Seven Questions – Rob Bateman @Orbinho

Rob Bateman (@Orbinho) is Head of Opta Data Editorial but best known as one of the pioneers of football data that has now become integral in the supporting life of many fans.

Bateman joined Opta in 1998 and with his team he created @OptaJoe in 2009 and hired the data gurus who created the Expected Goals, (xG) statistic among other things that we use so often today.

When did you start supporting Arsenal and why? 

My earliest memories of supporting the club came at around age five or six.

Growing up in Dorset there were no league clubs anywhere near, so it seemed like everyone chose a First Division club and mine was Arsenal. Most of my relatives were Liverpool fans and I often joke that I decided to support the team just to annoy them in the 1971 FA Cup final, but I have mementoes from before that game.

Of course, the success of the Fairs Cup and then the League and Cup double may have made it seem like a good choice at the time, but the next 20 years were often painful watching my family celebrate league titles and four European Cups.

Anfield 1989 and that last-gasp Michael Thomas goal made it all seem worthwhile.

What was your first Arsenal match? 

We lived across the road from an old professional footballer, Les Lusted, who had played for Leyton Orient.

I remember he was quite a character and had a Bobby Charlton combover. He and his wife didn’t have kids so they were like an adopted Uncle and Aunt and spoiled us. They were very kind to my parents who moved to Dorset from South Wales at age 21 – an incredibly daunting prospect in those days moving away from friends and family.

Les used to collect coppers in a giant Bell’s whisky bottle and then we’d help him count it and he’d give us whatever he’d saved at Christmas. He played alongside my Dad in a local team and by then, despite being in his early 40s, he was easily the best player whenever I saw them play.

He knew someone on the Arsenal backroom staff and he was a Manchester United fan, so just after Christmas 1972 he surprised us with tickets for the Arsenal v Man Utd game at Highbury.

We drove up on the day, went to the game and we won 3-1. All I really remember about the day was being starving when we arrived and having to eat a steak and kidney pie as it was all they had and then rushing back to watch the game on Match of the Day or the Big Match.

The game itself is just a blur, but I was one very excited and very tired boy. Bobby Charlton played that day in what proved to be his final season, so combovers all ‘round.

Some years later, he tried to get me tickets for the 1979 FA Cup final, but sadly wasn’t able to secure them. Instead, his friend managed to get me an FA Cup final programme signed by all the Arsenal players.

Who was your first Arsenal hero and why?

I liked some of the players from the Double winning side like Charlie George and Ray Kennedy, but my first real idol was Liam Brady.

He just stood out from most other players because he was so graceful. He seemed to be able to glide over the ground rather than run, which was probably fairly useful given the quagmire pitches he often played on.

The way he stroked the ball with his left foot, the way he seemed to be playing in slow motion and still seemed to have more time than anyone else on the pitch and the finesse of some of his goals was breathtaking. His creativity on the ball was sublime and he was a joy to watch whenever I had the chance.

Who is your favourite ever Arsenal player and why?

This is a really tough one. I’ve had several favourites down the years and for different reasons.

Liam Brady as I mentioned, Ian Wright, Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp have all made a big impact, but it’s hard to look beyond Thierry Henry.

It’s likely to be the only time that Arsenal will have arguably the best player in the world in their team.

Between 2001 and 2004 he was the best and it was only lack of European/international success in that period and the ludicrous voting system which denied him a Ballon D’Or.

What's your biggest Arsenal regret/disappointment?

Again, it’s so hard to just pick one out of so many traumatic defeats. Ipswich in the Cup final of 1978 was awful, West Ham and Valencia in the space of a few days in 1980 was a double blow, the 2006 Champions League final when everything seemed set up to win against all the odds and obstacles placed in our way and then how many league titles have been blown from positions where it seemed Arsenal were about to clinch the crown with 2002-03, 2007-08 and last season particularly painful.

If I had to opt for one though it might be Wayne Bridge scoring against Arsenal at Highbury in the Champions League quarter final in 2004.

It all seemed set up for the Gunners to finally win the one trophy that had eluded them.

Defeat to Man Utd in the semi final of the FA Cup seemed a blip worth accepting, especially when we went 1-0 up, but the team just seemed to run out of steam and the sinking feeling when Bridge scored was just horrific.

There was definitely a hangover in the next league game at Liverpool too and it felt like everything would come crashing down when we were 1-2 down at half time, but Thierry Henry had other ideas and the rest is history.

Going the whole season unbeaten in the league and winning the title was probably worth the disappointment though, but the ramifications had a far more significant impact.

Porto beating Monaco in the final revived those feelings of disappointment and the subsequent elevation of Jose Mourinho’s reputation and his appointment at Chelsea to become Arsenal’s nemesis still rankles because that probably denied the Gunners greater success in that period.

What is your favourite Arsenal memory (away from the pitch) and why?

I’m going to answer this in a slightly different way and just highlight the amazing community of Arsenal fans around the world.

I’m lucky enough to have travelled a lot and finding a bar to watch the game with fellow Arsenal fans or just meeting fellow Gooners for a chat anywhere in the world is the best thing about having a reasonable size following on social media.

It’s great how you can have a conversation over a shared passion with a complete stranger and have so much to talk about despite having never met them before. I’ve had fans help with bus timetables, hotel, restaurant and excursion recommendations, local advice, offers of tickets and met some amazing people along the way.

What is your favourite ever Arsenal match?

This has been the most difficult question to answer.

There have been so many great games over the years, so I decided to go for a game which had a lot of significance with probably my favourite moment. I’ve chosen Arsenal v Everton in 1997-98 when we won 4-0 to clinch the title.

After being so far behind and then experiencing the joy of reeling in Man Utd on an amazing run despite injuries to key players like Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, that game already felt surreal.

But in those closing minutes when Steve Bould came off the bench to play in midfield and then chipped through for Tony Adams to break from defence clean through on goal and ram home the ball with his left foot, the release of emotion around the ground was all-consuming.

After all his travails, his ongoing recovery, the injury that disrupted his season and saw him absent for six weeks over Christmas, it was such a fitting moment for him to cap a remarkable season for the whole club. And the celebration was perfect.

Adams described it as “spiritual” and I think anyone who was there can associate themselves with that moment of pure calm, just drinking in the joy of everyone of an Arsenal persuasion inside the stadium.

It was just the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. It was the first time I’d seen Arsenal win the league in the flesh – I was on holiday for the Man Utd match in 1991 and not one of the lucky few at Anfield in 1989.

He was the captain of the club, a player who personified the indomitable spirit of the club I love and the iconic moment will live with me forever.