Wojciech Szczesny may have left Arsenal seven years ago – but he remains a firm fan favourite at the Emirates.
The 34-year-old came through the club’s famous Hale End academy, where he made 181 appearances – winning two FA Cups.
His breakthrough season came in the 2010/11 campaign, where he capitalised on injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski to establish himself as the Gunners’ No.1.
And while he was partly at fault for Obafemi Martins’ dramatic winner in the League Cup final in February 2011, he quickly endeared himself to the Arsenal faithful.
Szczesny, who has recently joined Barcelona on a deal until the end of the season, flattened Gareth Bale twice – much to the delight of Gooners.
His first north London derby against Tottenham came in April 2011, and he certainly left a lasting impression – on both fans and Bale.
Both incidents involving the two players came in the first half of the six-goal thriller at White Hart Lane, which finished honours even at 3-3.
Their first tussle came in the 37th minute as Bale looked to get on the end of a bouncing ball inside the box – only for Szczesny to come out and claim it.
But in doing so, he left Bale on a heap in the floor after making contact with the Welshman as he jumped high above him, before accidentally elbowing his head after landing on the forward.
It forced a delay in stoppage with the winger requiring medical attention, who he would also need just before half-time.
In the second incident – which lives long in the memory of Arsenal fans – Szczesny reacted brilliantly to deny Bale from getting on the end of a pass.
Rafael van der Vaart, who scored twice in the encounter to rescue a point for Spurs, floated the ball in beyond Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna.
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Out like a flash having sensed the danger, Szczesny sprinted to palm the ball away for a throw-on just as Bale looked to shoot – completely wiping him out in the process.
It saw Bale somersaulting over the Poland international following the coming together, where he landed on his head, leading to huge appeals from the Spurs fans for a penalty.
Knowing he got the ball, Szczesny calmed walked back to his goal where he gave teammate Johan Djourou a wry smile and cheeky wink.
It was the moment that cemented himself as an Arsenal cult hero.
While Szczesny was accidentally whacked by Bale as the duo went for the ball, it was the latter who came out second best.
For the second time in under ten minutes, the Spurs medics were out on the pitch to tend to the former Southampton starlet.
A stretcher was even brought on, though Bale was able to gingerly walk off following the half-time whistle.
But he failed to make it out for the second half, which saw Arsenal fail to hold onto their lead in what was a typically classic end-to-end north London derby.
After Szczesny riled up the Spurs faithful following his hefty collisions with Bale, he began to make it a regular occurrence by winding them up on social media.
Following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in September 2013, he shared a video of himself playing the piano to the tune of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’.
The tune is used for Spurs’ famous chant, with Arsenal fans having their own version referencing their two league title wins won on enemy soil.
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Even during his loan spell at Roma in 2016, he mocked Spurs following their 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on the final day of the season, which saw Arsenal pip them to second spot.
It meant that Arsenal finished above their rivals in the league for the 21st consecutive season.
This time uploading a video of himself singing, Szczesny chanted: ‘It’s happened again, it’s happened again, Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again.”
Even after his permanent Arsenal exit in 2017 to Juventus, he still couldn’t help but poke fun at Tottenham.
After the Old Lady knocked Spurs out of the Champions League in 2018, he gestured to the fans to ‘keep their chins up’, before posting ‘North London is Red’ on X.
While Szczesny may never have lived up to his full potential at Arsenal, he will be forever remembered fondly.
And he’s living proof that you may take the man out of Arsenal, but you can never take the Arsenal out of the man.
