Forming a breakway club?

[Arsenal Till I Die]

Bloody Hell.

A nice simple opening post from a new forum member.

Whatever happened to 'Hi, my name is Alphonse and my favourite player is Jock Wilshere' etc.

Not new just lazy, he joined in November

Took them till now to type and complete their thesis- some of us are slow typists dont you know

Incidentally I used to love Jocky Wilson as well, will our jock ever get as big

[Jimmythecuckoo]

As a complete Devils Advocate on all this... Why has FCUM been so successful in a relatively short space of time?

Ok they will be non-league for a good while yet but fans enjoy going, have a good sing song and have a connection, & empathy with the players that turn out for them.

Of course AFC AFC would never rival the main club, but it would be looking for different things (at least I think that's what the original poster is suggesting).

I want to enjoy my football and at times it has been more enjoyable doing other things on a match day than watching Arsenal in the recent past.

[Clash]

Someone mentioned the MK Dons - hasn't that pretty much happened to us albeit in a far less obvious way ?

We may have only moved a mile from our old stadium rather than 50 miles to a new town ... and we may have kept our name (for the time being at least) and our red and white kit. But I think we are a million miles away from being the club we used to be. The move to the Emirates was dressed up as something noble but ...

[Henry Norris 1913]

following a football team that ain't the real deal would mean nothing to me. fair play to FCUM but surely the novelty has worn off and they realise they are never going to feel the high and lows they felt with the real manure. the only option is for the fans to club together and buy Arsenal themselves.

[StuartL]

Someone mentioned the MK Dons - hasn't that pretty much happened to us albeit in a far less obvious way ?

We may have only moved a mile from our old stadium rather than 50 miles to a new town ... and we may have kept our name (for the time being at least) and our red and white kit. But I think we are a million miles away from being the club we used to be. The move to the Emirates was dressed up as something noble but ...

It's not just the stadium move though is it.

Victoria Concordia Crescit - replaced by "forward"
Our historic club badge - replaced by our cartoon crest
Our distinctive kits of Red / White and Yellow / Blue - replaced by Redcurrant, Blue, Gold, Purple and Black stripes, White,

There isn't much of original Arsenal left now is there ?

Even a large percentage of our original fanbase has been replaced (or upgraded as no doubt the club would say)

[SteveO 35]

Bloody Hell.

A nice simple opening post from a new forum member.

Whatever happened to 'Hi, my name is Alphonse and my favourite player is Jock Wilshere' etc.

Not new just lazy, he joined in November

Took them till now to type and complete their thesis- some of us are slow typists dont you know

Incidentally I used to love Jocky Wilson as well, will our jock ever get as big

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/m ... rock-myths

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ao9p3ou7-U

[clockender1]

I'm all for it - as my club has gone :

historic ground - gone
historic crest - gone
cheap tickets - gone
guaranteed FAC final ticket for ST's - gone.
feeling it was our club - gone.

I have been thinking about it for a while and I feel personally we should go back to Woolwich Arsenal - which is closer to our roots as a community's team than the current soulless corporate bowl and its cartoon crest.

I would start a team in Woolwich, use our old Crest - which Arsenal PLC claims cannot be copyrighted, so it must be up for grabs....

If we start our own club now, are we any different to those chaps who borrowed 11 crimson shirts to form a workers team ?

and there's already a DLR station called Woolwich Arsenal.

i'd gladly join a finance campaign to start a new club - we could do it on Kickstarter or some similar crowdfunding site.

and as for competing with the PLC ? - don't care, let our kids worry about that - lets build a local club for ordinary blokes and fuck them tbh - and FC United are getting closer to the league each year and have already been in the FA cup 2nd round proper after just 9 years haven't they ?

i just checked - they need two promotions to get into division two.

where do you wanna be in 10-15 years time - your own 10,000 safe standing ground, or a half empty corporate bowl with the JCLs and tourists ?

I know where i'd rather be - "sarf Lahndahn Arsenal"....

[northbank123]

It just simply wouldn't be The Arsenal. For all the misgivings about the current situation the club still shines through in a lot of ways and still remains underneath.

[clockender1]

It just simply wouldn't be The Arsenal. For all the misgivings about the current situation the club still shines through in a lot of ways and still remains underneath.

like what ? - the 100 quid Nike 20 shirt ?

[northbank123]

It just simply wouldn't be The Arsenal. For all the misgivings about the current situation the club still shines through in a lot of ways and still remains underneath.

like what ? - the 100 quid Nike 20 shirt ?

Congratulations mate, you win the debate

[clockender1]

aaah thank you. i'm here most nights. try the fish...

[Swifty]

I can't agree with this idea. Some of the things that people are pissed off with I agree with - the symbolic things - however there is also a need to move with the times in other areas. It amazes me that our fans want to strangle the club leadership for not spending money but also criticize changes that have generated wealth. We want to win big trophies and compete with the elite but not if we have to change anything.

Now, unless you're all graduates of Arsenal football club I would assume that you either play with or played with another club at some point - that surely is your access to the meek yet endearing, genuine, salt of the earth, keep things the same end of the spectrum. For me it's Dudley Redhead United - the Thistles!

It's an interesting debate - I wonder how many supporters would be happier with keeping everything as it was, say in the 60s but playing in the 3rd division versus how many accept that ambition comes at a price.

This one is always going to be an agree to disagree thread I suspect.

[Herd]

Clockender your Historic ground is in ,er um ,Oh that's it in ISLINGTON !

As you might have observed from the parade which attracted 250,000 people the Majority of supporters come from within or close to the Borough or have Historic links to it .

Not many North London people are going to go South of the river and as Barnet know getting a ground in North London isn't easy .

Besides whose going to do it ,we cant raise enough people to put a protest banner up in the ground let alone start a football club !

[Jimmythecuckoo]

If you look at the ground grading requirements for certain levels of non-league football (and sorry for being a nerd on this) there is plenty of scope to do this.

Ground sharing with Cockfosters would get you as far as the Ryman league in all probability with minimal upgrades in terms of seating (as little as 50 seats) and covered standing (for as little as 100 people) getting you up the leagues.

Have a listen to the BBC Non League show podcast when Swampy from FCUM radio is on and tell me he misses Ryan Giggs?

He is having a whale of a time meeting new people, enjoying the game, not getting invovled in petty Twitter wars when teams win or lose and having a beer on the touchline whilst doing it.

I will always retain my love of the main Arsenal, but would definitely find a home in my life for a non league club. Its the best way to watch football nowadays.

[goonersid]

I feel that the angst with the way our club is run is misdirected when focused on Wenger, this just dilutes the power of the fan base. It should solely be focused on the the owners, who seek to create a profit making company out of a social activity that we are all incredibly emotionally connected. I find this a horrific situation. A football club could harness the good will of its fans in a much more socially powerful way, it could be a vehicle for good. Instead we are treated as customers of a product who are willing to pay whatever it takes to follow our club, we are treated in no different way than apple treat their customers, all though at least then you know that if your paying top dollar, your getting a top dollar product.

I can not be the only person that felt rather patronised by the way "thanks to our fans" was plastered around the victory parade, a real thanks to the fans would be to help them in their pocket, so they are able to support their families better or if the club actually got involved in the community in more than just superficial marketing ploys.

I feel the fans that are really horrified and scared in the direction the future of our club is going should band together to create a Arsenal FC breakaway. A club with the aim of usurping the current club, and bringing the football club under the ownership of the Arsenal Fans.

Creating a club that cares about the fans because those that run it are the fans seeking. A club that has compassion for the community that makes it. I know United fans have tried to do something like this, and so far have not been very successful, but we are better than them, much more able. I am sure if we worked together we could create a breakaway Arsenal Club owned by the fans. Anybody interested on taking Kroenke on?

Are you mental? Even I don't think it's that bad