Sarah Lewis OLY (@SarahLewis_OBE) is a British former international alpine skier.
She competed in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games and then became Secretary General of skiing’s international governing body, FIS, a role she held for 20 years.
She was awarded the Femme en Or prize in 2006, and the OBE in 2018.
When did you start supporting Arsenal and why?
My Dad was an Arsenal supporter from his childhood. One of Dad’s favourite stories was from his first match as a boy, Arsenal v Tottenham, at White Hart Lane during the war, when no-one knew who the home team was as they had to ground share with Highbury Stadium commandeered for the war effort.
When I finally secured Arsenal season tickets in the North Bank at Highbury in 2003, Dad and I spent more than 15 wonderful years following our team together. After my stepmum Anita passed away in 2014, I stayed with him at weekends whenever I could in Potton and we travelled together to the matches, enjoying football banter and socialising during our travels and a pre-match pint at the Finsbury Park Conservative Club or a fry up at the Arsenal Café, with a group of local Potton and nearby Arsenal supporters, who have become firm friends.
Naturally during our brunches Dad would jest with them grinning broadly that he was particularly enjoying the kosher bacon and pork sausages even though he didn’t follow a kosher diet!
What was your first Arsenal match?
Dad took me and my brother Charlie to our first match at Highbury that I thought was Arsenal v Stoke City in May 1971: 1-0 to the Arsenal, but my first programme is Arsenal v Leicester City 1972-1973.
I remember walking up the stairs of the West Stand and seeing the green pitch for the first time, hearing the supporters singing for the team, and I was hooked.
Charlie followed his Grandad, also Charles, and lost interest in football, concentrating more on cricket.
Who was your first Arsenal hero and why?
Aged 6 and a half: Charlie George and his winning goal in the 1971 FA Cup Final which I saw on our black and white television.
I grew my brown hair just like his, straggly and unkept, and wore the same yellow t-shirt the whole summer.
Who is your favourite ever Arsenal player and why?
This is almost too difficult to answer as the different generations of the team have favourites.
Having given great consideration during a morning one-hour swim internally debating all the factors in terms of them as players, their contribution to the team and their influence on the evolution of the Club, by 0.01 of a %, Dennis Bergkamp gets the nod, with special mentions to complete the top 10 for Tony Adams, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, Patrick Vieira, Liam Brady, Robert Pires, David Rocastle, Freddie Lundberg, Reg Lewis in honour of Dad and whose profile was outside our block at The Emirates until this season!
What’s your biggest Arsenal regret/disappointment?
Equal billing to: Champions Leagues Final 2006 Arsenal v Barcelona with Jens getting sent off, Champions League Quarter Final 2004 losing to Chelsea through a Wayne Bridge winner after drawing the away leg the week before, and the opportunity to play Monaco in the semis and Porto in the final.
Then the FA Cup Final Arsenal v Liverpool 2001, FA Premier League penultimate match 2003, Arsenal v Leeds losing to Leeds at Elland Road following a Nelson Vivas missed clearance.
What is your favourite Arsenal memory (away from the pitch) and why?
Meeting Arsène Wenger during several editions of the Austrian training camps in Bad Waltersdorf and getting to see the genius in action at close quarters. It was his vision that revolutionised English football and Arsenal Football Club.
The current leadership of the Club: Super Mik Arteta, Edu and the BFG (Black Forest Gateau) Per Mertesacker were all recruited by Arsène.
Spending the 26th May 1989 in the North-West in Rossendale, Lancashire the night before a ski competition and watching the match on the TV with a fellow member of the English Junior Ski Squad. After Michael Thomas scored the winner I ran up and down the street celebrating with myself!
Assisting Arsenal Ladies in 2001 (before they changed to Arsenal Women) when they played in the first ever UEFA Womens Cup group stage in Berne, Switzerland.
I arranged their flights, coach from the airport and match travels 45 minutes from the hotel and training pitch in Thun to the stadium in Berne using our minibuses driven by my male colleagues who were very keen to help.
I arranged a reception with the British Ambassador at the Residence, and he was so impressed with the team, that he took all the staff to support the team on the final decisive match on the Friday evening. The crowning event after winning the group and qualifying for the quarter-finals was a sponsored dinner for the team with high spirits leading to the players dancing on the table when the Arsenal Vice-Chairman David Dein phoned to congratulate the manager Vik Akers.
The team included today’s Arsenal Women General Manager Clare Wheatley, Alex Scott, Rachel Yankey, Kelly Smith, Emma Byrne, Faye White, Jayne Ludlow, Ciara Grant, Casey Stoney who are all still involved in the game which is fantastic.
A special mention goes to spending £250 on using a 5* room for two hours at the Hotel Jungfrau Victoria, Interlaken, Switzerland to watch the second leg of the Cup Winners Cup semi-final v Sampdoria in 1994 during my first week of my new job at the International Ski Federation/
I didn’t think it would be wise to ask for time off to drive to Genoa which would have been much cheaper.
My payment didn’t account for extra time and penalties where David Seaman performed heroics, but I stayed on anyway and the reception didn’t charge me extra.
What is your favourite ever Arsenal match?
Another impossible choice but I think the final winner goes to the first Arsène Wenger Premier League title v Everton in 1998 watching from the North Bank with a Dennis-like pass from Steve Bould to Tony Adams to lash in a left foot screamer and crown the 4-0 victory.
A special mention goes to 5-1 in the San Siro with my Canary friend Pat who joined me. Kept in for 2 hours after the match and driving back from Milan to Switzerland through the night was sheer joy recalling the demolition of Inter.
Sarah now consults for sports organisations, using the power of sport to improve society.
To find out more, please visit: www.sarah-lewis.com