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How football came first for Arsene Wenger: He promised his wife TWENTY YEARS ago that he'd quit in five years and his marriage broke down when he didn't

Football was famously far more important than life or death for Liverpool manager Bill Shankly - but Arsene Wenger took obsession with the beautiful game to a whole new level.

The newly-departed Arsenal boss would watch footage of matches from around the world after he got back from the training ground, and attended Arsenal games at all levels, from academy up.

His all-consuming fixation with football earned him the nickname 'Professor' with the club's fans, but seems to have cost him his marriage to his long-time love.

Arsene Wenger split from this wifeu00a0Annie Brosterhous after telling how his obsession with football was 'damaging' his family life because he was always thinking about the next game
Arsene Wenger split from this wife Annie Brosterhous after telling how his obsession with football was 'damaging' his family life because he was always thinking about the next game
Annie (pictured, left, in 2006 and, right, with Arsene and their daughter in 2005) got a legal separation from Wenger in a French court in 2015

Wenger split from his wife Annie Brosterhous in 2015 following a five-year marriage.