Arsenal - Brentford 1-1 | London 2023
Years have passed since the pandemic, and the Supporters Club of Thessaloniki is back with organized trips that we missed so much!
A full three-day trip to London, which, except for the match result, filled us with memories we’ll cherish for a lifetime, thanks to the club that provided us with the matchday experience with all the advantages offered exclusively to Supporters Clubs.
The personalized match programmes with our names on the cover, the team’s reception in the tunnel — accessible only to very specific people — and the photo with Eddie Nketiah at the end of the match are just a few highlights of the trip.
A special thanks to Mark Brindle, the Arsenal Supporters Club coordinator, and to Paschalis-Odysseas Moissidis, who works for the club’s academies and the Arsenal Hub, where he gave us a tour.
Olympiacos– Arsenal 0-1 | Piraeus 2020
Another fantastic experience for the official Arsenal Supporters Club in Thessaloniki! Following organized trips to Piraeus (2015), Sofia (2016), Belgrade (2017), Lisbon (2018), and London (2019), the draw once again brought the team close to us, and we couldn’t miss the opportunity. A total of 64 Club members from all over Greece attended the match, with 34 Gooners traveling from Thessaloniki!
Regarding the match, it started with Olympiacos taking advantage of the first 15 minutes and putting considerable pressure on Arsenal. After that, Arsenal regained possession and easily broke through the opponent’s pressure with Xhaka, Guendouzi, and Willock being quite active off the ball. Offensively, we didn’t show much, although there were always spaces that remained unexploited. The body language of the players suggested that Arteta was perhaps more focused on conserving energy for the challenging continuation of the Premier League. Saka and Laca scored the goal almost unexpectedly, after Auba expertly received a long ball from Sokratis. In the last 10 minutes, the score could have increased, but the win itself is what matters. One Nil to the Arsenal!
The trip was filled with memorable moments. From gathering hours before the match at a pub in Monastiraki with other Gooners from around the world, to the standing ovation of Ian Wright, who came out from the VIP section to greet us nearly an hour after the match ended. The chant “Ian Wright, Wright, Wright” was sung louder than the chants during the game!
Arsenal – Napoli 2-0 | London 2019
For the 9th match that Amiran attended at the Emirates Stadium, the team remains unbeaten. This time, however, it wasn’t just an unbeaten record but a commanding victory that could prove crucial for advancing. Another successful trip to London for the Club, as 12 members of the Arsenal Thessaloniki Supporters Club gathered at the stadium to watch the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals together. Some traveled from Belgium, others from Denmark, some from the Netherlands, others from Greece, and some simply took the tube from within London. A meeting with Gooners from the Bulgarian club, with whom we are good friends, was also part of the experience.
The match went exceptionally well for the team, which entered the game determined to advance and to make up for the poor performance at Goodison Park a few days earlier. The supporters could have seen more goals against a strong team like Napoli, but they left satisfied with Cech's clean sheet and the decisive goals from Ramsey and Torreira. The line-ups were:
Arsenal: Cech, Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac, Torreira (Elneny 77’), Ramsey, Ozil (Mkhitaryan 67’), Lacazette (Iwobi 67’), Aubameyang
Napoli: Meret, Rui, Maksimovic, Hysaj, Koulibaly, Allan, Callejon, Ruiz (Younes 83’), Zielinski, Mertens (Milik 66’), Insigne (Ounas 83’)
Below are more photos, including some from Amiran’s visit to the Highbury House offices, arranged with Mark Brindle, the Arsenal Supporters Club coordinator.
Sporting Lisbon – Arsenal 0-1 | Lisbon 2018
Our team has faced Portuguese sides 12 times, with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses, scoring 23 goals and conceding 10. However, until this game, Arsenal had never won an away match in Portugal. The club's well-known charm, though, would not let us down, defying history. Danny Welbeck took advantage of a defensive error by Sporting and an excellent sequence of over 15 passes to score a beautiful goal, sending us back to Thessaloniki with smiles.
Crvena Zvezda – Arsenal 0-1 | Belgrade 2017
Our third destination on this journey was Belgrade! The third organized away trip by the Arsenal Thessaloniki Supporters Club was a reality, with 13 members participating. After Piraeus and Sofia, we found ourselves in Belgrade, but not much had changed. Another victory, another game where Olivier Giroud scored, and the lucky charm we carry with us remained as strong as ever!
Ludogorets – Arsenal 2-3 | Sofia 2016
Our second organized trip for the Club, and once again it was accompanied by a victory for our team. Three goals in the first game, three more in the second—our tally stands at 6 goals scored and 2 conceded! Along with us, 3 members from the Russian supporters club traveled, filling a whole bus, and in Sofia, we met with clubs from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, North Macedonia, and of course, with English fans of the team. Among them was the famous Bully, whom we gifted a club t-shirt, and the well-known ArsenalFanTV fan-journalist, Robbie.
Arsenal Supporters Clubs International Meeting | Sofia 2016
On January 23rd and 24th, we gathered in Sofia for the Balkan meeting of Arsenal supporters' clubs. In Bulgaria, we met the renowned Bulgarian club with its numerous members, which organized the two-day event. We also got to know clubs from Skopje, Hungary, and Romania. Together, we played in a football tournament, watched the Chelsea vs. Arsenal match, participated in challenging quizzes about the team's history, explored the city, and made many new friends! All the material is available below:
Olympiacos – Arsenal 0-3 | Piraeus 2015
It was a moment we had dreamed of for many years. The newly established Arsenal Thessaloniki Supporters Club embarked on its first organized trip to support Arsenal, and it turned out to be a lucky one. We never lost faith, never believed that the team would miss out on the Champions League. But we had to be there to support them, and we did, and it paid off.
It was a wonderful trip, a large group of Gooners from Thessaloniki, and a unique feeling to sing for this historic team alongside fans from around the world. Notably, we saw supporters from England, Australia, Russia, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cyprus, and of course, Greece.
We are pleased to share some commemorative photos and hope to be back supporting Arsenal in the near future.
P.S. We want to publicly thank Mr. Lakis Papaioannou for all his contributions since the beginning of the Club's operation. Without him, our presence at the G. Karaiskakis Stadium would have been impossible.
“And it’s Arsenal, Arsenal FC
we’re by far the greatest team
the world has ever seen “
