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If there was ever a private person, Arsene Wenger would probably be him. Extremely calculated, alarmingly calm and measured to the inch, the man from France has ensured that only his rebuttals make the sports section.
The legendary manager of Arsenal has been at the helm for 16 years now, and he is still as mystical as the day he joined from a little known side from the J-league in Japan. He rarely gives interviews that pitch him as the primary subject, and that is why so little is known about the man. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about Wenger:
33179 Arsenewenger
33179 Arsenewenger, a main belt asteroid, was discovered on March 29, 1998 by Ian P. Griffin, a clear fanatic of Arsenal. He chose to name his discovery after the team’s manager Arsene Wenger, as a tribute to the Invincible season. Wenger is believed to be the only football manager with an asteroid named after him. The asteroid is between 3 and 9 kilometers in diameter, and orbits between Mars and Jupiter.
The Learned One
Arsene Wenger
Although a little ambiguous as to which degree Wenger completed, he certainly has an academic degree. Sources state that he completed his Economics degree in 1974 from Faculté des sciences économiques et de gestion (Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences) at the University of Strasbourg.
He is also rumored to have an additional degree in electrical engineering, which again cannot be corroborated. Either way, Le Professeur is as qualified in academia as he is on the field, if not more. He also, by the by, was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2003.
Very un-French
Arsene Wenger
Wenger didn’t speak French till he was 7 years of age, despite being brought up in Alsace. Instead, he spoke the Alsatian dialect of Low Alemannic German. This was common for Alsace, which was caught in the tussle between France and Germany, eventually becoming a part of France.
Alsatian is still being taught in schools, primarily as an additional language, as the Constitution of France states that French be the only official language of the Republic. Currently, Wenger can speak a total of three languages fluently – French, German and English and can also comprehend Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
Wenger’s family
Arsene Wenger with wife Annie
The Frenchman is married to Annie Brosterhous, a former schoolteacher and French Olympic basketball player. They have a daughter together named Lea. When he joined Arsenal in 1996, he reportedly told his wife that he would persist with football for another five years and that would be it. And here we are.
Wenger the player
He played too before taking up coaching
Wenger was introduced to football around the age of six-seven, and was a regular at football games in Germany. He reportedly had a soft corner for Borussia Mönchengladbach and his father doubled up as the village team coach. Wenger represented FC Duttlenheim, a local football club at the age of 12 as a defender-sweeper. He continued his youth career at Mutzig, a third division club. He graduated to the senior team in 1969, persisting with the team till 1973.
He then joined Mulhouse, studying alongside his aforementioned degree, playing 56 games for them. After two seasons, he came to amateur club ASPV Strasbourg. 3 seasons later, Wenger joined RC Strasbourg and playing his first game against AS Monaco. In 1981, Wenger wrapped his career as a player up, playing a total of 67 games, scoring 4 times, all of which he scored for Mulhouse.
