We caught up with the man behind Arseblog, Andrew Mangan to talk about Arsenal shirts with towelling material, tippy-tappy Jack Wilshere goals and Ray Parlour pile-drivers.

Andrew shared his first and favourite shirts for Your First Football Shirt – a book of 30 interviews and illustrations raising money for CALM + Willow.

What was your first football shirt?

The yellow and blue away Arsenal shirts wore in the late 70s. It was made of some kind of weird towelling material if I remember correctly.

What is your favourite football shirt?  

The same shirt because it was the first one I ever saw Arsenal win a trophy in when they won the 1979 FA Cup final.

What is your favourite ever goal? 

It’s like asking somebody what their favourite song is. It changes so often, so at this moment in time I’m a big fan of the Jack Wilshere goal against Norwich – the tippy-tappy one with Olivier Giroud, just for its pleasing aesthetics. You can watch that goal here. Ask me tomorrow and it’ll be different though!

Today, being the tomorrow referred to above, my favourite goal is Ray Parlour’s pile-driver against Valencia in the Champions League!

Pick up your copy of the Your First Football Shirt book here and grab the illustration here.

Your First Football Shirt is a beautifully illustrated book of 30 interviews with footballers (including Alan Shearer, Lucy Bronze and Dwight Yorke) and famous fans (Josh Widdicombe, Dan Walker) about their first and favourite football shirts. All the profits go CALM and Willow charities.

Interview:  Andrew Mangan

Design:  Season Annual

Illustration:  Conal Deeney

You can read more from Arseblog here and if you are looking for a vintage Arsenal shirt checkout our marketplace here.