Matthew Richmond getting inked

WHAT better way to celebrate winning the Premier League after 22 years, than getting the memory permanently etched on your body?

That is exactly what has been happening at Flamin’ Eight tattoo studio in Kentish Town, where two Arsenal-themed tattoos have been completed and three more appointments already booked in.

Naresh Bhana, tattoo artist at the Castle Road parlour, said he has done hundreds of Gunners tattoos throughout his career, but believes there could be many more in the coming weeks following Arsenal’s triumph.

Mr Richmond’s new tattoo

He said: “It’s quite an easy thing to show your allegiance to your team. But obviously now they have won, people want to celebrate this moment in this way because they never know when it will happen again.”

When the Tribune popped into Flamin’ Eight, we met not one but two people who had chosen to permanently ink their love for their club onto their body.
Matthew Richmond, 42, who grew up in Holloway, was in the hotseat getting an Arsenal cannon tattoo. He said: “I’ve been supporting Arsenal since 1993, I was nine then and for the first 11 years we were very successful.

Above: Tattoo artist Naresh Bhana at Flamin’ Eight in Kentish Town with Ian Jno-Baptiste, sporting a new Gooner tattoo on his leg, below

“We were winning trophies all the time and it felt like we were out on the streets celebrating at this time of year, every year. And then it just stopped. It’s been 22 years – I kept my season ticket, kept going to games thinking we might never win anything again and then after this long build-up, we did it.
“I have had the idea of getting a tattoo for a while but now seemed the right time to do it.”
And while we were in the shop, Ian Jno-Baptiste also popped back in after getting his Arsenal tattoo just the day before. The 60-year-old, who is a railway signal engineer, said: “People were taking the mick out of us for years, calling us snowflakes – now look at us, we’ve done it.”