THE ARSENAL TRADITIONS

[g88ner]

It's official - g88ner has no soul

[LDB]

I hardly think that switching back to suits is going to be a magic fix to our trophy drought and I'm not a professional footballer but in my personal experience having to dress smartly for games instils a level of professionalism and focus that rocking up in trackies just doesn't.

My personal experience is that wearing a suit makes me feel like a right *word censored*, can't stand it.

Horses for courses

[Brady's left peg]

Tracksuits and I pods= lead to very relaxed players.... probably explains why we start a lot of games in the same fucking vein!

[Brady's left peg]

Nothing new there then. How many badge and name changes have we had down the years? how many stadium moves? how many dodgy kits? hell, we even moved boroughs!

I have no problem with changing the shirt badge, but that crest and the latin were almost as old as Highbury, and Highbury was where modern football was born, it really was the crucible of modern football in so many ways and unlike the previous grounds and crest which were around for 5-10 years each, this is generations of history we're talking about being wiped away - the Chapman and Tom Whittaker Legacy, George Allison (who gave us "one Nil to The Arsenal", the Arsenal of the 1950's, the first Double team of the 1970's - there was a continous progression of those teams and the club's History at The Home of Football.

When you went to Highbury and walked around the stadium and saw the pitch you knew that decades of legends had walked that turf, Highbury was Arsenal, harking back to a unique history in the world game - the first team to win the World Cup (okay actually its predecessor but still...).

The sense of History was everywhere, it was a large part of the clubs identity - even when we were consistantly poor, we were referred to as a 'sleeping giant' in the press and we were known as "North London Giants, Arsenal" , our giantness founded on our History not our consistent success, you can't ever imagine Man City or Chelsea being called giants can you ?

The teams of the late seventies with Brady and Stapleton destroying the opposition, backed by the industriousness of Young, Price, Rice and Devine and the direct play of Sunderland, played the "Arsenal way" it wasn't just under George, it was under Terry Neil too.

But when George came back to Arsenal after we'd gone 17 years without a title, he was "An Arsenal Man" , he knew what a privilege and honour it was to pull on the famous red and white sleeved shirt and grace the holy turf - and he inherited a team of underperforming international superstars - Nicholas, Mariner, Woodcock, ViV Anderson, Samson, etc who had been pampered by former England Coach Don Howe, and he made them cut their hair, put a tie on , or he shipped them out, believing that you had to earn the Arsenal shirt and behave with class when representing the Club.

Like Liverpools 'boot room' of the 70's GG believed the clubs past had a part to play in its future - which is why club Legends like Geordie Armstrong, Bob Wilson and Pat Rice worked with the kids to instill Arsenal values of hard work, grit, determination, fair play, and putting the team before yourself, which produced diamonds from the rough edges of Adams, Keown, Thomas, Davis, Rocastle, Smith, Bould, Dixon, and Winterburn.

Of the team that won up at Anfield, only Marwood, Smith, Keown and Lukic came from other 1st Division clubs - and Keown was an Arsenal schoolboy anyway...

The run to the 1994 ECWC Final win was part of Arsenal's History too - Highbury on a European Night was magical, the Torino and PSG wins "Arsenal-like" victories a mixture of graft and skill.

Wenger inherited the famous five from George, and that was the foundation of the first Double and the springboard for the young talent that Wenger brought in.

So the History ran through all that, it ran deep and because of that we were known worldwide as THE Arsenal, singular, only one - there's no THE chelsea, united, liverpool or everton in the English vocablulary is there ?

But hey, it was okay to trash 80 years of history to make a few extra quid in the good times off the JCL's, tourists and those that would buy a hat for a tenner off the street stalls huh ?

I mean, in 1998,1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 it wasn't like we weren't competing was it ? - and its not like Marseille, Lyon, Valencia and Sevilla can't consistently challenge at home and in Europe can they ?. Or that LIverpool with their 'small ground' didn't win a European Title in 2005 and reach the final again in 2007 is it ?

We sold our soul.

Can I re-iterate what a few have already said... great post, and I think quite a few of us on here feel the same way.

[g88ner]

Nothing new there then. How many badge and name changes have we had down the years? how many stadium moves? how many dodgy kits? hell, we even moved boroughs!

I have no problem with changing the shirt badge, but that crest and the latin were almost as old as Highbury, and Highbury was where modern football was born, it really was the crucible of modern football in so many ways and unlike the previous grounds and crest which were around for 5-10 years each, this is generations of history we're talking about being wiped away - the Chapman and Tom Whittaker Legacy, George Allison (who gave us "one Nil to The Arsenal", the Arsenal of the 1950's, the first Double team of the 1970's - there was a continous progression of those teams and the club's History at The Home of Football.

When you went to Highbury and walked around the stadium and saw the pitch you knew that decades of legends had walked that turf, Highbury was Arsenal, harking back to a unique history in the world game - the first team to win the World Cup (okay actually its predecessor but still...).

The sense of History was everywhere, it was a large part of the clubs identity - even when we were consistantly poor, we were referred to as a 'sleeping giant' in the press and we were known as "North London Giants, Arsenal" , our giantness founded on our History not our consistent success, you can't ever imagine Man City or Chelsea being called giants can you ?

The teams of the late seventies with Brady and Stapleton destroying the opposition, backed by the industriousness of Young, Price, Rice and Devine and the direct play of Sunderland, played the "Arsenal way" it wasn't just under George, it was under Terry Neil too.

But when George came back to Arsenal after we'd gone 17 years without a title, he was "An Arsenal Man" , he knew what a privilege and honour it was to pull on the famous red and white sleeved shirt and grace the holy turf - and he inherited a team of underperforming international superstars - Nicholas, Mariner, Woodcock, ViV Anderson, Samson, etc who had been pampered by former England Coach Don Howe, and he made them cut their hair, put a tie on , or he shipped them out, believing that you had to earn the Arsenal shirt and behave with class when representing the Club.

Like Liverpools 'boot room' of the 70's GG believed the clubs past had a part to play in its future - which is why club Legends like Geordie Armstrong, Bob Wilson and Pat Rice worked with the kids to instill Arsenal values of hard work, grit, determination, fair play, and putting the team before yourself, which produced diamonds from the rough edges of Adams, Keown, Thomas, Davis, Rocastle, Smith, Bould, Dixon, and Winterburn.

Of the team that won up at Anfield, only Marwood, Smith, Keown and Lukic came from other 1st Division clubs - and Keown was an Arsenal schoolboy anyway...

The run to the 1994 ECWC Final win was part of Arsenal's History too - Highbury on a European Night was magical, the Torino and PSG wins "Arsenal-like" victories a mixture of graft and skill.

Wenger inherited the famous five from George, and that was the foundation of the first Double and the springboard for the young talent that Wenger brought in.

So the History ran through all that, it ran deep and because of that we were known worldwide as THE Arsenal, singular, only one - there's no THE chelsea, united, liverpool or everton in the English vocablulary is there ?

But hey, it was okay to trash 80 years of history to make a few extra quid in the good times off the JCL's, tourists and those that would buy a hat for a tenner off the street stalls huh ?

I mean, in 1998,1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 it wasn't like we weren't competing was it ? - and its not like Marseille, Lyon, Valencia and Sevilla can't consistently challenge at home and in Europe can they ?. Or that LIverpool with their 'small ground' didn't win a European Title in 2005 and reach the final again in 2007 is it ?

We sold our soul.

Can I re-iterate what a few have already said... great post, and I think quite a few of us on here feel the same way.

I doubt many (if any) disagree with the sentiment, but that doesn't mean moving stadium was the wrong decision for the future of the club.

[northbank123]

I doubt many (if any) disagree with the sentiment, but that doesn't mean moving stadium was the wrong decision for the future of the club.

Similarly even if moving stadium was the right decision it doesn't mean that it's been handled in anything like the correct manner, or that it necessitated a lot of the changes that have been bemoaned on here

[Brady's left peg]

I doubt many (if any) disagree with the sentiment, but that doesn't mean moving stadium was the wrong decision for the future of the club.

I will re-post this from page 1 just for you g88ner....

Our traditions were left behind at Highbury! Only an out of touch board would have to bring in an Arsenalisation project.
Not one of those geriatric cronies had the foresight to retain the stand names and the clock at the concrete sugar bowl, and they only returned because of fan pressure leading to project Arsenalisation.
Whilst what Flamini did was not very intelligent on his part, the club have done far more damage to the traditions of The Arsenal than one player could ever do.

For the club to progress it was probably necessary to move to a bigger stadium but as I stated in my post, no consideration was given to the clubs traditions when we moved. You seem to be trying to justify the club trampling all over in some cases age old traditions by saying it was the right thing to move stadium, I don't disagree with you I just believe as Northbank has said... it could of been handled a lot better by the club and maybe, just maybe it might of been accepted as our new home. Instead of that a lot of us hate the place.... it has no soul... a bit like your good self then g88ner

[augie]

The thing re accepting/not accepting the new stadium is the concept in which it was pitched to us - the idea was trotted out with big fanfare stating that we were about to join the ranks of the worlds elite club but the reality has been a totally different story. Not having huge money to invest in improving the squad in the short term is one thing, but having to sell all our best players is a different story altogether and suggests a mid table club and not that of the worlds elite Accumulating huge cash reserves whilst the quality of the team is deteriorating at an alarming rate, is the polar opposite to what was promised to the fans when the idea of the new stadium was rolled out.
Moving to the grove has allowed me far more access to tickets than would have been the case had we of stayed at highbury but I know that if it was to happen again, there is no way that the club would have got my backing and that of thousands of other Gooners

[Theoperator]

The thing re accepting/not accepting the new stadium is the concept in which it was pitched to us - the idea was trotted out with big fanfare stating that we were about to join the ranks of the worlds elite club but the reality has been a totally different story. Not having huge money to invest in improving the squad in the short term is one thing, but having to sell all our best players is a different story altogether and suggests a mid table club and not that of the worlds elite Accumulating huge cash reserves whilst the quality of the team is deteriorating at an alarming rate, is the polar opposite to what was promised to the fans when the idea of the new stadium was rolled out.
Moving to the grove has allowed me far more access to tickets than would have been the case had we of stayed at highbury but I know that if it was to happen again, there is no way that the club would have got my backing and that of thousands of other Gooners

Bloody Hell mate AGAIN? I can only cope with one move a century

I do miss Highbury for reasons as stated, but TBH The Grove of a matchday evening is an impressive sight to say the least- it just doesnt seem to intimidate opposition like it should. I guess a grounds tradition though does take time to build .

I bet when we do move again in 100 years to a 200,000 stadium there will be a fans outcry then, perhaps lessons from this move maybe taken on board though

At least we didnt move to ****** Keynes.

[beck]

I'm not going to excuse Gallas for his actions that day at Brum but I can relate to them. I actually believe I had a combined heart attack and mild nervous breakdown that afternoon, a truly horrific experience all round. I remember still being in a spin the following day, I thought my head was going to explode. Clichy you fucking prick

fuck that
he was arsenal captain
no player should have been sitting up the pitch in his own private idaho when there was a possible penalty miss to defend
he should have gone in the dressing room and took the paint off the walls and the message should have been we got a point and are top of the table after a tricky day
not the white flag waving and feeling sorry for ourselves that has been far to prevelant since the back end of that season
it was reflected in the stands the following weekend for the home game with villa and it fucking sickens me
we are the arsenal for fuck sack
all connected must act like it aways

[beck]

Nothing new there then. How many badge and name changes have we had down the years? how many stadium moves? how many dodgy kits? hell, we even moved boroughs!

I have no problem with changing the shirt badge, but that crest and the latin were almost as old as Highbury, and Highbury was where modern football was born, it really was the crucible of modern football in so many ways and unlike the previous grounds and crest which were around for 5-10 years each, this is generations of history we're talking about being wiped away - the Chapman and Tom Whittaker Legacy, George Allison (who gave us "one Nil to The Arsenal", the Arsenal of the 1950's, the first Double team of the 1970's - there was a continous progression of those teams and the club's History at The Home of Football.

When you went to Highbury and walked around the stadium and saw the pitch you knew that decades of legends had walked that turf, Highbury was Arsenal, harking back to a unique history in the world game - the first team to win the World Cup (okay actually its predecessor but still...).

The sense of History was everywhere, it was a large part of the clubs identity - even when we were consistantly poor, we were referred to as a 'sleeping giant' in the press and we were known as "North London Giants, Arsenal" , our giantness founded on our History not our consistent success, you can't ever imagine Man City or Chelsea being called giants can you ?

The teams of the late seventies with Brady and Stapleton destroying the opposition, backed by the industriousness of Young, Price, Rice and Devine and the direct play of Sunderland, played the "Arsenal way" it wasn't just under George, it was under Terry Neil too.

But when George came back to Arsenal after we'd gone 17 years without a title, he was "An Arsenal Man" , he knew what a privilege and honour it was to pull on the famous red and white sleeved shirt and grace the holy turf - and he inherited a team of underperforming international superstars - Nicholas, Mariner, Woodcock, ViV Anderson, Samson, etc who had been pampered by former England Coach Don Howe, and he made them cut their hair, put a tie on , or he shipped them out, believing that you had to earn the Arsenal shirt and behave with class when representing the Club.

Like Liverpools 'boot room' of the 70's GG believed the clubs past had a part to play in its future - which is why club Legends like Geordie Armstrong, Bob Wilson and Pat Rice worked with the kids to instill Arsenal values of hard work, grit, determination, fair play, and putting the team before yourself, which produced diamonds from the rough edges of Adams, Keown, Thomas, Davis, Rocastle, Smith, Bould, Dixon, and Winterburn.

Of the team that won up at Anfield, only Marwood, Smith, Keown and Lukic came from other 1st Division clubs - and Keown was an Arsenal schoolboy anyway...

The run to the 1994 ECWC Final win was part of Arsenal's History too - Highbury on a European Night was magical, the Torino and PSG wins "Arsenal-like" victories a mixture of graft and skill.

Wenger inherited the famous five from George, and that was the foundation of the first Double and the springboard for the young talent that Wenger brought in.

So the History ran through all that, it ran deep and because of that we were known worldwide as THE Arsenal, singular, only one - there's no THE chelsea, united, liverpool or everton in the English vocablulary is there ?

But hey, it was okay to trash 80 years of history to make a few extra quid in the good times off the JCL's, tourists and those that would buy a hat for a tenner off the street stalls huh ?

I mean, in 1998,1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 it wasn't like we weren't competing was it ? - and its not like Marseille, Lyon, Valencia and Sevilla can't consistently challenge at home and in Europe can they ?. Or that LIverpool with their 'small ground' didn't win a European Title in 2005 and reach the final again in 2007 is it ?

We sold our soul.

i agree with so much of what you say but keown was at aston villa when we won at anfield 89 it was bould adams and o,leary
i also believe that our champions league games at wembley proved that we had outgrown highbury and needed to move
the fact that wenger has continued with a flawed policy rather than learning from mistakes and allowing pragmatism in as well as idealism has more to do with our lack of trophys than any stadium move
i would watch arsenal if they were playing on a scrub of land in my back garden .
wenger may have inherited a good defence but we were shocking at home in that 94/95 season
the worst i have seen us at home in 44 years of going
wengers arrival rejuvinated all their careers
its the fact that wenger has lost his ruthless streak that makes me believe he is a good 2 years past his sell buy date
but credit where its due wengers record at the back was as good in his 1st 4 years and in 03/04 05/06 and the 1st half of the 07/08 season as under george to my mind that is where things started going wrong he deserved the benefit of the doubt for what he had achieved prior but it has now gone on to long
he can,t/doesnt know how or won,t change

[beck]

In regards to the suits, we wore those one's above before the match against L'Pool.

Was there a reason why we did that for a change cause against dortmund we went straight back to the tracksuits?

I know some people don't like the fact we wear tracksuits instead of suits but it doesn't really bother me as they're football players, not business men (although I wouldn't complain if we did wear suits, does look smart).

What I can't stand is managers in tracksuits, this latest fad of players wearing tracksuit tops for walking out the tunnel onto the pitch (FFS your taking them straight off in a minute!) and also players wearing short sleeves shirts with the under armour/ thermal shit showing (Looking at you Woj)

The tradition I've always liked and glad they still do it, is the players lining up before the game and clapping the whole crowd.

its funny mate but some of my earliest memorys of arsenal are the players walking out onto the wembley turf in tracksuit tops.
for me it signified a big cup final
in the same way i liked the teams walking out together
i hate teams walking out together for premier league fixtures to generic music
it goes back as far [ to my knowledge] to the 69 swindon league cup final right up to luton in 88
the only final i remember us not wearing them was west ham in 1980
i don,t think we wore any for valencia in brussels either but i had had far to many cold drinks that day to be sure
we had tracksuit tops on at anfield 89 and i seem to remember us doing it at most away games that season and the following.
i like to see the players in a suit pre game and i can,t stand the idea of players with headphones on
i,m sure many have different ways of getting in the zone but to me it does seem to take away team spirit

[beck]

just some old guy with a cup on some grass apparently :



our former club now. yay :

that was my 1st game at highbury
7 years old in the northbank
trophy parade pre kick off
beat man utd 4-0 john radford hat trick
yes i think we are home toto

[kiwomya]

[augie]

Not a genuine photo at all