By genuine coincidence, I had just reached this passage in Amy Lawrence’s Invincible: Inside Arsenal’s Unbeaten 2003-04 Season, when Arsenal executives announced 55 redundancies at the club last week.

“Llungberg had been there only a week when Pat Rice pulled him aside for a pep talk. He said, ‘You know Freddie, at Arsenal we have certain principles of the respect that you’re supposed to show everyone else around the club. Everyone is equal, we show everyone respect, and that’s special, that Arsenal spirit.’

… It maybe sounds silly, but when I changed club afterwards, I would still go and shake hands with the cleaners every morning, or the receptions, whatever. A lot of players don’t at other clubs. And that was something I was taught at Arsenal: you show respect to everybody, everybody has the same value and brings something so this club can go forward. And I felt that was special.” (P92)

The firings came after high-profile negotiations between management and players, in which players, with the intervention of a new, well-respected coach, agreed to a pay cut on the condition it would save staff who were put under strain by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. (The announcement, for added effect, came three days after a euphoric cup win for the club, following the worst season in 25 years.)