It all began on the 26th of November, 2010, in Maitama, Abuja.
Four graduates from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri had a few drinks and long dialogues about Arsenal, old school stuff, girls and money making plans for the foreseeable future. That night, Gooner Daily was launched – 730 days and 625,207 hits later, the blog is celebrating its second anniversary.
Adding that amount to the 483,108 article reads I have on my Bleacher Report sports writer profile, I’m proud to know that my articles on Arsenal have been read 1,108,315 times thus far…and I’m not stopping any time soon because I love what I do and do what I love – blogging about Arsenal. 😛
The blog has been very active on Twitter and it presently has 4,191 fantastic followers. The blog also has an ever-growing Facebook page that currently has 1,355 ‘likes’. These ever increasing numbers continue to inspire the blogger himself, @enigma106.
I, like every thoroughbred Gooner began 2012 on a high as the red-hot Robin van Persie picked up where he left off in 2011, scoring goal after goal in such a frantic fashion. However, January was a painful month to be an Arsenal fan, as the team failed to win any league game that month, coupled with three disappointing league defeats and that infamous Andrey Arshavin for the Ox substitution.
February began on a high note with the 7 – 1 thumping of Blackburn but quick-fire exit from the Champions League (technically) and the FA Cup (against Sunderland in that aberration of a pitch) brought the gloomy days back to the Emirates. An emphatic 5 – 2 victory in the 150th North London derby paved the way for a run of victories in Spring that was halted by a puzzling defeat to Queens Park Rangers.
After overturning a 10-point deficit from those Spuds from White Shite Lane to end the campaign in third place, the Gunners were lauded for their resilience, character and mental strength for finishing the season despite all the shortcomings (too many to mention), that ultimately led to another trophy-less campaign.
Euro 2012 provided a necessary distraction but a lot of business was conducted during the summer, as Alex Song and Robin van Persie left for greener pastures while the club responded with the acquisitions of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla.
As the 2012/13 season progressed, Gooner Daily has been with the Arsenal realm all the way, providing its esteemed readers with team news, speculations, contract shenanigans, match previews, match reviews and much more.
This season began with everyone running out of superlatives on the defensive Dark Lord, Steve Bouldimort, for tightening up Arsenal’s leaky defense after the run of three League clean sheets but such tales are gone with the wind. The new boys have also come to the fold, and its heart warming to know that the Giroud-Podolski-Cazorla combo has produced 16 goals thus far.
The season is approaching the half-way mark and the Gunners have already secured qualification into the Knockout Round of the Champions League, a quarterfinal berth in the Capital One Cup but they are further behind the leading pack in the Premier League.
The 2012 Nigerian Blog Awards came along and thanks to your votes and other criteria, Gooner Daily emerged as the Judges’ Choice for the Best Sports blog in Nigeria. A proud achievement in every sense of the word.
Blogging about Arsenal on consistently for two years has been a worthwhile experience. I’ve learned a lot from others, made a boatload of friends and I can look back on the past two years with a keen sense of pride and satisfaction knowing fully that I added fuel to the fire I have a passion for, which is gradually turning into an inferno.
However, this wouldn’t have been possible without some special individuals and teams, as the case may be, and I’m about to take time out to express my profound gratitude.
Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the blog’s news aggregators, Arsenal News.net, Naija Sites, Football Bullet, Four Four Two.com, Only Arsenal News.com, Arsenal News.co.uk, Start Page.co.uk, Just Arsenal Blogs, Goonersphere and the rest of the lot. With my blog’s exposure to these various sites, the hits have been piling up and viewing my site stats fills me up with a keen sense of satisfaction.
However, if you know any site you would like to recommend the blog to be featured on, don’t hesistate to contact me.
Plans are ongoing to move the blog to a new site with a self-hosted domain, but the site is still under construction and everybody will be notified when www.goonerdaily.com goes live. Like the way I’ve been anticipating the new BlackBerry N-Series phone models to hit the market, the new site will be ready in the first quarter of 2013.
I’d also want to give a big shout out to my Twitter followers and I want to thank y’all for the endless retweets, mentions, conversations and much more. Don’t forget to spread the word. 😀
While growing up in the blogging world, I always looked up to my blogging mentor, Arseblog, for inspiration but there are so many Arsenal blogs that I can’t go a day without taking a peek of the rich content they have to offer.
I strongly recommend every Arsenal fan to check out these top-notch blogs; 1 Nil Down 2 One Up, Blazing Cannons, Poznan in my Pants, Sunday Morning Gooner, Arsenal Ghana, Gambeano Snitch, Highbury House, Memoirs of a Gooner, WaZoBia Gooners and Soccer Fan Base.
Thank me later.
Finally, I want to give a special shout out to a set of individuals. These folks are the craziest, most creative, hevul, highly intelligent and humorous set of Arsenal fans I’ve ever known. I’ve not met a bunch, seen a couple and even schooled with a considerable chunk but we all form one big Gooner family.
This goes to the members of my Arsenal BlackBerry group, Team Gooner Daily,
High Chief Boooobinus (@dKingpin), Oga Jonah (@Obitwyce), Da Viruz (@daviruz), Wayward Barrister Dondeon (@Dondeonbeke), Yeezy (@eromzy), Wuruwara Master (@IamKayRobs), K Stunner (@K_Sturna), Chuck Bass (@ChuksBass), Steph (@steph_aloba), AOE (@alijaxz), Vybz Kartel (@mayorbaze), Utunu (@I_am_OGB), McDreamy the Ghost (@tjarse), Immanuel (@arch1kid), Antoto (@Antony_Soulkool), Bhydemi Brainz (@bhydemi), Musty (@alexmustii), Mallam Ramsey (@nwakibie), Cuntinho (@davicky1), Bola Gunner (@bolagunner), Wily Wily (@wheelsindk), Kizz Kid (Bra) …and the rest that have been itahrized.
You guys rock!!!
Sorry, if I have missed out on anyone! Just bear in mind that you’re also remembered fondly.
So, here’s to another year of your daily Arsenal digest, Gooner Daily.
As I always say,
Sayonara
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