“This is what any good cult should be about,” said Mark Barbeau, of the Bay Area Gooners, over breakfast in North Beach, San Francisco, after Arsenal beat Aston Villa 5-nil. Barbeau set up the Gooners, an Arsenal supporters group, in 2007, so that he and a handful of like-minded fans could watch the matches together at Maggie McGarry’s, an Irish pub in North Beach with an obliging, Arsenal-supporting barman. Eight years later, early morning match viewings regularly draw more than 50 supporters, the Facebook group is reaching 1,000 members, and soccer is well on its way to becoming a mainstream American sport. Barbeau isn’t complaining. “I love indoctrinating new people,” he...
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