Arsenal supporters will have a myriad of reasons to fondly remember the month of May 2026.
The celebrations started with around 100,000 supporters gathered at the Emirates Stadium when the Premier League title was confirmed on May 19, ending a 22-year wait for the league title.
On Saturday, approximately 35,000 supporters packed into a fan screening at the Emirates Stadium for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, many flying into London for the weekend of a lifetime. For Sunday’s parade, an estimated one million fans gathered on the streets of north London, despite the defeat by PSG in a penalty shootout less than 24 hours earlier.
It was an intense, yet rewarding 48 hours in the English capital for the majority of fans, with the mood mainly celebratory. But, later on Sunday, the day soured. One street became a crime scene, the Metropolitan Police said, after a man was stabbed and taken to hospital. Police later reported 16 arrests for offences that included sexual assault and assaulting emergency workers.
The sight of early morning queues outside pubs near the Emirates has become the norm since Arsenal won the title. Saturday was no different, despite the Champions League final not starting until early evening local time.
“The day’s been absolutely amazing,“ 27-year-old Londoner Kai Hector, speaking before Gabriel’s gut-wrenching penalty miss, told The Athletic. ”At 7-8am, people were lined outside pubs, ready to back the team and that was the energy throughout the day. Whether you had a ticket for the screening or not, everyone was ready.”
Boards had already been placed at different entry points around the Emirates in preparation for Sunday’s parade, while there were more pleasant additions to the scenery elsewhere.
Some new decor outside the Emirates 🔴⚪️🏆 pic.twitter.com/Y8dBMQuhgz
— Art de Roché (@ArtdeRoche) May 30, 2026
The fans inside the Emirates filled the ground nicely, not just physically but with volume, too. It was almost as if the title-winning parade had started a day early when Arsenal went into the break leading 1-0 thanks to Kai Havertz’s sixth-minute opener, sparking fans into renditions of his Shakira-inspired song.
The stadium was stunned into silence on the two occasions forward Bradley Barcola broke in behind the Arsenal defence, and when Eberechi Eze and Gabriel missed their penalties. But, even then, the immediate reaction to the misses was a collective applause.
“I know it’s a Champions League final, that we’ve never won, but we have a parade — which I’ll still be at — for a title we haven’t won in 22 years. We need to stop being so greedy and have some perspective.
“We’re on the rise.”
That Arsenal were “on the rise” was a sentiment echoed by the Premier League champions themselves at the parade.
Declan Rice took the microphone on the team bus for stretches of their journey. At one point, he looked directly into the club camera and said with a smirk: “Next year we’re coming back for more. Lock in or get locked out.”
That statement could be just as memorable as the midfielder saying, “It’s not done” after Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester City in April — a quote that was plastered over a T-shirt that set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was, at one point, waving to the crowd.
On Essex Road, at about three quarters of the way through the parade route, came one of the more memorable moments of the afternoon as Ben White yanked the microphone from Rice and began shouting “Hincapie, get your bum out!” in a nod to the left-back’s mishap against Burnley last month.
The Premier League Champions on Essex Road pic.twitter.com/SrNrjS1uPm
— Art de Roché (@ArtdeRoche) May 31, 2026
He may have been the only player injured for the Champions League final, but White’s mischievousness has always brought light to this team. Even if he sometimes annoys some of his team-mates, such as when he threw captain Martin Odegaard’s sunglasses to the masses.
There were other moments never to be forgotten, too. Co-chairman Josh Kroenke — wearing a Gabriel and William Saliba shirt inspired by the movie Stepbrothers — chanting on the bus while Giggs’ Talkin The Hardest played in the background was something nobody could have envisaged. Seeing Ethan Nwaneri, back from his loan at Marseille but absent for the training-ground celebrations and the trophy lift at Selhurst Park, was also heartwarming.
Arsenal shirts started to pepper the streets of Highbury at around 8am on Sunday.
The parade was due to start at 2pm local time, but most knew they had to be in situ by mid-to-late morning to get a good vantage. Some fans had spent the night at friends or relatives in the Islington area.
Holloway Road was the main attraction on the 9km route due to its proximity to the Emirates Stadium, but even claiming spaces in quieter spots required a 10am arrival time.
Francois Burra did not care if that meant an expensive, near-seven-hour trip across half the world.
“I live in Montreal, Canada,” the 38-year-old said. “My Arsenal journey started 28 years ago with the 1998 World Cup in France, but I landed in London on Saturday (May 30) with 40 other Montreal-based Gunners at 10am in the morning without any sleep to watch the final and then celebrate with everyone.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I tried to be a responsible adult when looking at my bank account, but I thought f*** it, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Francois Burra, second from the right, flew in from Canada (Art de Roche/The Athletic)
Yves Wittwer arrived from Bern, Switzerland on Friday and had no regrets.
“The main goal was to experience this, to feel this, to soak it all up,” Wittwer said. “It’s a memory that I will cherish for a lifetime. I really felt the size of the club. It is a scale that I’m not able to process.
“Up to a million people out here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and will ever see again in my life. It’s just crazy.
“I was seeing people in Arsenal shirts in the airport in Switzerland. Those guys were actually going to Budapest, but I had some Arsenal fans on my flight too. Since then, I’ve met people from South Korea, India, Australia, the U.S. and Kenya. It’s beautiful that Arsenal can bring so many people together.”
Yves Wittwer had travelled from Switzerland to be a part of the parade (Art de Roche/The Athletic)
Both Burra and Wittwer watched the Champions League final at local pubs and situated themselves on Essex Road for the parade at around 11am, even though the Arsenal buses did not roll through until close to 4pm.
“After waiting for 22 years, we could wait for a few more minutes,“ Wittwer added. ”The joy of the people was building to that special moment and it was like an eruption when everyone felt the same emotion at the same moment.
“It was very quick, but it was exceptional to see the players and share this moment with all the fans. I felt like I was dreaming.”
May was the culmination of years of hard work, and there is a feeling among fans that this is the beginning of something, not the end.
“This weekend just shows that we have a lot of targets still to hit,” Burra said. “We can celebrate what we have already achieved, which is huge considering the last 20 years, and continue that momentum.”
Wittwer’s flight was set for 8am on Monday. The dopamine from the last 48 hours would pull him through the next day or so, he said.
“The club is in a great position,“ he said. ”When I was consoling a guy who was in tears after the final, I told him ‘We are going to win the Champions League eventually’ and I’m sure of it.”
