A very subjective look into AWFC

To say that this post will go in several different directions would be an understatement. I am sad, angry, excited, confused, grateful, bitter, hopeful, resentful and everything in between. When I say “I” it is very clear to me that I am not alone and that you probably feel the same way, so I’m going to do my best to express the whole spectrum of feelings, some of which might resonate and others won’t. Other posts will be more scathing but today I’m just grateful.

I fell in love with AWFC in a very difficult time in my life. During the summer of 2019 I became obsessed with the Oranjeleeuwinnen and virtually seconds later I realized that a few of them played for my club, Arsenal, and then I quickly became an actual proper fan. I was watching every piece of content imaginable, crack content, sporting content, you name it.

That fall I was lucky enough to play percussion with The Jonas Brothers and we did a massive tour all over the world and one of those stops was London. I invited several of the AWFC players and one of them replied… Beth. A few weeks later we met and she, DVD and Louise came to our show. It was one of the most incredible nights of my life and I will always be grateful for that.

This doesn’t seem like a tough time, and mind you we all met in February of 2020, but what you might not know is that a few months prior my house burned here in Los Angeles. I was in Canada while my wife was here in our homes and she had to leave through literal fire and flames and save herself.

What followed were months and months of absolute madness and add to that a little inconvenient thing called Covid. It was fucking brutal but one of the outside things that got me through it was women’s football. Learning about the club, knowing the players, past history, etc and during those endless days and hopeless weeks, these women were monumental for my mental and emotional health. They were my distraction, my therapy, a source of empathy and more. For the record, without my wife and family this period would’ve been unsustainable even with AWFC or any club combined. Family and friends…

And full disclosure, that’s what I consider Beth, which leads me to express that I am not always objective when it comes to her but let me attempt to do so.. even though I’ll start with “in my opinion” thus totally my objectivity…

In my opinion she can play til 2030 if not longer. She is football, in case people don’t fucking get it. We’re talking about a legend in women’s football, not just AWFC guys. She has done everything she could have done for our club and I tell you what, the fact that she kept the most bubbly personality during the darkest moments of her time is something we owe infinite gratitude for. Who else was gonna do it? NOBODY. She put our club first, always… and what does the manager and the board do? Not quite what you would expect and definitely not what she deserves.

Aside from her club trajectory, we cannot forget that she’s the reason “it came home.” Without her England don’t win the Euros, the country doesn’t change, lives aren’t changed… to borrow a Wengerism, we will need to take chronological distance to truly appreciate what she, and the rest of the lionesses, have done for the sport in the UK and the world. We had a gifted player and just about the greatest person you could ever meet absolutely LOVE our club and dedicate every single ounce of love and energy and football nous.

It’s utterly unacceptable that we just saw her last match at the Emirates, in an Arsenal shirt, and whatever happens in the future you better believe I’m going to root for her and if plays against us I’m gonna root for a Meado hat-trick, make no mistake. She will transform whichever club she goes to and I hope her, Viv and Katie reunite because they will win the Champions League and once again beat us to the WSL because they will be absolutely better than us, sorry not sorry.

I cannot believe we’re letting her go, not because it’s not believable but because it’s irresponsible by the club that you love and spend so much energy, time and money on, FFS!!!

My god she’s so much better than most players at the club at their positions… She’s a better defender than LWM, she’s a better midfielder than Pelova, she’s a better winger than Foord, she’s a better finisher than Stina… and let’s make one thing clear, Beth didn’t say goodbye to Arsenal, Arsenal said goodbye to her and that is not something I will ever forget… add to that how they treated Viv, Mana, DvD, Jill, JORDAN NOBBS, and many others. It’s just yucky, which is the total opposite of what Meado is.

I’ve said this so many times but Beth combined the best of Beckham and Rooney and if any of you are old enough to remember, both of those players would defend, spray balls all over the pitch and be the catalyst of everything when their teams needed them the most.

That is Beth Mead.

She was Arsenal, much more than other players and those that took her for granted just don’t know ball… but YOU, the ones that do, the ones that love her and supported her and donated to her walking charity, those that stuck by, showed her love, sang her songs… you my friend I’m thankful for as well.

I was lucky enough to watch her a handful of times, including her first game back from the ACL injury vs Villa when she assisted McCabe for that vital goal… Talk about moments you will remember forever.

Hope life rewards me with the opportunity to pay back to her 1/100th of what she has given me as a footballer, let alone as a person.

She will add value, energy, love, kindness, bite, footballing IQ to any and all teams she’s a part of. I am so excited for her future and I cannot wait to see her shine and win trophies because that’s what she does and who she is. A champion.. a winner. She’s Beth fucking Mead.

❤

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