Why should I be proud to be a gooner?

[I Hate Hleb]

Despite the understandable romanticism, the truth is No it's not. Certainly not any longer.

Arsenal is not about more than results 'any longer'...? Strange then that you (and others) only make that claim when results are poor.....

Pardon? What are you talking about? Are you saying I've only noticed that the Arsenal I grew up with and loved has changed because 'the results are poor' ? Need I remind you that I've followed this club since the 60's - and that's probably longer than you have - and throughout that time we had more than our fair share of poor results? To imply that I'm some kind of fair weather supporter who is only disenchanted with the club i grew up only a few hundred yards away from because of some results is not only wrong, but fucking disrespectful as well!!

Now rather than making unfounded and insulting accusations because some of us don't see the club with the same rose-tinted glasses you obviously still do, why don't you tell me the things that still make Arsenal special and different from other clubs?

[DB10GOONER]

Despite the understandable romanticism, the truth is No it's not. Certainly not any longer.

Arsenal is not about more than results 'any longer'...? Strange then that you (and others) only make that claim when results are poor.....

Pardon? What are you talking about? Are you saying I've only noticed that the Arsenal I grew up with and loved has changed because 'the results are poor' ? Need I remind you that I've followed this club since the 60's - and that's probably longer than you have - and throughout that time we had more than our fair share of poor results? To imply that I'm some kind of fair weather supporter who is only disenchanted with the club i grew up only a few hundred yards away from because of some results is not only wrong, but fucking disrespectful as well!!

Now rather than making unfounded and insulting accusations because some of us don't see the club with the same rose-tinted glasses you obviously still do, why don't you tell me the things that still make Arsenal special and different from other clubs?

Sorry Hlebby, did you not know that if your regular attendance at games doesn't correspond with the same time period as SuperfanJD's attendances (that's "nowdays", conveniently) then you are not a proper Gooner and thusly not entitled to comment?

[highburyJD]

prices were already too high in the early noughties
the board members then (friar, fiszman, hill-wood) all get slated on here now

but there was no talk of boycotts, no black scarves - the reason there are large swathes of people upset is because of bad results.
Surprising to hear anyone argue otherwise

Everyone on this thread is talking about childhood memeories of Arsenal - I haven't
yet still get part-timers with their 'superfan' bitching
I'm not going to apologise for supporting my local team or being able to afford tickets
doesn't make my opinion more relevant
sure as fek doesn't make it less relevant either

and Hlebby - wasn't making any accusations about fairweatherness BTW
no need to be over sensitive. Bad results = bad moods, for everyone.
I said: Arsenal is about so much more than trophies and results
you said no it isn't now, NOW
I just didn't think that held together as an argument

there's tons wrong with football - far too much of it applies specifically to Arsenal

[topgoon]

I love the Arsenal, I love the fans I have met over the years(the sane ones) and I love the away supprot, thinks it's the best in the league.

Who the f**k else sells out away to stinking Wigan on a midweek night.

What other sets of fans still turn up week in, week out after years of shite. Shite that existed in the 80s,some of the 90s and again now.

We get screwed by our own club,players yet we show the kind of optimism/hope/delusion that you don't get from the scum/shitty/chavs.

We've had to put up with diasappointment alot longer than any of those fans yet at varying stages this season all three have booed their team...WTF'ingF

I am proud to be a gooner because I am a fan of The Arsenal, so you scum muppets can call us woolwich all you want but we came to your gaff and conquered it ...North London is f**king ours and when the current tosser caretaker manager,team and owners bugger off, All of London will be ours AGAIN.

[1989]

Depressing thread.

[I Hate Hleb]

and Hlebby - wasn't making any accusations about fairweatherness BTW
no need to be over sensitive. Bad results = bad moods, for everyone.

Well it sure as hell seemed like it when you wrote "Strange then that you (and others) only make that claim when results are poor.....". Now if you had written the last sentence I've highlighted, rather than specifically pointing me out as moaning only because of bad results, then perhaps I wouldn't have felt the need to appear so 'sensitive'!!

I said: Arsenal is about so much more than trophies and results
you said no it isn't now, NOW
I just didn't think that held together as an argument

there's tons wrong with football - far too much of it applies specifically to Arsenal

NOW being since we left our spiritual home and the Board sold out to a yank that doesn't give a fuck about the club. And it can also include the years this manager - unlike any Arsenal boss before him - has been insulting not only the fans intelligence with all the same bullshit excuses, but actually patronises the fans with his condescending attitude to what we think.

As I've responded to your accusation of my argument not holding up, will you now answer my question from the previous post?

[highburyJD]

The what makes Arsenal special question?
I think several on here including Herd answered it pretty well,
as I mentioned my fear was any answer I gave would be met with 'superfan' nonsense
strange to be attacked for overexuberant obsessive support on a football fansite
most non bonkers non football fans wouldn't see much daylight between any of us...

the club is ultimately the fans, our church is the congregation not the spire
its a wide church including disparate wings that may never agree on key issues
but we will forever have shared passions and shared memories
some of the greatest moments of my life, like many others on here, are Arsenal moments

I miss Highbury, I hoped to take my kids there
I think the Premier League is an abomination, a disgusting example of unfairness
(I actually dislike the Prem principle even more than the bloated CL)
I hate football clubs being in private individuals hands, a disgusting idea

But I love the Arsenal
is that contradictory? Probably.
Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to point out cognitive dissonance in others.
but I suspect its just short term hurt speaking if Gooners say they have lost their pride.

[SWLGooner]

That's a top post JD.

[SteveO 35]

I'm still not quite sure how anyone can answer this question on someone else's behalf ?

[rick1989]

Because of our new away kit?????

if not, pass!

[I Hate Hleb]

....

the club is ultimately the fans, our church is the congregation not the spire
its a wide church including disparate wings that may never agree on key issues
but we will forever have shared passions and shared memories
some of the greatest moments of my life, like many others on here, are Arsenal moments....

Lovely sentiments JD but there's nothing in those words that fans of another club couldn't also claim to be the case with relation to them and who they follow. Augie summed it up better in his post on the previous page when he outlined some of the things that used to make Arsenal special and distinctive but, like I stated earlier, most of them disappeared a few years back.

[highburyJD]

That's what history is, things that used to be. Don't really understand the point of this thread.
People slate Wenger or the players,and some supporters take that personally,
one of the things they suggest is - go support Chelski

well if one hates our current setup/players/manager
has no pride in our history
and sees our support as nothing special or different from other teams
well maybe then it really is time to jack it in

[I Hate Hleb]

That's what history is, things that used to be. Don't really understand the point of this thread.
People slate Wenger or the players,and some supporters take that personally,
one of the things they suggest is - go support Chelski

well if one hates our current setup/players/manager
has no pride in our history
and sees our support as nothing special or different from other teams
well maybe then it really is time to jack it in

That's a disingenuous argument because you can't name one person or show one post that says there isn't pride in our history. Sure, a lot of gooners do hate the current set-up, some of the current players and even the current manager, but to come to the conclusion from that they should stop supporting the club they may have followed for many decades because of it is not just nonsense and childish in the extreme, but also perhaps one of the reasons why you've gained the reputation and label for being 'a superfan' that you claim you despise!!

[augie]

This thread appears to have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line

JD, can I just say that 99% of us on here love our club - we go to games, we watch matches on dodgy/shit streams if we cant be there, we read/listen to every piece of AFC news out there and we spent a load of time on here talking and complaining about the club we love so in essence our love for AFC consumes much of our lives. The original question, as I understand it, was asking what is it that sets us apart from all other clubs and makes us proud to be a Gooner and my answer (and several others have similar feelings) was that we no longer have anything that sets us apart from other clubs cos we no longer have the class and style (as a club) that we once had Dont confuse that sentiment with people saying that they no longer love the club cos the two are quite different

[hugh jardon]

This thread appears to have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line

JD, can I just say that 99% of us on here love our club - we go to games, we watch matches on dodgy/shit streams if we cant be there, we read/listen to every piece of AFC news out there and we spent a load of time on here talking and complaining about the club we love so in essence our love for AFC consumes much of our lives. The original question, as I understand it, was asking what is it that sets us apart from all other clubs and makes us proud to be a Gooner and my answer (and several others have similar feelings) was that we no longer have anything that sets us apart from other clubs cos we no longer have the class and style (as a club) that we once had Dont confuse that sentiment with people saying that they no longer love the club cos the two are quite different

I don't always agree with augie's post but what he says here is true. Class and style... The Arsenal... The marble halls... In days gone by even when we lost I was proud just to be an Arsenal man. Tradition, heritage whatever you want to call it, it's long gone.

To make things worse these days I feel totally taken for granted as a supporter. Even though I actually still bother to pay up to get to games I know full well my actual support is no longer as desirable to the club as the virtual support of someone who lives in Africa, Aisa or North America.

Purple away kits, selling RVP for football reasons, selling our best players every season, opening the new stadium with "quadrents", rip off ticket prices to watch average players, Ivan Gazidis corporate spin - all these things and much more make me feel more detached from my club than ever before.