As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
I was a member of Aisa for years but they only want to rub shoulders with the club and organize dinners at the emirates . I know a few in the black scarf but Im not a member .
Guess we should say something about the last week, the opt-out/boycott, and all that followed. Where to start?
The best place to start is probably to reiterate who REDaction is and what we stand for. REDaction is basically half a dozen people, who came together from various other fans’ groups in 2003 to try to improve the atmosphere at Arsenal home games. In more than a decade since then, we have spent thousands of hours (all as volunteers) on that aim. Most of the time, we do very short-term/tactical things – like specific initiatives at specific games. We think most would agree that these generally go pretty well.
But sometimes, we get involved in longer-term/more strategic initiatives, which affect atmosphere in more indirect ways. For example, ticket prices are an issue that affect all fans – and as more fans are priced out of going to football, we think this has a detrimental effect on atmosphere. So, we join with other fans’ groups (both at Arsenal and from other clubs) to keep ticket pricing high on the agenda.
The Watford FA Cup tie was an example of this – season ticket holders had the opportunity to opt out. We decided to do this – and not give Arsenal and Stan Kroenke a further £36 (at least) that they do not need, will not spend, and that Stan Kroenke will most likely take back out of the club. The £3m extra gate revenue for an additional Category B game is the same amount as he has taken as ‘consultancy fees’ in each of the last 2 years – whilst refusing to lay out his vision for the club, or engage meaningfully with fans.
As it turned out, a couple of things happened.
1. We misjudged the mood of the majority of fans – most of whom weren’t in favour of opting out of an FA Cup Quarter Final. Many seem to be in favour of protesting, in principle at least (or at least keen that others protest) – but in practice, no time ever seems to be a good time to actually do it.
2. Several thousand fans did opt out, and their seats were re-sold to silver and red members. No bad thing in our view, as it filled the seats of season ticket holders who didn’t want to go (for whatever reason – and let’s not forget that thousands ‘opted out’ of the Swansea game, by simply not being bothered to show up and use seats they had already paid for), with people who don’t normally get the chance.
3. Our action succeeded in keeping the issue (of fans being squeezed for money by their clubs) on the agenda – it was on the back page of the Evening Standard, had big coverage in the Daily Mirror (among other places), and we had almost immediate contact from Arsenal to discuss the concerns behind the issue.
At this point, we should probably address a question that’s been thrown our way a lot over the past few days – didn’t we take an anti-Usmanov banner into the stadium in 2007? We did – an Arsenal board member (at the time) paid for it, we allowed our name and logo to be used on it, and we’ve said many times since that we shouldn’t have done that. Being anti-Usmanov does not mean we were pro-Kroenke at the time – we were backing the status quo of the ownership model as it was then. The challenges we face now are so different that they ought to make a piece of plastic from 9 years ago an irrelevance,
In the end, we decided to forego 90 minutes of football this weekend, to keep the focus on longer term issues that negatively affect atmosphere. Maybe after our owner’s comments at the weekend about championships not being his main motivation, more will join us next time – to transfer the (considerable) chatter online into some actual action. Whichever Arsenal fan group you prefer to listen to, the opinions (between us, AST, AISA, BSM and The Gooner) aren’t very different at all – about what the issues are, and what needs to be done. Despite the divisions in the fanbase, we will all need to work together for the long term benefit of our club. Together we are stronger.
Posted 5 hours ago by REDaction
They mention Kroenke, they mention Usmanov, they mention ticket prices, they mention the atmosphere inside the ground but not a peep about Lord A. Hole.
Guess we should say something about the last week, the opt-out/boycott, and all that followed. Where to start?
The best place to start is probably to reiterate who REDaction is and what we stand for. REDaction is basically half a dozen people, who came together from various other fans’ groups in 2003 to try to improve the atmosphere at Arsenal home games. In more than a decade since then, we have spent thousands of hours (all as volunteers) on that aim. Most of the time, we do very short-term/tactical things – like specific initiatives at specific games. We think most would agree that these generally go pretty well.
But sometimes, we get involved in longer-term/more strategic initiatives, which affect atmosphere in more indirect ways. For example, ticket prices are an issue that affect all fans – and as more fans are priced out of going to football, we think this has a detrimental effect on atmosphere. So, we join with other fans’ groups (both at Arsenal and from other clubs) to keep ticket pricing high on the agenda.
The Watford FA Cup tie was an example of this – season ticket holders had the opportunity to opt out. We decided to do this – and not give Arsenal and Stan Kroenke a further £36 (at least) that they do not need, will not spend, and that Stan Kroenke will most likely take back out of the club. The £3m extra gate revenue for an additional Category B game is the same amount as he has taken as ‘consultancy fees’ in each of the last 2 years – whilst refusing to lay out his vision for the club, or engage meaningfully with fans.
As it turned out, a couple of things happened.
1. We misjudged the mood of the majority of fans – most of whom weren’t in favour of opting out of an FA Cup Quarter Final. Many seem to be in favour of protesting, in principle at least (or at least keen that others protest) – but in practice, no time ever seems to be a good time to actually do it.
2. Several thousand fans did opt out, and their seats were re-sold to silver and red members. No bad thing in our view, as it filled the seats of season ticket holders who didn’t want to go (for whatever reason – and let’s not forget that thousands ‘opted out’ of the Swansea game, by simply not being bothered to show up and use seats they had already paid for), with people who don’t normally get the chance.
3. Our action succeeded in keeping the issue (of fans being squeezed for money by their clubs) on the agenda – it was on the back page of the Evening Standard, had big coverage in the Daily Mirror (among other places), and we had almost immediate contact from Arsenal to discuss the concerns behind the issue.
At this point, we should probably address a question that’s been thrown our way a lot over the past few days – didn’t we take an anti-Usmanov banner into the stadium in 2007? We did – an Arsenal board member (at the time) paid for it, we allowed our name and logo to be used on it, and we’ve said many times since that we shouldn’t have done that. Being anti-Usmanov does not mean we were pro-Kroenke at the time – we were backing the status quo of the ownership model as it was then. The challenges we face now are so different that they ought to make a piece of plastic from 9 years ago an irrelevance,
In the end, we decided to forego 90 minutes of football this weekend, to keep the focus on longer term issues that negatively affect atmosphere. Maybe after our owner’s comments at the weekend about championships not being his main motivation, more will join us next time – to transfer the (considerable) chatter online into some actual action. Whichever Arsenal fan group you prefer to listen to, the opinions (between us, AST, AISA, BSM and The Gooner) aren’t very different at all – about what the issues are, and what needs to be done. Despite the divisions in the fanbase, we will all need to work together for the long term benefit of our club. Together we are stronger.
Posted 5 hours ago by REDaction
As spineless as the team and manager itself
Just look at the pathetic way these mouldy social cavities try to worm their way out of that disgraceful I heart Wenker love parade!
Not getting out of it that easy. Their open dissent towards Usmanov only solidified Kroenke's position. Kroenke was the board's choice and letting the board fund their Sod off Jabba banner was tantamount to backing Kroenke. As ever, I see these clowns have yet again failed to mention Lord A-hole. The way they cower and hide from discussing him is hilarious. Almost as if they want to avoid the belt-whipping papa Wenger will dish out once they get back home
Red Action you can lump in the same pot as Kroenke, Walcott, Arseblogger, Wenker, etc...
A bunch of charlatans with no purpose who talk a big game but are ultimately nothing more than spineless bluffers, there to wet their beaks. Disgrace to the club
Guess we should say something about the last week, the opt-out/boycott, and all that followed. Where to start?
The best place to start is probably to reiterate who REDaction is and what we stand for. REDaction is basically half a dozen people, who came together from various other fans’ groups in 2003 to try to improve the atmosphere at Arsenal home games. In more than a decade since then, we have spent thousands of hours (all as volunteers) on that aim. Most of the time, we do very short-term/tactical things – like specific initiatives at specific games. We think most would agree that these generally go pretty well.
But sometimes, we get involved in longer-term/more strategic initiatives, which affect atmosphere in more indirect ways. For example, ticket prices are an issue that affect all fans – and as more fans are priced out of going to football, we think this has a detrimental effect on atmosphere. So, we join with other fans’ groups (both at Arsenal and from other clubs) to keep ticket pricing high on the agenda.
The Watford FA Cup tie was an example of this – season ticket holders had the opportunity to opt out. We decided to do this – and not give Arsenal and Stan Kroenke a further £36 (at least) that they do not need, will not spend, and that Stan Kroenke will most likely take back out of the club. The £3m extra gate revenue for an additional Category B game is the same amount as he has taken as ‘consultancy fees’ in each of the last 2 years – whilst refusing to lay out his vision for the club, or engage meaningfully with fans.
As it turned out, a couple of things happened.
1. We misjudged the mood of the majority of fans – most of whom weren’t in favour of opting out of an FA Cup Quarter Final. Many seem to be in favour of protesting, in principle at least (or at least keen that others protest) – but in practice, no time ever seems to be a good time to actually do it.
2. Several thousand fans did opt out, and their seats were re-sold to silver and red members. No bad thing in our view, as it filled the seats of season ticket holders who didn’t want to go (for whatever reason – and let’s not forget that thousands ‘opted out’ of the Swansea game, by simply not being bothered to show up and use seats they had already paid for), with people who don’t normally get the chance.
3. Our action succeeded in keeping the issue (of fans being squeezed for money by their clubs) on the agenda – it was on the back page of the Evening Standard, had big coverage in the Daily Mirror (among other places), and we had almost immediate contact from Arsenal to discuss the concerns behind the issue.
At this point, we should probably address a question that’s been thrown our way a lot over the past few days – didn’t we take an anti-Usmanov banner into the stadium in 2007? We did – an Arsenal board member (at the time) paid for it, we allowed our name and logo to be used on it, and we’ve said many times since that we shouldn’t have done that. Being anti-Usmanov does not mean we were pro-Kroenke at the time – we were backing the status quo of the ownership model as it was then. The challenges we face now are so different that they ought to make a piece of plastic from 9 years ago an irrelevance,
In the end, we decided to forego 90 minutes of football this weekend, to keep the focus on longer term issues that negatively affect atmosphere. Maybe after our owner’s comments at the weekend about championships not being his main motivation, more will join us next time – to transfer the (considerable) chatter online into some actual action. Whichever Arsenal fan group you prefer to listen to, the opinions (between us, AST, AISA, BSM and The Gooner) aren’t very different at all – about what the issues are, and what needs to be done. Despite the divisions in the fanbase, we will all need to work together for the long term benefit of our club. Together we are stronger.
Posted 5 hours ago by REDaction
And to think that The Cook took offence at the suggestion that redaction were in the clubs pocket
Anyway onto more current issues........please can the main people in the above organisations, get their heads together and sort out some sort of meaningful protest and soon ? Instead of talking about and bemoaning the divides in the fanbase, these groups should come together and unite the fans behind a demand for change that we all want. We have some crap home fixtures coming up (Watford, palace and Norwich) and all of them should be ripe for a boycott or protest of some sort - the palace game is actually a 4pm sunday sky game so it might be the best one for media exposure, although I would prefer action sooner rather than later
AISA & it's forerunner I can't remember the name / something like Arsenal Stadium Group were set up by a public relations company employed by Arsenal to counter the local nimbys & crustys anti stadium group (with some Middlesex supporters involved) who were dominating council public meetings at the time. This was confirmed to me directly by someone who worked for the PR company.
As soon as the stadium permission was granted AISA showed their true colours & just became a bitch of the club manipulating the supporters views & minimising any radical opposition against massive increases in ticket prices & implementing a change in the demographic of the clubs support in favour of more affluent customers.
I once angrily accused the anti stadium campaigners at a meeting at Islington Town Hall of social engineering & gentrification & trying to destroy working class culture in the borough by forcing the club to leave the area.
I didn't realise at the time that that was actually the real intention of the club moving to a new stadium, to market the club to a new demographic of supporter & to force out the traditional fans who had followed Arsenal for generations By imposing severe increases in ticket prices, season ticket costs & various membership schemes which cost the fan £50-60 BEFORE they can even purchase a match ticket at an extortionate price!
They don't need to necessarily have a party position but it is completely pathetic that they all ignore and apparently have no opinion on the biggest issue facing our club for the last decade.
If they'd rather content themselves with scoffing canapés with club officials discussing plans to put plastic cards on seats for whoevers turn it is to hammer us in the first leg of the CL last 16 then I hope they feel very important and representative of the fans.
Ironically the easiest short-term way to improve the atmosphere would be to get in a more exciting manager who doesn't play turgid football and whose yeam's annual capitulation isn't a foregone conclusion.
Surely if Wenger wad gone and fans werent booing and arguing amongst themselves it would "create a better atmosphere"
Not even to mention the shit performances under him
The challenges we face now are so different that they ought to make a piece of plastic from 9 years ago an irrelevance
Agreed, Red In-Action - the club's very own paid prostitute is a complete irrelevance. You can try all you like to airbrush your pathetic march out of the history books but everyone sees you for what you are - in the club's pocket.....always....forever.
. 
