Arsenal Artillery 1886

[TeeCee]

Totally agree clockender, the year after we moved into the emirates I said the best way to improve atmosphere is to have general seating behind both goals. Definitely the way forward in an all seater stadium.

[Dan_85]

Is it just me that feels uneasy about taking funding from a large corporation?

[worthing gooner]

The club won't allow groups of "lads" being near the away lot
Just for extra policing costs. Shame. Keep at this boys.

[Percy Dalton]

Is it wrong to suggest tequila and ecstacy?

[Boomer]

Totally agree clockender, the year after we moved into the emirates I said the best way to improve atmosphere is to have general seating behind both goals. Definitely the way forward in an all seater stadium.

Did you mean "general Standing" or was it more in reference to non-season ticket holders? (General sale)

[Herd]

Is it wrong to suggest tequila and ecstacy?8)

Best suggestion so far .



I've heard the MMDA content is on the rise in the jack and Jills nowadays Percy is that so ?

With Bugle so expensive (for the proper shine) the MMDA might be the cost effective solution to those "Bowl Blues".

Problem is if I get all loved up I might try and shag fat american bints in Peuce colour stetsons ! ! ! !

[Percy Dalton]

Is it wrong to suggest tequila and ecstacy?8)

Best suggestion so far .



I've heard the MMDA content is on the rise in the jack and Jills nowadays Percy is that so ?

With Bugle so expensive (for the proper shine) the MMDA might be the cost effective solution to those "Bowl Blues".

Problem is if I get all loved up I might try and shag fat american bints in Peuce colour stetsons ! ! ! !

All I can say is my freind tells me there is some decent disco biscuits about however his choice is still MDMA in powdered form.

[Red Member]

The club won't allow groups of "lads" being near the away lot
Just for extra policing costs. Shame. Keep at this boys.

The FIRST thing the club should do is to remove the away support from its current position and put them all in the upper tier. Seemed to work for the Dortmund lot the other night, why not for all games?

the club can then open up the entire clock end for general seating.
there should also be an encouragement to bring flags, banners in etc, recruit a clock end drummer, get a DJ in there, whatever it takes.

we need to remember our history. Arsenal usually are the FIRST club to do things. Where we lead others can follow.

[Boomer]

Well done for starting this but without knocking you down I'm sure this has been tried before with no effect.

You've got my backing and support as something needs to be done.

My problems are that too many fans in the east and west lower that just want to be entertained.
That's been the case for many a year in the East and West at Highbury. Yes you get the odd few that want to help but it's against the grain that surrounds them.

The point was raised about the CE.
First off I think the away fans need to start taking parts of the upper tier, not solely as that's a recipe for disaster if you have home fans below. Bolton & Wigan usually take a single block which is fine. For larger support, instead of opening up the neighbouring 2 blocks send them upstairs above themselves.
This means there's more cheaper tickets available downstairs for us whilst forcing the travelling support to take the expensive upper tier.

Also I think the FE needs to be moved more into the east stand. Currently it sits on the corner of the east and part of CE taking up a potential vocal section. The corners generally are vocal so moving them around could help create another section. Also would free up more adults to home in the CE. Part of the problem with the CE is the kids and then the red members and general sale. There’s not enough regular (if any) season ticket holders to create something.
Keep majority of the CE ST holders and as a possible base for a new singing section (?) but the remaining blocks near to the away fans left for RED members and general sale tickets were applicable. Like cup allocation and take Wednesday for example give the away fan the 3 blocks in the lower AND the upper instead of relocating the CE in cup games. Still means the CE has the regular fan base including Red and GS tickets.

Ticket pricing is an issue as well.
Many fans that don’t want to be involved in being vocal should, personally, be in the upper. I suspect they’ll enjoy it more as the views are better but can’t move due to the cost.
Likewise I’m sure there’s many fans upstairs that want to get involved but can’t as there’s no space in the lowers so are forced taking ST’s in the uppers.
I doubt much can be changed here.
I think the club need to look at the pricing in anyway as too many games are not selling and most have gone to general sale this season.

Standing certainly helps.
I love being vocal at games but it does take others around me to get me involved. I’m not the type of person to start something off, and although I’ve got to know the people around me there not mates so I’m on my own but I love it there.
If I wasn’t standing I don’t know how vocal I’d be. I like to think I’m helping the team some what and get disappointed when there’s no singing. Also it’s far easier to sing standing then it is sitting. I’m not talking the “stand upâ€

[Red Member]

what was embarrassing in the Clock End the other night was that it was the GERMAN fans which actually got the home support going.

I think at one point they started singing "Dortmund are the greatest team" to the tune of "Arsenal are the greatest team" and that actually got the Arsenal supporters around me singing along but replacing "Dortmund" with "Arsenal" obviously

[MK Gould]

Far too many moaners and day trippers, i try to sing a song you get dirty looks..

Agree with that. Not so bothered about the day trippers as it is an expensive day out.

But far too many moaners who give you evils for singing. I'm still hoarse from Wednesday night but fair play to the gooners in the family enclosure who joined in with all the "red army". But the singers - enthusastic as they were - were definitely in the minotity!

• - I know it's a big ask, but for me it has to be to have a section in the Clock End - similar to Red Action in the North Bank - where like minded people can get together. A big ask maybe - but that is what's missing.
  
  - End all these stupid painted on flags and allow people to bring their own.
  
  - Stop playing Elvis to a half empty ground with a couple of hundred people putting their scarves in the air and lets have London Calling ringing out just before kick off.....
  
  - Lets keep pushing for having a German style "terrace" section.....
  
  - Lets allow kid/youth concessions in other parts of the ground than the family enclosure
  
  - Lets have an Arsenal Band.....! The drummer certainly helped the Dortmund fans on Wednesday.
  
  - .....and lastly.....at some point in the future.....remove a few blocks of corporate/club seats and have a section that goes all the way from front to back in the North Bank. I'd even be happy then to see them relocated to the blocks near the half way line.

[Red Member]

Great suggestions MK Gould especially your last one

[Dan_85]

My thoughts on the current situation. I'd actually consider this to be fairly brief, I could write pages on this to be honest

One of the main problems we face is that, sadly, we are simply not important to the club. They'd happily play games in front of an empty stadium, once they've received the ST payments each June. The club cares not one jot about atmosphere inside the ground, in fact if anything this is a huge inconvenience to them. Stewarding & the associated costs is simply an object getting in the way of Arsenal making more money by adding to the wage bill. The irony here of course is that we actually don't want or need stewards for the most part. It is of course another facet of Britain's health & safety culture.

Clubs on the continent do not, for the most part, have tens of thousands of people waiting for STs. The couple of thousand die hard fans you'll find on the curvas behind the goals shouting & screaming for their teams hold all the power. If they don't like the way they are treated by their clubs, they can simply walk off the terraces. The club has an empty stadium, they lose out on the money from these supporters & nine times out of ten, the club can't cower quick enough to the demands of these fans if it means getting them, and their money, back in the stadiums. If 5,000 Arsenal fans decide they've had enough, do the club care? Of course not, those 5,000 can be replaced within hours & days.

My belief is that Arsenal needs a group created by the fans, which acts in the interests of the die hard supporters, in the way that Dortmund has "The Unity", Bayern Munich has "Shickeria" or AC Milan has "Fossa De Leoni". On the continent they refer to them as the Ultras groups, which is probably not the best term to describe things over here. What they are however, is a group of the clubs most passionate supporters acting & standing together to support their team the way they want. Strength in numbers is key. But again, how can this be pulled off when you can't get liked minded people together in one area.

We need the proper reintroduction of The North Bank & Clock End. Since the move from Highbury, the die hard fans who have been supporters for decades have lost their identity. There is no place where they can gather & share the bond & affinity they had at Highbury. Of course, the NB & CE were "reintroduced" in August 2010, but in reality this was in name only. Like minded fans were still spread throughout the ground, old NBers & CEers are still not together. Tourists & daytrippers populate these areas when they should in reality be moved to the East & West stands as was so often the case at Highbury. Contribute nothing to the atmosphere? West or East stands for you then please.

Let's get the North Bank & Clock End back properly. Allocate 5/6 blocks directly behind the goal for safe standing & relocate NBers & CEers from Highbury back together in these sections, keeping them free of General Sale tossers. Of course, the ultimate aim should be this coupled with safe standing. Imagine it - everyone standing & singing together again with the friends they stood with in the old days. It's as close to Highbury as you're gonna get.

Away fans, stick them upstairs or at the very, very least where the Family Enclosure is now. Giving them a prime position directly in front of the TV cameras is hardly doing much to hide the shitness of our home support is it. But then, as mentioned, the club don't care about atmosphere. I guess the thinking behind having away fans in the lower tier is that AFC know Arsenal fans are mugs who'll happily cough up the fifty odd quid it costs to sit in the upper tier. Yet I guess they're worried 3,000 Stoke or Blackburn fans won't be prepared to pay such extortionate prices & the club will miss out on a large chunk of matchday income.

[SteveO 35]

God if we resort to DJs / band leaders or choreographers to start things off then I'll never set foot in the fucking place again.

The fact that people think we need those things tells you everything you should need to know i.e. the majority of people that go to the Emirates now aren't interested. If the club continue to push ticket prices up and create upper tier prices at well over £60, it will get worse. A pocket of 3,000 or so fans with co-ordinating singing will look fucking worse than it does now.

People create atmosphere when they feel like it. Remember the best matches you've been to.....nobody started it off in an "altogether now 1-2-3" way. It was the occasion, the result/goal/moment, the fact you were with 3,000 likeminded away fans, beered-up...whatever. I remember big games against the likes of the Mancs or the Scummers stood at the Clock End, when the atmosphere just happened. Nobody felt the need for a fucking gormless drummer or DJ. But the football demographic in this country has changed permanently, and the investment made by overseas owners will only lead to a worsening of the atmosphere.

Personally I don't give a shit really. I go to the games I want to go to, drink with my mates, cheer, have a good laugh, sing the odd song and it doesn't spoil my enjoyment one little bit that 30,000 people sit there quietly. Each to their own....I'm happy in both environments. Its about the football. The atmosphere at away games will always be there for us, because the minority always produce the atmosphere anyway

[M-50]

Some top draw posts here lads