Joe Cole/Wombles Friendly/Fans’ Parliament

I for one was relieved when Joe Cole signed for Liverpool. Cole has talent but not nearly as much as he likes to think. There was a time when I thought he was going to mature into a real international if not world-class talent under José Mourinho at Chelsea. The moment passed and Cole receded into a role as a sick-note bit player at Stamford Bridge. 

His over-inflated opinion of himself and his accomplishments were reflected in his salary demands. Too rich for Chelsea? You know he’s asking a lot! I’m reliably informed that he did agree what are known as “heads of agreement” with Arsenal before the World Cup. I personally think we offered FAR too much for an injury-prone bit player who averaged 27 League games a term in his seven seasons at Chelsea. 

I’m relieved that Liverpool made him a better offer and he’s gone there. I think Cole would have been a serious waste of money for us. I love Roy Hodgson to bits. I thought he did a fantastic job at Fulham. He’s an excellent manager and a gentleman to boot. I think he may have made a serious error of judgement with Cole. We’ll see. I’m happy we kept the money in the bank. There are much better uses for it in my opinion. 

Saturday fortnight sees our reserves travel to south-west London to play AFC Wimbledon in a friendly. I’m a big admirer in what the Wombles have achieved since re-constituting themselves as a totally supporter-owned club following the FA Appeals Tribunal’s disgraceful decision to let the original Wimbledon FC de-camp to Milton Keynes. 

I’ll be at the game on Saturday 7 August. I urge all Gooners to make the trip too. All Arsenal supporters are guaranteed a warm welcome. There are two large and well-stocked bars where pre and post match libations can be consumed. You can buy both standing tickets and seats in advance on-line via the AFC Wimbledon website here: 

http://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/shop/tickets/?eventid=62 

Standing costs £10 adults £5 for over 60s, full-time students and the unemployed and £2 for under 16s. Seats cost £12/£6/£3. What more do you want? Thunder and lightning? All Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards accepted. 

The Cherry Red Records Fans’ Stadium at Kingsmeadow is on Kingston Road. It’s a 12-15 minute walk from Norbiton station from Waterloo or the same line to Kingston upon Thames station then the 131 bus that drops you right outside the ground on Kingston Road. Norbiton is in London Travel Zone 5, Kingston upon Thames is in Travel Zone 6. You can now use pre-pay Oyster cards on all suburban trains in the Greater London area as well as one-day off-peak Travelcards. The 131 bus also runs from Wimbledon Underground/railway station. See you there for what should be an excellent Barnet-style day out for all Gooners. 

Finally, a plug for the Football Supporters’ Federation’s annual Football Fans’ Parliament which takes place this coming Saturday 24 July at Wembley Stadium from 10.00am-5.00pm. Amongst the speakers are guests from the FA, UEFA, Premier League and Football League in a panel on club governance and finances (including the new UEFA financial fair play regulations, director of the civil rights campaign organisation Liberty Shami Chakrabarti in a workshop on policing and fans’ rights (Liberty has worked with the FSF to get hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for fans unfairly and unlawfully dealt with under Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006) and Canadian investigative journalist Dr Declan Hill (who has the good taste to be a Gooner), one of the world’s leading experts on match-fixing, very topical given the recent mass Interpol arrests in Asia). Declan will be giving a key-note address in the afternoon. 

Admission to the Fans’ Parliament is free. All you need to do is register in advance here: 

http://www.fsf.org.uk/fans-parliament/2010/index.php 

Both the Metropolitan and Jubilee lines to Wembley Park are suspended over the weekend for engineering works. The alternatives are the train from Marylebone to Wembley Stadium station or from Euston to Wembley Central then the 92 bus which drops you on Engineer’s Way right outside the ground. Wembley is in Travel Zone 4. You can use pre-pay Oyster cards on all suburban trains now. Parking is available but at a scandalous £18 a day. I’m sure those you make it will leave better informed than they were when they arrived. I’m looking forward to an enjoyable and informative day. 

Keep the faith! 

vic@arsenalinsider.com

Vic Crescit

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