Taymour Khashoggi

As their new £105m signing slickly controlled a 96th minute corner and smashed the ball passed a luckless André Onana, a nervous Emirates Stadium erupted.

Arsenal’s new fan-favourite Declan Rice had all but guaranteed the win in a rollercoaster game against a historic rival, Manchester United.

The teams were only a few weeks into their new seasons, and amidst the joy and pandemonium was an all too familiar feeling creeping into the stands—doubt.
The referees were replaying the action, ensuring the goal, and any incidents in the build up to it, were legal.

In October, 1886, a group of workers from a munitions factory in Woolwich decided to form a football team. In the 136 years since, that team has become one of the most successful in the country. Now, a group of disgruntled fans have decided to start from scratch.

3 games played, 9 goals scored, 3 successful debuts, at least 2 catchy new songs, and maximum points. That is the tally so far for a cruising Arsenal, and while the most bullish of fans are already stealthily adjusting their pre-season predictions upwards, the team prepares for what promises to be a tricky afternoon against Fulham.

It’s July 2019, and Arsenal sign 18-year-old William Saliba from Saint-Etienne. While excitement around the French defender’s talent was palpable, so was the worry that exposing such a precocious talent to the intense scrutiny of elite football may be a risk. What would happen if he made a mistake? Would an on-edge Emirates Stadium crowd, one notorious for being unforgiving and divided, be a safe space for him to blossom?

IT HAS been a dispiriting wait for Moira Stephenson since volunteering to host Ukrainian refugees in her home near Glasgow.

The 40-year-old mother of two adopted children had signed up to the UK government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme in late March, but the “incredibly frustrating” process had until last week resulted in nothing more than a “we’re sorry it’s taking so long” email.

Moira, who works in higher education, enrolled in the scheme as soon as it was announced by the government.

“Seeing

LATE on Saturday night, John Hülskemper sat in his Kharkiv apartment looking through his emails. A desperate plea from a woman named Inga comes through his inbox: “I have contacted you to inform you about my lost dog. We last saw it on 16 [of March].”

“Please help us find it because it is my life. The best friend of my family.”

Attached to the email are photographs of a perfectly groomed 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier.

Every morning, as bombs rain down on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kha