Jen Beattie In Her Goodbye Letter: ‘My family became Arsenal fans’
Arsenal’s female skipper, Jen Beattie, whose days with the Gunners have come to an end wrote a letter to say goodbye, and revealed in it that her family have become Arsenal fans too.
The Scottish right-footed defender said the following in her open letter which was posted on arsenal.com:
‘The sheer scale of this club is never lost on me. I’ve always appreciated how much of an impact it’s had on the community, on me and everyone involved, even my friends and family.
‘They’re now Arsenal fans too, because once you’re in, you’re in. Arsenal is a family like that.
‘It’s almost difficult to put into words just how much the people at this club mean to me. I’ve never really experienced anything like this before, when teammates become actual friends and then become family.
‘I went through the hardest period of my life during my time at Arsenal and I couldn’t have asked for better support from the club. I think that’s what’s so special about this club, that performance is so important, but the human always comes first.
‘There’s always been a real effort and ambition across the club to make it feel like we’re all part of a big family, and I think the people that we employ as players and staff are really embedded in that. I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed coming to work every day and that’s credit to the people at Arsenal and the culture they’ve created, because it’s such a tight knit group here and one that I’ll miss so much.
‘To find a home away from home is something truly special. It’s something I’m not sure a lot of clubs have.’
She looked forward to returning to the club in the future to support the team.
‘This might be the end of my journey as an Arsenal player, but as of today, I’m now a fan. I genuinely can’t wait to come back to Emirates Stadium and support the team.
‘It’s the most talented group of people I’ve ever been a part of and I’ve no doubt that they’ll go on to achieve whatever they want to. They’ve got the group to do it.
‘Once a Gooner, always a Gooner.’