Fleetwood Town revels in fairytale Carabao Cup win over Arsenal
League Two strugglers Fleetwood Town beat Arsenal on penalties in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night, and the fishing town has barely stopped celebrating since. The Gunners, Premier League champions and Champions League finalists last season, were knocked out by a side sitting 84 places below them in the football pyramid.
According to The Guardian, celebrations at Fleetwood's 5,300 capacity Highbury stadium went on until around 1.30am. Zsofia Wright, the club's ticket office and retail manager, described the mounting disbelief as the match unfolded. “We started getting what team had turned up, who'd flown in, and the whispers started, and it's like, 'oh, they've gone quite strong,'” she said. “So we were all planning to just enjoy the occasion. And then obviously, we went 1-0 up and everyone was kind of looking at each other, like this isn't supposed to be happening.”
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Wright said hopes of a reality check arrived when Arsenal equalised, “except that the clock kept on going and the score didn't change.” After the penalty shootout confirmed Fleetwood's win, fans and players reportedly flooded onto the pitch before heading to the stadium bar. “Just incredible,” Wright said. “We were here till about half one last night. It was brilliant, amazing.”
A strange shared history
The Guardian's report details an unlikely connection between the two clubs that long predates Tuesday's shock. Fleetwood's ground shares its Highbury name with Arsenal's old stadium, taken from the adjoining Highbury Avenue, and the League Two side play in red shirts with white sleeves styled on the classic Arsenal kit. Ray Curtis, a barman at the town's King's Arms, said: “Fleetwood's first ever kit, the home kit, was given to them by Arsenal.”
Supporters in the town spoke of the scale of the upset. Donald Maclean, who missed the match while working at a nursing home, said: “I saw the goals this morning and I was delighted, over the moon, imagine Fleetwood taking down the Gunners! Never been heard of before, so yes, we're all delighted about it. Brilliant!” Fan Michael Houton admitted he had thought the result impossible “because Arsenal shouldn't have got beaten should they? Not against Fleetwood.”
What it means for the town
Local punter Paul Dagger had staked £200 on Arsenal to win at half time odds of 10/7 after Viktor Gyökeres scored inside five minutes. “I thought, oh here we go, money's coming in now,” he said. “You live and learn.” Dagger believes the result could benefit the town more broadly, noting its high street is “full of charity shops and vape shops.”
Garry Gill, a retired Fleetwood fan, suggested the win could change how future opponents approach the club. “If they play with the determination they did last night, any team that comes to play now is going to be frightened,” he said. For Arsenal, the defeat ends their Carabao Cup campaign at the hands of a side four divisions below them, a result that will sting regardless of the competition's status in Arteta's priorities this season.
