Lead Us To Paradise

Some of the funnest weeks of my life.

Jun 07, 2026

“Lead us to paradise.”

That’s what I texted to a few people last Saturday just before 18hr CET.

And by 18h06 an unreal moment occurred. Almost of disbelief. It wasn’t far-fetched to imagine it but totally unexpected so soon into the match.

Kai Havertz put Arsenal ahead 1-0 in the Champions League Final vs Paris-St-Germain.

We would concede in the second-half and the game and it would go the distance all the way through extra time finishing 1-1 after 120 minutes.

And then it was time for penalty kicks.

Early on one of our players came forward to kick, the pub’s energy got awkward. A fan favourite for many, but of some fans lately had begun to doubt his abilities and didn’t believe he would score.

He smashed it home with conviction.

Dawned on me in that moment as he approached the ball how hard it was for me to maintain belief in the crux of the pressure. Narrative cracks appear so quickly. I imagined how important it was for the player to remove any room for doubt. And the mindset needed at the elite level.

There were some twists and turns still. We missed one, but saved one shortly after. And shortly after the fourth round we were level.

My eyes were filling up, waiting to burst with tears.

I said to myself: “we might just win this thing.”

They made their fifth kick, and we missed ours.

That was it. We lost.

The pub soon after switched off the TV, started blaring ‘Allez les Bleus’ for the PSG fans in attendance.

I grabbed my things, headed out into the street, hopped on my bike and headed home.

The tears never came.

The truth is, they came a week earlier when we won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years. And maybe in the week or two before that when we scored a few timely goals and I knew that we were destined to do it.

As a sporting fan, I was already in paradise.

As the season started coming to a close we kept winning, game by game but it came down to the final week in the end. We had clinched it on a Tuesday previously and celebrated with the trophy at our final game on the Sunday.

Win or lose the Champions League Final we would be celebrating again at our parade in London the day after.

The feeling of being a champion is so fleeting in life. But we are champions now. And that includes me and every Arsenal supporter out there.

I don’t think I can put into words the journey of the last few weeks and heck even the last half decade. Getting closer, improving and being so so good. Fantastic. Brilliant even.

But, finishing second three times in a row.

And then to finally get it over the line, pure joy.

What a way to kick-off the summer.

Will leave you below with a few things. The quote I had shared with you last month without context. It was about Arsenal then but in the spirit of sport as a metaphor for life, I share it again. And below that, a collection of some of my favourite content from the past weeks.

Best, Jamie.