The President is preparing for his club’s Champions League trip to North London when he discovers that the visiting manager may be expected to bring a gift for his opposite number.
Knowing The Kid is familiar with English football, fantasy football and questionable fashion advice, he calls to ask for help.
A Champions League Trip to England
The President is looking ahead to an important Champions League knockout match against a club from North London.
He has already discovered one unexpected problem. According to the information he has received, visiting managers traditionally present their English counterpart with a gift.
The President has no idea what would be suitable.
Naturally, he calls The Kid.
The Kid Becomes the English Expert
The Kid may now live in Madrid, but the President believes his interest in English football makes him the ideal person to consult.
He follows Premier League players through fantasy football, understands many of the personalities involved and has recently shown a growing interest in fashion.
That combination should make him useful.
It does not necessarily make his advice reliable.
A Gift for Arsène Wenger
The manager waiting in North London is Arsène Wenger, one of the most recognisable figures in English football.
Wenger’s long touchline coat had become almost as famous as some of the players he managed. It regularly appeared during winter matches and inspired countless jokes, particularly whenever its zip refused to cooperate.
The Kid therefore proposes a jacket.
It is practical, appropriate for English weather and closely connected to Wenger’s familiar touchline appearance.
When Football Becomes Fashion
The President is not entirely convinced by the idea.
Wenger’s oversized coat has already become a distinctive fashion statement, attracting attention far beyond the football pitch.
A normal jacket may not be memorable enough.
The gift must suit the manager, survive a cold evening in North London and, ideally, avoid becoming another source of touchline difficulty.
The Long Coat Running Joke
Arsène Wenger’s coat became a long-running piece of football humour because of its extraordinary length and the manager’s occasional battles with the zip.
Supporters recognised it immediately. Television cameras frequently found Wenger trying to fasten it during matches, turning an ordinary item of club clothing into part of his public image.
Storybook uses that familiar visual joke as the basis for The Kid’s gift recommendation.
For once, his idea is not entirely unreasonable.
The Football Inspiration Behind the Comic
This strip was inspired by the 2014–15 Champions League round-of-16 meeting between the clubs represented in Storybook as Monte Carlo and North London.
The fixture carried additional significance because Arsène Wenger had previously managed the club from Monaco before beginning his long career in England.
Rather than concentrating on tactics or team selection, Storybook imagines the preparations taking place behind the scenes, where the President becomes concerned about diplomatic gifts and managerial fashion.
Characters Featured
The President
The President wants every detail of the Champions League visit handled correctly. His concern about an appropriate managerial gift leads him back to The Kid for another piece of questionable advice.
The Kid
The Kid is treated as an expert on England because of his fantasy football knowledge. His recent fascination with clothes also makes a jacket the first solution that comes to mind.
Arsène Wenger
The celebrated North London manager is represented through one of his most recognisable touchline features: the famously long winter coat.
The Visiting Manager
The President’s manager must prepare his team for an important European match while apparently also finding time to select an appropriate gift for his opposite number.
Behind the Gag
The President wants a thoughtful diplomatic gift.
The Kid suggests the first item of clothing associated with the opposing manager.
A jacket sounds sensible until they remember that Wenger already owns one of football’s most famous coats.
The real difficulty is finding anything capable of competing with it.
Looking Back
Originally published in 2015, North London used one of the season’s major Champions League fixtures as the backdrop for a joke about football etiquette and Arsène Wenger’s touchline wardrobe.
The episode also continued The Kid’s growing interest in fashion, although his advice remained firmly influenced by fantasy football and whatever he had most recently seen on television.
The next Storybook episode turns from managerial gifts to promises, plans and The Manifesto.
