Arsenal Are the Premier League Champions!

Today, it was 103 degrees in Central New Jersey. But I didn't care: I wore a polyester shirt and a wool scarf.

Today, May 19, 2026, at 4:25 PM U.S. Eastern Time, 9:25 British time, despite a goal in the 95th minute, Manchester City ended its game with AFC Bournemouth in a 1-1 draw. This means that they cannot finish ahead of Arsenal FC in the Premier League table. This means that, for the 1st time since 2004, Arsenal are the Premier League Champions!

It is the 14th title for the club. Under the old format, the Football League First Division, they won in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1971, 1989 and 1991. Under the current format, the Premier League, they have won in 1998, 2002, 2004 (going unbeaten, the only team ever to do so) and now, 2026.

Having won the FA Cup right after his arrival as manager in 2020, having previously won it with Arsenal as a player in 2014, Mikel Arteta has now won the Premier League title as a manager.

Tonight, the 115 rule violations for which Man City have still not been punished don't matter. Their manager, Josep "Pep" Guardiola, who cheated like hell at FC Barcelona and then Bayern Munich before Man City decided they would do anything to win, legal or otherwise, leaving after next Sunday's season finale doesn't matter. All the cheating that was done to Arsenal in the intervening 22 years doesn't matter. All the accusations that Arsenal are "boring" (we've heard that before) or won because of VAR (Video Assisted Referee, as if getting calls right was a bad thing) don't matter.

All that matters is, Arsenal have triumphed.

Someone said online, "We've gone from the drama of the Aguero moment to referees watching a screen to give a foul from a corner to decide titles. Premier League is a mess."

Wrong. As if Sergio Agüero's goal to give City the 2012 Premier League title, before Guardiola got there, was better than Michael Thomas' goal to give Arsenal the 1989 title.

The Premier League is not a mess. It has reached the minimum it always should have. We have gone from referees giving Guardiola at City, Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and Jose Mourinho wherever he has managed (mostly at Chelsea), calls they didn't deserve; to forcing the referees to acknowledge their mistakes and get the calls right, so that the team that actually deserves to win the League title actually wins it.

It reminds me that, in 2015, Met fans demanded that Yankee Fans root for their team in the World Series, because they were "the New York team."

Really? Met fans have never rooted for the Yankees because they were the New York team in the World Series.

They didn't root for the Yankees in 1963, 1977, 1978, 1981 or 2024, when we were playing the Los Angeles O'Malleys.

They didn't root for us in 1962, when we were playing the San Francisco Giants, and wouldn't have rooted for us in any of the other seasons when the Giants, had they made it, would have played the Yankees.

They didn't root for us in 1964, against the St. Louis Cardinals.

They didn't root for us in 1976, against the Cincinnati Big Rose Machine.

They didn't root for us in 1998, against the San Diego Padres.

They didn't root for us in 1996 or 1999, no matter how much they hated the Atlanta Braves.

They didn't root for us in 2009, no matter how much they hated the Philadelphia Phillies.

They didn't even root for us in 2001, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after the 9/11 attacks, when New York really needed that World Championship, more than it needed the one the Mets won in 1969, more than it needed the one the Yankees won in 1977.

But Met fans wanted Yankee Fans to root for them in 2015, Oh, hell, no!

But then, baseball doesn't have promotion and relegation, does it? If it did, the Mets would currently be struggling to get back from Class AAA to the major leagues.

Now, there have been fans of other teams who have said they would rather see Arsenal, or anybody else, win it than see Man City (or, at least, Guardiola) win it again.

But the vitriol of people who didn't want to see Arsenal win it...

I know why. It's because Arsenal have always been seen as a "foreign team":

* The team began in 1886, and while some of the founding players were English, some were Scottish, including the original Captain, David Danskin.

* In the 1930s, they won the League 5 times, and the FA Cup twice, with Scottish forward Alex James and Welsh players, halfback Charlie Jones and forward Bob John.

* They won the League in 1948 and 1953, won the FA Cup in 1950, and were runner-up in both in 1952, with Scots Alex Forbes at right half and Jimmy Logie at inside right, and Welshman Walley Barnes at left back.

* They won the League and the FA Cup, "The Double," in 1971, with Scots Bob Wilson in goal, Frank McLintock as centerback and Captain, and George Graham and Eddie Kelly in midfield; Welshman John Roberts as another centerback; and starting right back and reserve left back Sammy Nelson were from Northern Ireland.

* They won the FA Cup in 1979 with "The Irish Connection." Midfield wizard Liam Brady, forward Frank Stapleton, and centerback David O'Leary were from Dublin. And 1971 holdovers Rice and Nelson, goalkeeper Pat Jennings, and manager Terry Neill were from Belfast. And centerback Willie Young was Scottish.

* Graham became manager in 1986, and built a League title winner that included 1979 holdover O'Leary, and one of the earliest continental Europeans to make a difference in the English League, Swedish midfielder Anders Limpar. He also built one of the earliest English Champions to have a significant black contingent, with players like David Rocastle and the aforementioned Michael Thomas. He then went back to Scandinavia to get Dane John Jensen.

* Arsène Wenger became manager in 1996, coming from France, and built a true United Nations roster, with Europeans, Africans, Europeans of African descent, South Americans. He won The Double in 1998 and 2002, went unbeaten in winning the Premier League in 2004, won FA Cups in 2003 and 2005, and reached the UEFA Champions League Final in 2006.

During this period, it became impossible to win the Premier League with a team of all Englishmen, or even of all men from the British Isles. A foreigner-filled lineup became necessary. But it seemed as though English referees were treating all Arsenal players as foreign, including the Englishmen; and all players on certain classically English teams -- the Manchester teams, the Liverpool teams, Chelsea, West Ham, Newcastle, etc. -- as English, regardless of their national origin.

Arsenal finished 2nd the last 3 seasons, behind Liverpool once and Man City twice. This time, nothing stopped them, not even a bad defeat to Man City a few weeks ago.

So, if you like, call them "the worst Premier League Champions ever." You have the right to be that stupid. Call them that.

As long as you call them the Champions.

Their game on this coming Sunday, away to South London team Crystal Palace, now means nothing. But the following Saturday, they will play in the Champions League Final for the 1st time in 20 years, against defending Champions Paris Saint-Germain, in Budapest, Hungary.

With the big domestic trophy in hand, there will be desire, but no desperation. The season is a success, regardless of what happens in Budapest.

But they've been the best team in the CL all season long. One more game.