Arsenal v Newcastle: How one man’s pettiness has sparked one of the Premier League’s Most Farcical Rivalries

It’s fair to say, football is a blistering storm of emotions at the best of times. To someone who doesn’t indulge themselves in the sport, it can seem inexplicable how angry and divisive fans can become at the most innocuous contentions.

There have been countless rivalries over the Premier league era that have nothing to do with local pride. Sheffield United harbour great resentment towards West Ham for pipping them to survival in 06-07; mostly thanks to the goal-scoring heroics of dodgy multi-partner-owned Carlos Tevez. Ryan Shawcross broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg with a poorly timed tackle that sparked massive tensions between Arsenal and Stoke, culminating in Gunners fans widely celebrating the Staffordshire club’s relegation some eight years later.

And speaking of relegation parties, Newcastle United have been embroiled (willingly or not) in some of the strangest rivalries in the Premier League era. There was Aston Villa’s mob ruining their bedsheets with mocking messages during Newcastle’s crunch clash on the final day of the 2008-2009 season. Lose, and Newcastle went down. They duly did thanks to an unfortunate own goal, among unprovoked banners of ‘SOB ON THE TYNE’ and ‘WHO IS YOUR MESSIAH NOW?’ - strange behaviour from a club over 200 miles away and comfortably sitting 12 places and 28 points above Newcastle in the league at the time. The game meant nothing to Villa, yet apparently, it did… enough to go to that effort, at least.

Newcastle have been targeted by a few fanbases intent on fabricating a rivalry

Then there is the strange case of Newcastle and Everton; two clubs that have often been deemed ‘the best of the rest’ outside the Premier League’s regular Top 6 monopoly. The major catalyst for this spat was one Sunderland-born Everton goalie Jordan Pickford; particularly during a game in 2018 where Newcastle fans goaded the goalkeeper with T-Rex motifs, in which he responded by saving a penalty and sticking his tongue out at the Geordie faithful. An understandable response to the crowd, but Pickford was to end up with egg on his face as Newcastle ran out 3-2 winners from 2-0 down, and Pickford was seen gesturing to fans to meet him outside the ground at the final whistle. In fact, such was his reaction at the final whistle, he was dropped from the squad the following season when the Toffees returned to Newcastle. The combustible transfer of Anthony Gordon from Goodison to SJP has only added fuel to the fire in recent years.

And that brings us onto perhaps the most ridiculous Toon rivalry of an era sadly devoid of their mackem and smoggie neighbours - Arsenal.

Arsenal’s fanbase has regularly drawn ire from other supporters. There was their treatment of their own iconic manager Arsene Wenger… the rise of AFTV which gave a microphone and a platform to some of the most insufferable football fans the internet has ever seen. And with the instalment of Spaniard Mikel Arteta, this irksome fanbase suddenly had a conductor and town-crier to cheerlead their most obnoxious tendencies.

Mikel Arteta: Crazy or Genius?

It’s fair to say Arteta is a manager fuelled by passion and emotion. And that passion inspires his coaching methods in the most unusual ways. From the unconventional employment of ‘Win’ the Dog to improve squad morale, to hiring pickpockets to relieve Arsenal players of their valuables to encourage the squad to always be alert… the telltale signs are there that the Spaniard is unconventional and eccentric at best, or a bit of a loon at worst.

If I was to really pinpoint the spark that lit the fuse to this rivalry, it would be May 16th 2022 - where a Callum Wilson masterclass bullied Arsenal’s naive top-four hopefuls into submission, making a nuisance of himself all game to force an own goal and then a goalmouth scramble that culminated in new signing Bruno Guimaraes tapping the ball home. This was the same Bruno Guimaraes that Arsenal had coveted to much media fanfare before the Brazilian inexplicably opted for the relegation scrap at Newcastle. By the time this match was played, however, Newcastle had secured safety comfortably and had little to play for. Arsenal had everything, but they imploded and lost out on the top 4 to bitter rivals Spurs by two points.

That seemed like just another game in the Eddie Howe resurgence, but for Mike Arteta, it was the root of his ‘villain origin story’. The game stayed with him, to the point where Aaron Ramsdale admitted that the Arsenal boss played clips of the game to his squad on the evening of their return to SJP the following season, with a keen eye on revenge. Strange, seeing as how Newcastle had just gone about their jobs on the night; winning a game. Arsenal were just the unfortunate opposition in their way.

That night in May 2022 lit the touchpaper for Arteta's 'villain origin story'...

Arsenal duly got their ‘revenge’… winning the SJP game 2-0 that following season, but I’m getting ahead of myself. There had been another game in between those two matches, a 0-0 draw at the Emirates. While the scoreline wasn’t newsworthy, the touchline antics certainly were. Arsenal had been building up a head of steam in an unlikely title charge; until Eddie Howe’s men came with game-plan to stifle that fluidity, drawing fouls, committing their own, and engaging in a multitude of time-wasting antics.

Players were booked with yellow cards, as is the referee’s prerogative to do so. But Mikel was still incensed. It was two valuable points dropped against a team that had the nerve not to cooperate with Arteta’s eye-catching free-flowing football. Tempers flared between managers, an incredible sight given that Howe has developed the nickname ‘steady Eddie’ for his calm… almost boring demeanour on the touchline and with the media. Arteta wasn’t done there, though; describing two denied penalties as ‘scandalous’ after the game to the BBC in his post-match interview.

Such fiery and opinionated language might be deemed a refreshing change of pace by Arsenal fans, but to neutrals, it just sounded bitter. Unfortunately, Arteta started to make a habit of it, doubling down after Gordon’s infamous winner at SJP 12 months ago; with a post-match interview that might one day be remembered as hilariously as Kevin Keegan’s ‘I would love it’ rant.

“It’s a disgrace. It’s embarrassing” were the now immortal words of Arteta after VAR saw no concrete evidence to disagree with the referee’s on-pitch decision to allow Gordon’s goal to stand. Was the ball still in play? Inconclusive. Was Gordon offside? No. Did Joelinton unfairly shove the man mountain that is Gabriel to the floor as he stooped to meet the ball? No - fouls are a subjective factor of football most of the time, and despite his team managing just one shot on target all game, Arteta saw that fateful night in November 23 as three points dropped, let alone one.

Unfortunately for Newcastle (and the Premier League), Arteta’s meltdown wasn’t the end of it. Arsenal Football Club released a statement defending their manager’s unprofessional rant; two Newcastle players (Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock) were targeted by racial slurs on Instagram by Arsenal fanatics. This is Joe Willock who (let me remind everyone) played over 40 times for Mikel Arteta and came through the Arsenal youth ranks. There were even petitions on Facebook for the fans inside the Emirates in the reverse fixture to stage a protest in the 64th minute; the same minute that Gordon scored the contested winner. The petty attention to detail was… in many ways… impressive, but unfortunately synonymous with the modern day angry mob mentality of the online Arsenal fanbase.

Will touchline and post-match antics prove to be Arteta's lasting legacy as opposed to on-pitch success?

Fortunately for Kevin Keegan, social media was not a thing when he made his infamous rant. Arteta was not so lucky; and often now whenever the Spaniard makes the headlines for good or bad, it is usually received in comments sections around the world with a crying face filter over the Arsenal manager’s head. Perceived ‘lesser’ managers have been criticised and fired despite bringing more trophies to their CVs since Arteta lifted the FA Cup during the infancy of his tenure. Notably, Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, who eclipsed the Spaniard’s trophy haul in just over two chaotic and much-maligned years. Thomas Tuchel was also hired as Chelsea boss, won a Champions League, sacked as Chelsea boss, hired and fired at Bayern, and hired as the England manager since that solitary FA Cup of Arteta’s.

Being a sore loser and a pantomime villain is fine; Jose Mourinho did it for years at Chelsea… but the difference was that Mourinho became a serial winner at Chelsea. He had the trophy clout to back up his narcissism. If Arteta leaves Arsenal with only that early FA Cup to his name, he’ll largely be remembered for bottling the title and throwing a hissy fit every time he played Newcastle.

Unfortunately, Arteta’s latest failure at SJP (that’s now three defeats in the last four at SJP for the Gunners), hasn’t clipped the wings of some online Arsenal fans. Lazy retorts that Saturday’s game was ‘Newcastle’s cup final’ are humorously ironic; given the level that Arsenal players celebrated a league victory over Liverpool last season. Yes, the one with the iconic picture of Martin Odegaard taking the camera from the club photographer and getting a few gleeful snaps of an impromptu staff pitch invasion.

Mikel Arteta’s antics won’t be keeping him up at night, he’ll feel he is genuinely entitled to get in scraps with Eddie Howe, slaughter the PGMOL live on television and criticise the opposition’s play-stye when facing defeat. But the barren trophy run certainly will keep him up at night. And if he doesn’t start to turn things around, this latest implosion at St James’ Park could be the beginning of the end… both for Arteta at Arsenal, and for the strangest rivalry we’ve had in recent years at Newcastle. Maybe when Arteta is gone, most of us Geordies can go back to having a soft spot for the Gunners like we did in the Wenger days, where they regularly competed with the big guns with none of the player expenditure.

Until then, keep whinging, Mikel, and keep digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole.