Courtesy of being an Arsenal shareholder I was invited to attend the members’ day yesterday at the Grove in Club level in the Woolwich Suite (mezzanine level of the East Stand). There was lunch for myself and my mate, with two further guests invited to view the training session on the pitch.
This was the first members’ day I’ve attended. I was glad I was in Club as the queues to get into the lower tier were very long when I rocked up at about 11.15am. Likewise for the khazis in the south-eastern corner of the outer concourse by the south bridge from Drayton Park.
We zoomed straight in up the escalator to Club level to see the newly refurbished Woolwich suite complete with the new WM Club restaurant (named after Herbert Chapman’s then revolutionary new playing formation), The Foundary, a buffet restaurant. All very luxurious and plush, as it should be with an annual membership £4,950 plus VAT per season for the former and £3,950 plus VAT for the latter. And that’s on top of the cost of a Club season ticket which can be up to £19,000 for a minimum four seasons in advance! And you have to buy a minimum of two dining memberships!
One fellow shareholder said the new set-up looked like an up-market pole-dancing club which made me laugh. The most pleasing thing was the sense of the club’s history embedded in the design. The club’s first motto Forward (which came before Victoria Concordia Crescit (Victory Through Harmony) is prominently emblazoned. There are also two spectacular head portraits of Herbert Chapman and Arsčne Wenger made up of curtains of metal chain links. It was nice to see how the other half live. Absent winning the Lottery (it’s never going to happen but I’m mug enough to plonk down my cash every week. Why I have no idea, I might as well throw it down the drain) I shan’t be taken the club up on its kind offer. Good luck to those that can afford it however.
We then went to the seats to see the players come out. The pitchside electronic advertising hoardings were on. They were showing an ad for the new Arsenal Fanshare scheme. Knowing the good people at the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) as I do, I’m really pleased that seven years of hard and largely unheralded good work is finally paying off. I hope Arsenal Fanshare is a massive success with more and more of the club’s shares passing into supporter ownership. I’ve always felt that supporters should legally as well as morally own their clubs. We’re the people who care the most.
Bob Wilson is our master of ceremonies for the day. Every time I see the bloke it takes me back to seeing him play for us. The Fairs Cup Final second leg at Highbury in 1970. White Hart Lane and Wembley in 1971 and our first Double, only the second of the twentieth century. Such wonderful memories. Bob was one of the first players to be picked for the country of his father’s birth following a change in the FIFA regulations for the selection of national team players. He was capped for Scotland at Hamden Park against Portugal and again in Rotterdam against the Netherlands. I remember Johan Cruyff euologising his performance in the second game. A true Arsenal legend.
The first player to run out after being introduced by Bob was none other than Cesc Fàbregas, greeted by a huge roar. Interestingly though Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey got even louder cheers. As Cesc and Rockin’ Robin had only just returned to training that day they restricted themselves to wind sprints on their own whilst the rest of the players were put through their paces.
After about an hour we adjourned for lunch. Very nice it was too. It might be expensive but if they maintain the quality of the food at the level we were served yesterday then there won’t be too many complaints on that score at least.
After training it was a walk around the ground for the players’ question and answer session. On offer for interrogation were Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs, Johan Djourou and Nicklas Bendtner. Bob Wilson was again in the chair as question-master. Most of the questions had been submitted in advance. No doubt they had be thoroughly vetted by the Committee for the Correct Line aka the Arsenal Media Department. The media office has an attitude to information that could be described as Leninist.
I’ve no problem at all with the media office defending the club’s position and getting our point of view over. I do think they verge on paranoia at times though. Anyway, the question and answer was pretty much what you’d expect. Nicklas Bendtner is very engaging and self-confident. Likewise Theo Walcott, who showed a pleasing sense of proportion when recounting how he’d been out playing golf when the phone call came telling him he hadn’t been selected by England for the World Cup. He admitted to being a bit teary but that it wasn’t anything like a military family getting a phone call telling them a loved one had been killed in action in Afghanistan. Nice one mate.
Kieran Gibbs was a little nervous but did well too. Johan Djourou was quite articulate (especially as he, like Bendtner, was speaking in his second language), although he demonstrated the perils and the subtleties of language when answering a question about computer games, saying, “I like to play with myself occasionally.” This brought the house down, a big smile appearing on his face too when Gibbs leaned over to explain the laughter.
Bob Wilson was interesting in the introduction, saying that he was sure that Cesc Fàbregas would remain at Arsenal. He also felt that Barcelona hadn’t made a serious offer in terms of the amount and that Real Madrid had paid well over the odds for Cristiano Ronaldo.
He also let a couple of little gems go when he revealed that the best player at Arsenal when he signed as a professional after a few seasons on amateur forms (the distinction was abolished in 1074) whilst wotking as a teacher was on £130 a week. In 1970/71 the best paid player, including win and trophy bonuses made £17,500 – for the entire year. That’s around £200,000 a year in today’s terms. How times change. There are players who are now close to earning that in a week.
Right at the end he opened the session up to questions from the floor. One questioner gave the panel a bit of a hospital pass by asking which players they’d like to be brought in to strengthen the team. Wisely they all played a straight bat to that.
So that was it. Another members’ day over. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, although the club does need to keep working on the format to get more player engagement with the supporters. It doesn’t happen very often these days.
Tomorrow the first team are in Warsaw to play Legia in a friendly. The reserves are away at AFC Wimbledon. Kick-off 3.00pm. If you haven’t already got tickets for the latter you can rock up and pay cash on the turnstiles if you want to stand. If you want a seat you’d be wise to ring or book on-line today. There are only a few left.
“Standard Ticket” is what you want for a seat in the main Paul Strank Stand. You can also book in advance for the visitors’ terrace. Tickets booked on-line or by phone (020 8247 9910, up to 4.00pm) will be held for collection at the matchday ticket window next to the main entrance. Come early and stay late, enjoy the two capacious bars. See you there!
Keep the faith!
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