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Divorce
When Nick Hornby was 11 years old his parents separated. Therefore he lived with his mom, and only saw his father a couple times a week. Nick´s mum, sister and himself lived in a small detached house in Home Counties, and his father could only come visit them midweek. At this current time Nick is not interested in football. -
Football match
Nick´s dad asks Nick if he wants to go see the football match between Arsenal and Stoke. To his dads surprise Nick says yes and they go watch the match. This creates a bond between father and son, also Nick falls in love with football. -
Homesick
Nick is on a camp with the scouts, he therefore misses Arsenal´s opening game against Everton. He then gets homesick, and his father comes to talk to him. When Nick finds out that Arsenal lost his father decides to take him home. Why this is important to the story is because Nick now considers Arsenal´s achievements and failures his own. -
Death
Nick now experiences death when he sees a man die. He then realizes that he is not very found of the idea of dying, especially not mid-season. -
The coherence between age and football
When Nick reaches his 15th birthday he wants to change the place he is watching all the football matches from. He wants to watch the games from the "North Bank" where all the adults are standing. This is important since it illustrates that Nicks passion for football increases with his age. -
Lost passion
At this point in time Nick loses interest in the beautiful game for the benefit of girls. He then realizes when his uncle asks him to come watch the Arsenal match with him that he for the time being has lost interest in the game. -
Return
After a year of not paying attention to football Nick returns to watching Arsenal play when they get a new manager. He is now once again interested in the game. -
Cambridge United
Nick starts going to school at Cambridge University, and therefore attends some of Cambridge United's games. Thus his realizes that you can cheer for other teams than Arsenal, and he does exactly that. -
Obsession
During a game his girlfriend faints and Nick does nothing to help her. Instead he continue watching the game, only after the last whistle of the game was blown are Nick able to feel bad for her. He then realizes that the obsession with the game is both unhealthy and dangerous. -
Realization
Arsenal has now lost two Cup Finals in a row. Nick is now determined not to let the obsession for the game come out of control. This is of significance since Nick when he gets older realizes just how much this obsession has hurt others. -
Toxicity
Nick goes to a non-league game where Arsenal is not playing. He then experiences a game where the supporters and playeres are not toxic. He is touched, and some of Nicks faith in the game returns. -
Mirrored ups and downs
Nick who has since he graduated university been a teacher quits his job to become a writer. This is at the same time that Charlie Nicholas joins Arsenal, and once again Nicks ups and downs seem to be the same as Arsenals, at least an Arsenal player´s ups and downs. Both Nick with his writing and Charlie with his football fail. -
Accident
Nick is now once again a teacher after he failed as a writer, he now teaches a foreign language class too Italians. His decided to take these Italians to watch a game between Juventus and Liverpool. The English supporters run up to them as it is tradition, however in the mayhem a wall falls down and several people are crushed. After the accident Nick loses all the belief he previously had in football, and is ashamed that he once had these feelings towards the game. -
Depression
Nick has gone into a deep depressions caused by variables like the fact that he can not find a job. He tries to find solutions by going to a psychiatrist, but nothing seem to help. However Arsenal manages to win a semifinal and it helps him get out of the depression. This shows that Arsenal once more are becoming part of Nicks life. -
Writing
Nick is now considering writing about his obsession with football. He is however hesitant, but the fact that he is again watching Arsenal´s football matches encourages him. He is also feel the importance of writing about all the suffering and misery football has brought him. He therefore chooses to write this book about football from the perspective of a fan.