say.

Douglas here, a look we both shared during our trophy-less run. It's usually smiles now!

"I’m Arsenal till I die, I’ve seen the memes for 9 years (the one with an elephant on a Sapling) before we scooped an Fa cup and emerged out of some chastity belt only Houdini could have unraveled. I couldn’t have lived with myself if Hull had done us in."

"I’m more of 'follow my father' sort of thing so he kind of infected me with the team. Their youthfulness, grace with the football, plain awesomeness and satisfaction that football was played whenever Arsenal stepped on the pitch was always stated with authority (Until we decided to hibernate for just 9 years to test loyalties or something)."


Douglas adds,

"My first match with them (Arsenal) was in 2003, Thierry converted me, good times….let’s see, we won in an Fa cup penalty shootout against Man U, did an unbeaten run, slapped back to earth with a thrashing by man U again, our champions league final made me know what pain was, humiliated by Messi more times than the particle count in a can of confetti, throwing rocks at an iconic Wenger, it’s been a ride ….I won’t get off. I even shudder at the thought of not choosing Arsenal as my career mode team in any FIFA game." (Wipes the cliched tears at narrating a heavily story laced with a meager ton of narcissism…sigh).
"Through it all, I will be a Gunner, in my bright red and whites, comforted with the echoes of Highbury and still searching for the reward that’s the Emirates. That time will surely come, even if I don’t get to see it. I’ll still be Arsenal till I die, a proud gunner, mumble “We love you Arsene Wenger” under my breath and probably wonder on every game weekend why my children are waving any other color than the red with the cannon in the middle.I’m Arsenal till I die…."
The meme Douglas spoke of. It typifies what the last few years have been like as an Arsenal fan

Adams is next up. I love Adams quite honestly, he is probably the friend most like me, character-wise. We have been friends since we were 6 or 7 years old, maybe younger! Adams gets football and is one person's opinion I value highly. Sadly for me though, Batman (Adams) is a Liverpool fan. This is his take: 

"In my early teens I’d been more of fan of footballers than any football team. I only supported Barcelona because the greatest player ever played for them. Everybody liked Ronaldinho. My fondness for Barcelona died in 2008, with his transfer to AC Milan."

Adams explains here the night he fell in love with Liverpool

"Besides Barcelona I’d been keen on Arsenal because I knew a lot of Arsenal fans and liked a lot of Arsenal players – Vieira and Henry especially. All of that changed however in April 2008 during the Champions League quarters that pitted Liverpool against Arsenal. The second leg, had by then been the most epic game I’d watched. Walcott dazzled, most memorably with his solo ran that led to an Arsenal goal, but Liverpool played some really amazing football. My heart was taken that night. I remember telling my best friend the following day I’d finally found a team, and it was Liverpool! That image is vivid."

Tebs (that's Adams' nickname) ends by saying

I’m a Liverpool fan, and that’s one of the few things everybody around absolutely knows about me. Throwing in an “I love Liverpool”, or “I live Liverpool”, would be pointless seeing that everybody is aware just how maniacally fanatic every declared Liverpool fan is. The fan base is severely infectious. Every single Liverpool fan I know is no different from the next in the passion they exude, and that’s more than evident in the fact that Liverpool FC continues to have one of the largest fan bases in the world despite having not enjoyed competitive success in a relatively long time. We’re close to that with Klopp. I became a fan when the bad rut begun, and the tides are changing quickly. There’s a storm coming.
You’ll Never Walk Alone! 

Next up is Odewale (nicknamed in High school after a fictional character from the iconic play, the gods are not to blame) another passionate Liverpool fan. One thing is for sure as Adams stated, passion runs in the veins of the Anfield faithful and Peter (Odewale) is the embodiment of who an Anfield faithful is. We have had arguments on football countless occasions and one admirable quality of his, is he never gives up or backs down.

Here is what he had for me,

The most ardent Liverpool fans will tell you supporting Liverpool is not like supporting any ordinary club, it is a way of life. The Reds have had plenty of ups and downs in their long history and we as their fans have lived every moment, be it the joy of conquering Europe or suffering a cruel heartbreak at the end of the season.No matter what happens in my life, the one constant that will remain is my love and passion for Liverpool. I can never exchange the Glorious History Liverpool has; that is winning 5 Champions Leagues together,footballing style and philosophy and above all the wonderful and exceptional European nights for anything in this world.History is a fact that many rivals tell us to forget, but I as a Liverpool fan, I'm extremely proud of our glorious history.With a new era beckoning, it seems like only a matter of time before we start creating history again.There's a golden sky at the end of the tunnel.
You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Next is Munkaila, a Madrista and part-time Arsenal sympathizer. Watching him celebrate their last 3 Champions League victories has been fascinating. He is one who exudes passion, especially with things concerning Real Madrid. Most times I feel he's blinded by the affection he has for the club. But that just points to his passion! 

Here's what he had for us,

Since we were kids, we've always looked forward to Monday nights due to Sports Highlight. One thing always stood out at the Tit Bits From Around The World session of the show, the team in white always won, so I was actually a fan of any team in white till I got to know my favorite player then, Zinedine Zidane, played for a certain team in white and then my love affair with Real Madrid was love at first sight.

"Since we were kids, we've always looked forward to Monday nights due to Sports Highlight. One thing always stood out at the Tit Bits From Around The World session of the show, the team in white always won, so I was actually a fan of any team in white till I got to know my favorite player then, Zinedine Zidane, played for a certain team in white and then my love affair with Real Madrid was love at first sight."

"I followed this team in white without much knowledge about Madridismo and how it feels to be a Madrid fan till we got to the banter yrs of the Ronaldinho era in Barca and the advent of satellite TV in Ghana."

Munkaila adds,

I got to watch the team play more and the more I watched, the more in love I fell. I knew there and then that I was following this team to the death. It's been a hell of a ride so far, from humiliating defeats especially to Barcelona, recurrent eliminations at the hands of Olympique Lyonnaise and to recent glories in the Champions League and domestic trophies

He concluded by saying.

Our love story so far has been Per Augusta, Ad Augusta - from trials to triumph.
Hopefully there will be many more triumphs ahead.
#HalaMadrid Y Nada Mas

I saved two Manchester United fans for last, both classmates of mine currently. Richmond and Adamu are two who have a eye for good football so it has always been quite shocking they support a club like Manchester United. Don't get me wrong, the club is great one, probably the greatest in England but Arsenal and many other teams have played more attractive football over the years. I just had to know why they have this unwavering support for Manchester United.

Richmond's words "GGMU echoed as I watched the flair with which the wingers destroyed and mesmerized opposition defence in what became our trademark counterattacking football! Was this a dream? It was by no means one! Reality at the Theatre of Dreams really made every team tremble and fear to dream... Years and years of consecutive success made us so drank and delusional that it seemed impossible to be without a major silverware for more than two seasons. No big names,no big signings, all u needed to know was believe that it wasn't over until it was past Fergie time!"


Richmond had this to add on their current state,

All hope seems lost now ,Fergie time has elapsed and will never return but I still remain a Red Devil who will brag about our unmatched treble in England! The Red Army is gathering, it won't be long before we hold everyone hostage and kick some people off the perch of successful summer business... Reds will always match on!!!

Adamu is last on the list. An FPL legend and class team owner, he knows his stuff when it comes to the beautiful game. Here is how he became a Red Devil.

"It's summer in the year 2002, I managed not to miss more than 50% of the 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup matches not even the World Cup diaries hosted by ace Ghanaian sports journalist,Michael Oti Adjei. My love for football had grown over the last month."

'My Dad realized this and bought me 2 sets of jerseys as P.E kits although knowing I was poor on the feet when it comes to football. The 2 jerseys were Manchester and Liverpool jerseys, coincidental?!'

This was his moment of truth,

I wore the Liverpool jersey mostly because I liked the design but the day I wore my Manchester jersey was the turning point in my football fan life. I was told Manchester was the team that scored 2 goals in 2 minutes in injury time to win a trophy, which kid wouldn't fall for that? From that day I decided to be a Manchester fan and I've not regretted that decision. When I say Manchester I mean Manchester United and not those noisy neighbours (Manchester City). UNITED Forever!

It was lovely getting an insight into how these buddies of mine came to be loyal fans of their respective teams.

I will conclude by telling my own story. Arsenal Football Club has and will always be the greatest football club to me. 

Just like Douglas, my first memory of the team was our FA cup victory against Manchester United where Viera scored the winning penalty. It was love at first sight (sounds like a cliche, but it really was). Those were the days watching live matches in Ghana was tough but that match was actually televised live. Arsenal took my breath away that day.

I got to love players like Henry, Bergkamp, Viera, Pires, just to mention a few who played football the way it was meant to be played. Arsenal were fast, rampant, untouchable and later INVINCIBLE. Under Arsene, Arsenal developed what we fans now affectionately call WENGERBALL. It was different! It was beautiful and spectacular but yet efficient. Pep's Manchester City team of the 2017/2018 premier league season reminded me of why I fell in love with Arsenal and that team rightly drew comparisons to the INVINCIBLE Arsenal team of 2004.

After the old-guard left the club, we always found unbelievably talented players to fit into our philosophy. Arsenal always had fresh, young and technically gifted players. Who wouldn't fall for that?Well, I did and loved Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Samri Nasri....

We endured an agonizing 9 year trophy drought and I can honestly say it was worth the wait to stick by Arsenal through thick and thin!