Background: Arsenal fan for many years etc etc, went to Highbury regularly in the Rioch year and first four Wenger seasons, then went to Uni and couldn't afford it anymore, but continued my goonership avidly through TV and the press.
Problem: I don't know whether it's me growing up or an unpleasant shift in emphsis at the club but there appears to be a growing trend of shafting the average fan. This takes two key forms: firstly the financial squeezing of every drop of blood from loyal fans, secondly the propaganda machine that is the club website!
Clearly the club needs to utilise its brand to the maximum to compete with the other big teams in Europe (something we all agree is not being converted to tangible on-field assets this close-season), however, I for one feel used by the club for many reasons: the club shop is more expensive than anywhere else, and many of the items are just old tat, parents are held to ransom on match day by their kids in the shop (despite having spent a fortune on tickets for each game), snacks, drinks etc are appallingly priced and not very nice, tickets are expensive (given that on-field success is limited at the moment), you even have to pay for virtually everything of interest on the club website (which brings me on to my second point), which is a propaganda machine anyway. Do the website authors consider the fans to be completely stupid? Do they think that we will swallow the same rubbish, virtually the same dialogue year in year out? A case in point: on the website an article about Ljungberg and the value he will bring to the club next season, the next day he's at West Ham! Ridiculous.
The fans don't know what's going on at boardroom level, there is no transparency at all, David Dein (the reason we are at the heights we are today) goes and the fans know nothing, the team is suffering on the pitch, for the first time in years we have no top class players in the team, only top class potential (and before anyone says anything Fabregas hasn't yet achieved the level attained by Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira, Pires, Adams, Keown, Seaman and all the other truly top players we have seen in recent years), all around us our competitors, even the trash down the other end of the Seven Sisters Road have strengthened, yet, and this is the point of this post, we are squeezed for every penny and fed a load of corporate well rehearsed tripe. It's not good enough from a club like Arsenal. Not good enough at all.
Even though our chances this season of winning the Premiership are next to nothing, and fourth is going to be harder work this year than ever before, still I have that insane hope.... The curse of football supportership.
An unpleasant undercurrent
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Eboue Can't Defend
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Wed May 16, 2007 3:45 pm
- Location: LONDON
I think that most things you have said there is all ture
I'm a young Gooner with a season ticket & sometimes goes to away matches on coachs & recently i had the feeling i should just give up on the Arsenal because there ripping me & you apart
They say the have a good meal deal with a drink & a hot dog but it's the exact same price £5, no deal on that
The club shop i argee with you as recently i went on a tour of the stadium & afterwards a table full of Thierry Henry hats, keyrings, dolls etc were not slahed at all despite a notice thanking him for his time at the Arsenal & some items as you say are a con with bags of sweets going for £3 because they have a Arsenal logo on it
The board is as usefull as a chocolate fireguard
We're suppose to be one of the big clubs but the others are just laughing at us with no money hardly being spent on players we know off & succes hasn't come our way since we won the FA cup luckly back i 2005 against Manchester United
Man Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea have all won trophies ever since the big 4 first came into place
Utd have just won there first sliverware in a while but i can already Utd getting up to there old ways again in the transfer market & the supporters all suddenley appearing
Liverpool won two very good finals in which they could of been down & out very easily & showed excellcent fighbacks both times & includeing the chairty shield & now with American owners willing to spend the whole lot on one player is going to be hard to deal with at first but i'm sure/hope that it will come back into there faces
Chelsea have won the most cups with 2 leagues titles, a FA cup, a community shield & 2 league cups it is all down to the money they have had in recent seasons & all has chnaged since we last won the league in the best way ever
Since the 2004/05 season football has gone backwards with owners coming in buying & buying the 'best' around which may flop & throw crap into there faces
New stadiums (Liverpool), expanding (Man Utd) & new training centres (Chelsea) is all good for you's
It may do you's good for a while but wait till another team pops there heads back in & see how many people do turn up each week
& for Spurs Uefa cup might do you but do you think the fans will want a fat dutch man as the manger for that long? The last time i recall you winning a trophy it was out of luck in the last min & with a Gooner (Graham)
When he didn't finish to what fans wanted him to & the new board coming thorugh he gets sacked & brings in Glen Hod who the spurs fans thought that a cup win in 01 was coming
Arsenal has a very bright future & we're lucky enough to not have suffered as bad as all the cluns like Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool & Spurs
Arsenal in the near future might may getting taken over by a Yank but they will still keep it the Arsenal way in which Chapman would be proud off
Do you know any other team that claps all four sides of every ground to thank the fans for spending the well earned money to watch them play (& pocket them with loadas money)
Do you know a club in which the captain chooses what shirt the team all wear
Arsenal is something special & we're gonna become kings again & show the money spending lot what we're all about
We're the Arsenal
This is what Arsenal is all about
I'm a young Gooner with a season ticket & sometimes goes to away matches on coachs & recently i had the feeling i should just give up on the Arsenal because there ripping me & you apart
They say the have a good meal deal with a drink & a hot dog but it's the exact same price £5, no deal on that
The club shop i argee with you as recently i went on a tour of the stadium & afterwards a table full of Thierry Henry hats, keyrings, dolls etc were not slahed at all despite a notice thanking him for his time at the Arsenal & some items as you say are a con with bags of sweets going for £3 because they have a Arsenal logo on it
The board is as usefull as a chocolate fireguard
We're suppose to be one of the big clubs but the others are just laughing at us with no money hardly being spent on players we know off & succes hasn't come our way since we won the FA cup luckly back i 2005 against Manchester United
Man Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea have all won trophies ever since the big 4 first came into place
Utd have just won there first sliverware in a while but i can already Utd getting up to there old ways again in the transfer market & the supporters all suddenley appearing
Liverpool won two very good finals in which they could of been down & out very easily & showed excellcent fighbacks both times & includeing the chairty shield & now with American owners willing to spend the whole lot on one player is going to be hard to deal with at first but i'm sure/hope that it will come back into there faces
Chelsea have won the most cups with 2 leagues titles, a FA cup, a community shield & 2 league cups it is all down to the money they have had in recent seasons & all has chnaged since we last won the league in the best way ever
Since the 2004/05 season football has gone backwards with owners coming in buying & buying the 'best' around which may flop & throw crap into there faces
New stadiums (Liverpool), expanding (Man Utd) & new training centres (Chelsea) is all good for you's
It may do you's good for a while but wait till another team pops there heads back in & see how many people do turn up each week
& for Spurs Uefa cup might do you but do you think the fans will want a fat dutch man as the manger for that long? The last time i recall you winning a trophy it was out of luck in the last min & with a Gooner (Graham)
When he didn't finish to what fans wanted him to & the new board coming thorugh he gets sacked & brings in Glen Hod who the spurs fans thought that a cup win in 01 was coming
Arsenal has a very bright future & we're lucky enough to not have suffered as bad as all the cluns like Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool & Spurs
Arsenal in the near future might may getting taken over by a Yank but they will still keep it the Arsenal way in which Chapman would be proud off
Do you know any other team that claps all four sides of every ground to thank the fans for spending the well earned money to watch them play (& pocket them with loadas money)
Do you know a club in which the captain chooses what shirt the team all wear
Arsenal is something special & we're gonna become kings again & show the money spending lot what we're all about
We're the Arsenal
This is what Arsenal is all about
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tompfarrell
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:28 pm
- Location: Islington, London
stats wrote:Arsenal in the near future might may getting taken over by a Yank but they will still keep it the Arsenal way in which Chapman would be proud off
Do you know any other team that claps all four sides of every ground to thank the fans for spending the well earned money to watch them play (& pocket them with loadas money)
Do you know a club in which the captain chooses what shirt the team all wear
Arsenal is something special & we're gonna become kings again & show the money spending lot what we're all about
We're the Arsenal
This is what Arsenal is all about
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tompfarrell
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:28 pm
- Location: Islington, London
Chapman would be ashamed at how the players now only get half way to the centre circle before "applauding" the fans. They don't even get in a straight line anymore. It's a mess and I want to talk to the powers that be in an effort to resolve this. This really means a lot to me because no other Club does that.stats wrote:Arsenal in the near future might may getting taken over by a Yank but they will still keep it the Arsenal way in which Chapman would be proud off
Do you know any other team that claps all four sides of every ground to thank the fans for spending the well earned money to watch them play (& pocket them with loadas money)
Do you know a club in which the captain chooses what shirt the team all wear
Arsenal is something special & we're gonna become kings again & show the money spending lot what we're all about
We're the Arsenal
This is what Arsenal is all about
I watched the game last night on TV online. When the whistle went Bendtner, who was down near the tunnel with a few other players, just turned to the Arsenal fans and clapped once. He couldn't even be bothered to walk over to them. And he wasn't the only one. The players have no respect for us.
The way the Club conducts themselves is also a little disappointing at times. I mean I like the way all our transfer dealings are very clandestine but please don't lead us on. "Super, super class players". Do me a favour. The whole "Freddie's experience is invaluable" "Freddie completes West Ham transfer" bollix infuriates me too.
completly agree with all coments arsenal needs to take more notice of the fans the average bloke not the corporate banker sorts im not naive i know that a club level box whatever costs equivalent to three or so normal seats but it takes the piss that arsenal is sooo comercial, yet they seem to think that a yank would be the worst thing to happen.
I could care less if we got taken over by an iranian or american because at the moment the current board doesnt seem to be going out on a limb to please the average ffans and if kroenke or whoever came in it wouldnt be to implausible that he would want to appeal to the masses the glazers and the gillettes seem to have done well.
I looked at new anfields pictures and i was impressed the gillettes had taken consideration of the fans and remodeled yet kept the kop end. yet us gooners were never consulted for fuck sake no one ever asked us if we liked walking into "quadrants" named after colours or the fact that the clock is outside the stadium. im not saying an american would fix things im just saying the current regime doesnt seem to regard us as important enough to consult and it never has. so why i wonder are people so quick to defend them when they dont give a damn about us were just membership numbers.
I could care less if we got taken over by an iranian or american because at the moment the current board doesnt seem to be going out on a limb to please the average ffans and if kroenke or whoever came in it wouldnt be to implausible that he would want to appeal to the masses the glazers and the gillettes seem to have done well.
I looked at new anfields pictures and i was impressed the gillettes had taken consideration of the fans and remodeled yet kept the kop end. yet us gooners were never consulted for fuck sake no one ever asked us if we liked walking into "quadrants" named after colours or the fact that the clock is outside the stadium. im not saying an american would fix things im just saying the current regime doesnt seem to regard us as important enough to consult and it never has. so why i wonder are people so quick to defend them when they dont give a damn about us were just membership numbers.
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michael jones
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:47 pm
do we need the yanks money
hi
yust a quick one am l the only one who is getting pissed of
the roomers going around that the yank want to buy Arsenal
fc do we need the cash
herbertchapon will be turning in his grave
if we sold out to the yanks heres one ticket they can have MINE
here come my tickets.
from michael
yust a quick one am l the only one who is getting pissed of
the roomers going around that the yank want to buy Arsenal
fc do we need the cash
herbertchapon will be turning in his grave
if we sold out to the yanks heres one ticket they can have MINE
here come my tickets.
from michael
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michael jones
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:47 pm
do we need the yanks money
hi
yust a quick one am l the only one who is getting pissed of
the roomers going around that the yank want to buy Arsenal
fc do we need the cash
herbertchapon will be turning in his grave
if we sold out to the yanks heres one ticket they can have MINE
here come my tickets.
from michael
yust a quick one am l the only one who is getting pissed of
the roomers going around that the yank want to buy Arsenal
fc do we need the cash
herbertchapon will be turning in his grave
if we sold out to the yanks heres one ticket they can have MINE
here come my tickets.
from michael
the assumption that herbert chapman would not agree with a takeover is puzzling its not even about money now. why does everyone seem to think that the current board are angels and that kroenke is the devil coming to infect us all with his dollars.
the current board treat fans like shite they're not bothered at all about your welfare unless you pay for a diamond box thingy or whatever, they are only worried about the contents of thier wallets thats why they have put a lockdown TILL APRIL if they were serious to never sell the why put a timescale on selling shares. the want MAXIMUM PROFIT. now im not a kroenke loving yank but if some investment came in a diffrent board in the style of ashley at newcastle they would want to please the fans. Im not concerned about big transfers so done take me for one of those ignorant fellows who expect to see samuel etoo or kaka waltzing through the emirates.
i just want the club to have its fans at the fore front, because after all we have the club in our thoughts everyday, why then should they not grant us courtesy in having cheaper prices not even for admision even grossly overpriced food.And to micheal jones who would give up his ticket if "the yanks came", come april i wouldnt mind havin that thank you.
the current board treat fans like shite they're not bothered at all about your welfare unless you pay for a diamond box thingy or whatever, they are only worried about the contents of thier wallets thats why they have put a lockdown TILL APRIL if they were serious to never sell the why put a timescale on selling shares. the want MAXIMUM PROFIT. now im not a kroenke loving yank but if some investment came in a diffrent board in the style of ashley at newcastle they would want to please the fans. Im not concerned about big transfers so done take me for one of those ignorant fellows who expect to see samuel etoo or kaka waltzing through the emirates.
i just want the club to have its fans at the fore front, because after all we have the club in our thoughts everyday, why then should they not grant us courtesy in having cheaper prices not even for admision even grossly overpriced food.And to micheal jones who would give up his ticket if "the yanks came", come april i wouldnt mind havin that thank you.
