United/Ticket Prices/Emirates Cup

Sunday’s game against Manchester United should have been huge for us. Immense. Mega. High noon. Instead it has taken on a grim quality. We desperately need a win to both steady the ship and to contribute to finishing in the top three which we’re in severe danger of not achieving based on recent results.

Manchester United on the other hand have one foot in the Champions League Final at Wembley after beating Schalke 04 2-0 away in Gelsenkirchen last Tuesday night, as well as being runaway favourites to take the League title – again. We can but look on in envy. I detest Alex Ferguson as a man but have huge respect for him as a manager. He’s steered United to continued success in an era when the Glazer debts have meant spending on both transfer fees and wages has been severely restricted at Old Trafford.

Turning to our own camp Arsčne Wenger has publically shouldered the blame for our frustrating season following our loss away to Bolton Wanderers. His admission of responsibility is welcome. He had seemed to be retreating into a fantasy world of spin surrounded by people who wouldn’t offer him a contrary opinion to his own. That’s not healthy for anybody. Let us hope that Wenger’s admission ushers in a new period of glasnost and perestroika at the club as new majority owner Stan Kroenke takes the reins off the field. Nobody would be more delighted than me to see our longest-serving manager ever turn it around and lead us to a new era of trophies.

The low level rumbles of discontent are gradually building. The latest addition is a new informal grouping known as the “black scarf” movement (having started off as Where Has Our Arsenal Gone?) which has received some media coverage in the last few days. Yesterday’s London Evening Standard splashed a story in its sports pages about  the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust letter to Ivan Gazidis calling for no price increase on general admission tickets (the upper and lower tiers) for next season:

http://tinyurl.com/6eecvvu

Today’s Daily Telegraph also covered the story:

http://tinyurl.com/6h8q4lo

You can find the text of the AST letter on the Trust website here:

http://www.arsenaltrust.org/recent-news.php?article=371&id=&year=

If you’re not already an AST member I hope you’ll join today. You can find full details on the AST website. I have my fingers crossed that the board will belatedly see the wisdom of the AST position on this issue which is shared by Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association. Many of the media stories say that there has been no ticket price increase since moving to Ashburton Grove. That’s not true. Prices went up for all categories of tickets except the top bands of both Club and general admission in 2007/8.

Given that tickets are currently ludicrously overpriced in all categories they need to stay flat in cash terms for a good while to allow them to drift gently downwards in real terms to a more realistic level. This is especially true at the moment in the teeth of a horrible recession and with many in the public and voluntary sectors facing redundancy as the Government’s spending cuts bite.

On the subject of ticket prices the Football Supporters’ Federation has teamed up with Virgin Money on a survey of supporter opinion on this issue. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete. You can find it here:

http://tinyurl.com/6gza78h

Do complete the survey if you haven’t already done so. Also pass on the link to all your football matchgoing mates. Likewise if you support the right to a choice to sit or stand to watch the game as you prefer, make sure you sign the FSF’s on-line safe standing petition:

http://www.fsf.org.uk/petitions/safestanding.php?id=&page=sign

Coming back directly to Arsenal, credit where credit’s due. The club does seem to be at least listening to the arguments on ticket prices and income. I’m pleased that we’ll be undertaking a short tour to Malaysia and China this close season. It would have been Japan if it hadn’t been for the horrible earthquake and tsunami visited on that country recently.  I hope that the close season tour becomes a tradition in odd numbered years when there’s no European Championship or World Cup. With the proper build up and follow up on the ground this will raise both cash and profile and allow at least a few overseas Gooners who can’t get to London a chance to see the team.

I’m also looking forward to the Emirates Cup for the first time. We’ve gone to the Americas to invite Boca Juniors from Buenos Aires and New York Red Bulls in addition to French giants Paris St Germain. I’ve blogged before that I’ve found the choice of visiting clubs unadventurous in past editions. I’ve finally been persuaded to part with my cash for both days this coming July. I hope that the choice of opposition proves as popular with other Gooners as me. I’d like to see teams from outside Europe being regularly invited to participate in each pre-season.

Here’s to three points on Sunday against Manchester United. Let’s try and finish this season as high as we can, both in the League table (each place is worth an additional £800,000 in prize money after all, not to be sneezed at) and in terms of morale before the players pack their buckets and spades and head for the beach.

Keep the faith!

vic@arsenalinsider.com

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Vic Crescit

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