Arsenal America President David Kilpatrick
Hail to the chief
Arsenal America was formed in August 2001 by several Arsenal fans who realized that there wasn't a supporters club in the United States. The club was granted official status in 2005 and since then has grown leaps-and-bounds, and new branches are opening all across the United States.
USA.Arsenal.com's Kevin Mooney caught up with David Kilpatrick, the president of Arsenal America, to talk about the group and the state of the game in America.
USA.Arsenal.com: How and when did you become an Arsenal fan?
David Kilpatrick: My father actually played soccer in high school back in the early 60s so when Pelé and the Cosmos became popular in the mid-70s he encouraged me to play and took me to see lots of the legends who played in the old NASL. When the Cosmos folded my junior year of high school I didn’t have a team to support. Growing up, my best friend’s father (Jay Pittman) – who first saw a match at Highbury in ’71 – would talk about being a Gooner and show us match programs, etc. As a kid I thought the red and white for home and the yellow and blue for away were the greatest uniforms, but you were lucky to see a score in the paper once a week – no real way to follow from across the pond back then. As a grad student living in London late in ’94, I had to visit the Home of Football. My first match was a derby against QPR. When Johnny Jensen scored the place went mad and I fell in love with Arsenal Football Club. I started surfing the Web in ’95; suddenly supporting a north London football club was simple with the latest team news just a click away.
USA.Arsenal.com: And how did you become the president of Arsenal America?
Kilpatrick: I would chime in from time to time online as Arsenal America first started out, first unofficial and then becoming an official supporters club. Being a member made me feel more than just a fan. I enjoyed meeting other members on trips over for matches, screenings in pubs here at different cities, and even getting to play the game with other Gooners at kickarounds in London and New York. I’ve formed some deep friendships with people I’ve met through the supporters club so when there was a need for someone to take on the presidency late last year, I was happy to intensify my involvement. The board’s a very close-knit team who help keep the job fascinating and fun.
USA.Arsenal.com: After years of being the butt of jokes by the American sports media, European soccer - specifically English soccer - is clearly gaining a large following in the USA. Why the change?
Kilpatrick: When the NASL folded in 1985, the popular wisdom among American sports media was that soccer had failed. They were wrong. The league and our national institutions failed but millions of us who grew up in those years fell in love with the Beautiful Game. The World Cup in ’94 proved there was a market hungry for the sport here but Major League Soccer missed a huge opportunity with the baseball strike in ’95. By the time the league started in ’96 between cable TV and the Internet any American soccer fan could follow teams in the major European leagues. Now a lot of pro-MLS fans blame the Europhile or Anglophile fans for not caring enough about the domestic league. But I think the MLS front office types know that there’s a huge market out there who live this soccer lifestyle, cultivated in large part by those who grew up with grassroots youth soccer, all these people who gather in pubs across the country every weekend in the fall and spring in cities across the country who enjoy seeing soccer played by the best players at the biggest clubs. The atmosphere is contagious and it keeps spreading.
USA.Arsenal.com: It looks like there are new Arsenal America branches popping up all the time, all over the country. What do you think are the reasons behind this growth?
Kilpatrick: It’s viral! I meet people all the time, some who grew up playing but never saw soccer as a spectator sport and some who never really kicked a ball, who through a friend were exposed to the passion and intensity that comes from singing and cheering together with fellow supporters. You don’t have to make the pilgrimage to the Emirates Stadium to feel that sense of community. I was in Seattle a few weeks ago and knew through the club to go to the George & Dragon. It was packed with Gooners and over the course of ninety minutes friendships were formed. People visit a pub like that and experience that kind of electric atmosphere, that camaraderie, so they start a branch in their hometown. The fact that the Arsenal are committed to Wenger’s philosophy of playing attractive attacking football plays a major role in bringing more and more fans to the club. Arsenal are associated with style and class and that attracts a certain type of soccer fan. So when that fan seeks out other Arsenal fans to gather and enjoy a match, the branches grow.
USA.Arsenal.com: How big would you say the Arsenal fan base is in America compared to the rest of the Big Four Premier League teams and other European powers?
Kilpatrick: Ten or fifteen years ago you would run into ManU or Liverpool fans now and then. Arsenal weren’t necessarily all that popular here, especially until Wenger took over. But now I can’t take a stroll through Manhattan without seeing somebody wearing an Arsenal shirt. I still don’t think we’re quite as popular as the other English Big Four or, say, Barca but there’s now a massive Arsenal fan base in the States.
USA.Arsenal.com: And how sophisticated is the fan base? Do they know about the history of Arsenal and the nuance of the game itself?
Kilpatrick: Well, there are many reasons that attract fans to Arsenal as opposed to other clubs but I would have to say that it is the nuanced approach to the game that attracts so very many Americans to become Gooners. So right off the bat you’re not getting all the bandwagon jumpers – though we certainly do get our share of them, especially during the ’03-04 Invincibles season. Those who fall for Arsenal due to the style we play tend to be more sophisticated in their approach to the game. Also, so many American fans started supporting Arsenal because they were living, studying or simply visiting London and that certainly makes for a more informed fan. I would venture to guess that most American Gooners know what “Victoria Concordia Crescit” is all about.
USA.Arsenal.com: A former Arsenal player, who we shall leave unnamed, recently made a rather controversial comment about American Arsenal fans: "Today they are Arsenal fans, tomorrow they will be Liverpool fans, after tomorrow they will be Manchester United fans." What would you say about the loyalty of the Gooners you have met in the USA?
Kilpatrick: There’s definitely a large number who jumped on the bandwagon during the ’03-04 Invincibles season and I’m sure there’s quite a few fair-weather fans who can’t suffer these last few trophy-less seasons. But it is ridiculously anti-American to think that’s what happens with fans over here. Far and away the vast majority of fans I’ve met from here in New York all the way to San Francisco are die-hard Gooners for life. If he met any members of Arsenal America he would definitely be given some much needed lessons in loyalty!
To learn more about Arsenal America, you can visit their website at www.arsenalamerica.com or click the FanZoneUSA button at the top of this page.
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