Navigating through Ph.D. is often tough. Deadlines are always looming over your head. Right now – I have two major deadlines to deal with. But here I am writing about a 16 year old kid who gave me the utmost joy of my life in a long long time. Max Dowman. A Hale-end graduate from the Arsenal academy, who stole the show in yesterday’s match between Arsenal and Everton to make history as Premier League’s youngest ever goal scorer at just 16 years 73 days. What were you doing at 16 years old? I was just an average kid with an average life at school, lamenting about homework that felt irrelevant.
But probably, when Max goes to school on Monday, he will be cheered by thousands. He will be idolized and kids younger than him will look up to him thinking that- this is what dreams are made of. Millions of Arsenal fans around the world, who have been patiently waiting to see their team lift ‘the title’ after 22 odd years- they will remember this moment. They will look back on this particular day of 14th March 2026. On a mundane cloudy afternoon in North London, with the sunshine peeking through the clouds at the Emirates Stadium, a 16 year old school kid was called upon by 43 year old Mikel Arteta to rescue Arsenal from the depths of hell. And Boy, oh Boy! What Max Dowman did today will be spoken by generations of Arsenal fans in the future. He entered the pitch amidst a group of grown up men at 75th minute (0-0 score), dribbled past them to create an emphatic chance for Arsenal’s first goal in the 89th minute. He then went on to score at the stoppage time to give Arsenal the 2-0 victory, that was nothing short of a miracle. A much needed 9 point gap at the top against the juggernauts- Manchester City.
3 years ago, Reiss Nelson’s 97th minute winner against Bournemouth FC had felt the same. Back then, me and Anuranjan Da (my all time go to person to complain about Arsenal) had screamed our hearts out in elation waking up our neighbors at night. Arsenal had failed to clinch the title that year. The sheer pressure of lifting a major reward after years of failure had once again overpowered the players. But in life and in football, sometimes you fight back. Sometimes you answer your critics. Sometimes you show the world that you can pick yourself up from those darkest moments. Yesterday felt like one. One where you just have that gut feeling, a familiar heartbeat- which makes you believe in something special. Maybe after all, this is indeed our year. People often argue that why do we invest so much time in this football culture where there is rivalry, banter and hatred involved towards each other. But I would also argue that football is a team sport. A sport born from the streets. A sport where people irrespective of their differences in race, religion and sex come together in support of a team they truly believe in.
John Green, one of the famous American authors in one of his podcasts quoted the late Pope John Paul II. I love the quote. He says- “Of all the unimportant things in life, football is the most important.” which essentially means in the grand scheme of things, it is just a mere form of entertainment, that is secondary to matters of life, health, politics and family. But in times of despair and grief, when nothing seems to work my way, I yearn for these unimportant things. Unimportant things that dictate synchronously with my life’s trajectory and in that process, I find comfort in knowing that I am not alone in this world.
So Max, go create history for this club!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS ❤️🤍