From near-misses to glory, Arsenal fan says title and scenes of celebration feel surreal

LONDON: Isaiah Browne, a 20-year-old Arsenal supporter ‌who has known only recent near-misses, finally witnessed the club’s first Premier League title in 22 years — a triumph and wave of celebration that he said felt like a dream.
Arsenal, dominant for most of the season, were crowned champions on Tuesday without kicking a ball after second-placed Manchester City drew 1-1 at Bournemouth.
While the players gathered at their training ground to watch the match — later celebrating wildly in a video shared on social media — thousands of fans poured into the streets of north London.
Browne was among them, sprinting to the Emirates Stadium as ‌jubilant scenes unfolded ‌outside.
“They’ve been through a rough period in my ‌lifetime, ⁠so to be ⁠here now and finally see them win — yesterday felt like a dream,” Browne, who is also a youth football coach, told Reuters.
“As soon as the final whistle went, I got dressed and headed straight here. I didn’t even take a vehicle — I live 10 minutes away, so I just ran.
“It was surreal to see how many people were here.

⁠As time went on, more and more just ‌kept coming. It was a great night.”
Under ‌manager Mikel Arteta, Arsenal had earned a reputation as nearly men, finishing ‌runners-up in each of the previous three seasons.
This time, they got ‌over the line, sealing a 14th English title — behind only Manchester United and Liverpool, who have 20 each.
The triumph ends a wait stretching back to the club’s unbeaten 2003-04 campaign under Arsene Wenger and marks their first major ‌trophy since the 2020 FA Cup.
“I’m only 20, so I didn’t get to see the last title,” ⁠Browne said.

“I heard ⁠about it from family and watched old clips online. I wanted to experience this myself — to celebrate my