I grew up thinking Arsène Wenger was why Arsenal had its name

30 years ago today, Arsène Wenger joined Arsenal.

I wasn't born back then. I hadn't seen the early days of Wenger at Arsenal, but as I started to become obsessed with Arsenal, I heard about the reception (or lack of) Wenger received when he first took over at Arsenal.

I was born in the year 2000 on the East Coast of England. I didn't have a predetermined team and, to be honest, I got into football much later than I would have liked to.

I was in foster care as a child, so I wasn't exposed to the art form of football until I left. Sure, there was the odd football-themed birthday cake but as a boy in the early 2000s, you weren't spoilt for choice in the birthday cake department. It was either football or Spiderman, and I'd shown no inclination towards Spiderman. I had to like football, right? I was born in England, after all.

When I left foster care, I did what most children do and became best friends with my cousins. It was by the grace of primary socialisation that my eldest cousin became an Arsenal fan while I was in foster care. My other cousins supported Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool. You know, the traditional big four.

I count my lucky stars every single day that I listen to my oldest cousin. If it wasn't for him, I could have been supporting Man United, Liverpool or... much worse... Chelsea.

Arsène Wenger was the one constant in a changing Arsenal

I was new to this whole football thing. I became an Arsenal fan towards the end of Thierry Henry's reign, just as Arsenal were moving out of Highbury into the Emirates Stadium, and Cesc Fabregas was the new kid on the block.

Arsenal changing as a club was nothing I was new to - Heck, my entire childhood until that point had been change after change - But, again, I was a kid. And I was new to this whole football thing.

Despite all the changes that were happening at Arsenal in my fan infancy, there was one name who remained a constant - Arsène Wenger.

I'd seen Mr Wenger in one of the sticker books in my foster home; he was at the very front of the Arsenal page, before all the players. He wasn't wearing an Arsenal kit like the players were, so I didn't really know what he was there for - Again, I was a kid.

Perhaps I could use the same excuse to explain why I thought 'Arsenal,' the club, was named after 'Arsène', the man. However, that would be doing Mr Wenger a disservice.

As I got older, I learned that I wasn't the only kid who was raised in the 2000s to think Arsène named Arsenal.

It wasn't me being new to this football thing that made me think Wenger named Arsenal. We just connected the dots in our heads; Arsène and Arsenal went together like yin and yang.

I didn't know what the word 'arsenal' meant until I was a teenager. It's just not a word you hear much as a child. However, 'Arsenal', the club- that's different. It's a word that Wenger taught me, and many others, to love as a kid.

As always, merci, Arsène. For everything.

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