Daniel Bull has waited his whole life to see Arsenal win the Premier League, and the 22-year-old from north London will never forget the celebrations on Tuesday night. After sharing a bottle of champagne with Ian Wright as thousands gathered outside the Emirates Stadium, Bull and two friends took a gamble as the party wound down.
A Whisper Leads to a Nightclub Adventure
Bull heard a whisper that Arsenal's players were gathering at the exclusive Tape nightclub in Mayfair after watching Bournemouth draw with Manchester City, crowning the club champions for the first time since 2004. An Instagram video from Noni Madueke's mother showed the England forward returning home to acclaim before immediately announcing, 'I'm going out.'
One friend was reluctant after bouncers refused to confirm if players were inside, but Bull paid what he describes as 'not the cheapest' entry fee. His hunch proved correct when they bumped into set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, credited with a pivotal role in the title success.
'I couldn't believe what was happening,' Bull says. 'It's a very, very exclusive nightclub and we were the only Arsenal fans in there.'
Inside the Exclusive Celebration
Most of the squad and manager Mikel Arteta celebrated in a private room, but Bull bought a nearby table that cost him and his friends a small fortune. 'It was only about five steps from the lower part of the club, and we could see that Madueke was on the mic for most of the night; he was basically the MC,' Bull says. 'He was rapping the whole night.'
A few players wandered into the main part of the club. Bull spoke to Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, recently returned from a loan at Marseille. 'They were both really friendly,' he says. His Scandinavian friend chatted with Danish midfielder Christian Nørgaard. 'Because my mate's Norwegian, he was chatting to Christian Nørgaard, which was quite cool.'
Over two or three hours, they saw Declan Rice, Mikel Arteta, Viktor Gyökeres, Bukayo Saka, Jurriën Timber, and Eberechi Eze. 'I was with one of my housemates at the pub last night, and he was like: 'You shook Eze's hand!''
Viral Moments and Early Morning Wanderings
A short video of Arteta bellowing 'champions of England' on the microphone has gone viral, along with the manager photobombing Rice. The England midfielder was spotted wandering the Emirates with Saka, Timber, and Eze at 5am, wanting to soak up the occasion. Rice was 'still buzzing' and played nine holes of golf with a friend after a few hours' sleep.
For Bull, who attended every Arsenal away game in Europe this season and will be in Budapest for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, the night started at the Twelve Pins pub in Finsbury Park. He headed down the road as the full-time whistle blew at Bournemouth and couldn't believe his luck when Wright appeared clutching a bottle of champagne, even if the club's previous record scorer initially struggled to open it.
'It was carnage,' Bull says. 'The next thing you know, we start hearing: 'Ian Wright, Wright, Wright.' And me and my mate have just somehow ended up next to him. After he had his first sip of champagne, I had the second sip, and then my mate has the third sip. The only people who had that champagne bottle were basically my crowd of mates that we go with. And then I've now got that bottle at home with me.'
Bull hopes to get it signed by Wright, part of Arsenal's title-winning team in 1998, as a memento of an incredible evening that will take some beating. 'It was the definition of a pinch-yourself moment. I was in there thinking: 'What the hell is going on?' I think because we just rocked up when we did and we were so chill and happy to pay whatever. It was unbelievable.'
