Thursday, October 3, 2024

City fans turn back on Arsenal clash

Manchester City have reportedly returned 800 unsold tickets for this Sunday’s clash at the Emirates with evidence suggesting their fans are deliberately boycotting the game in protest at the £62 price tag being charged by Arsenal.

Arguably victims of their own success, the reigning Premier League champions are now considered ‘Category A’ opposition by the Gunners box office which implements equally high prices for clashes against the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and big European clubs.

While two lower categories of pricing are put in place for less attractive visitors there’s nothing hiding the fact that with travel, a matchday programme, booze and food thrown in it’s a ridiculously expensive jaunt to N5.

Angry at being charged £11 more this year than last to watch their side play Arsenal in the Premier League, City fans took to a popular message board in anger.

“Won’t be going to any London away games this year, the prices take the piss,” wrote one Citizen supporter.

To which another replied: “Don’t go then, the only way to get these prices reduced is by people not going in large numbers.”

Another noted: “Remember, teams can’t charge away fans more than the cheapest seats they offer their own supporters! …and these are Arsenal’s cheapest seats!! It’s fucking scandalous!”

Further reaction from City fans…

“This has to stop. It has to fucking stop! The game has to be boycotted otherwise we are encouraging all clubs to charge us this much. Football in Engkand is becoming a joke of a sport for a load of public school Tarquins with double-barrell surnames. Prices this high affect every single club, long term.”

“Fuck me – That is a quarter of my season ticket pal. Without food,drink etc. Absolutely ridiculous.”

“Southampton fans should have boycotted us the prices we charged them. Fcking scandalous. One day hopefully football fans will say enough is enough and stop going.only then will clubs take note and do something about it.”

“£62 after Christmas and New Year is a pisstake. I’m not paying it.”

“A significant day needs organising between the FSF and other Organisations where all fans in this league boycott together…so the home/away ends will be empty, only the clueless daytripper types will be sat on their own.  Then they will pay attention. even if you have paid for a ticket. a mass boycott needs organising. if you are a true football fan you will boycott. I know i would. for the longterm future of the fan.”

It’s worth noting at this point that 5,000 City fans did take advantage of £10 tickets to watch Sergio Aguero knock us out of the Carling Cup last season; a ticketing policy implemented to ensure top level football remains accessible to the next generation and one which has been broadly praised.

Nevertheless, given that the cheapest seat available for home supporters this Sunday is £62 with the most expensive ‘terrace’ ticket hitting the dizzying £126 mark it’s pretty obvious  that prices in general have spiralled out of control at the higher end of the market.

Realistically, unless a rigid ticket capping structure is imposed somehow by the game’s authorities there’s little to suggest these prices will be reduced while Arsenal remains an attractive club to watch.

The alternative could be the return of standing on terraces like that seen at Germany’s Bundesliga clubs. It’s an idea which Arseblog News certainly agrees with in principle and one which Ivan Gazidis touched on in June 2011 and Arsene Wenger recently spoke about:

“I would love people to be able to stand and I would love to have people behind the goal for example,” the boss told press ahead of the recent 7-3 win over Newcastle.

“If it is only seating, you cannot stand up. Yes [I would be in favour], 100 per cent [of safe standing].”

Food for thought.

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Squillaci

On a serious note why the hell are the FA Cup tickets still normal price, I was planning on going but £35 is kind of steep once you include travel into that.

Armando

This has nothing to do with the previous comment but I just had to post it. An Arsenal Kindergarten in Norway. Pretty cool.
http://youtu.be/CXjmV8h9c_0

Lettraggad

Isn’t it Ironic , that the Mega rich have the poorest fans?
How can you relate to your club when that happens.
Off course there aren’t any poor owners of football clubs (beyond Randy lerner oh wait he is rich but the team is poor) , but you get what I mean.

49! eat that

This is a double edges sword city and there like come ad start paying and buying players at ridiculous sums of Money and for a team like arsenal the only viable way to keep with them with no sugar daddy to run to is to increase ticket price’s. News flash but they part of the problem

Fergie the Gooner

Exactly, it’s all well and good boycotting the game, but unfortunately it’s the irresponsible spending of the oligarchs and the sheikhs that has got us into this position. Arsenal have no choice but to raise ticket prices in order to try and keep up with the competition. If they don’t then the players will just look for the money elsewhere like Walcott is now. It’s sad the game has gone this way.

Jasonissimo

Is this what happens when your team is better than it’s supporters themselves can, er, support in the marketplace? When your club pays players from the owner’s deep pockets instead of relying whatsoever on matchday income, and you win the league because of it, then you get charged more for your ticket at away games. Tough titties.

Damien

It’s not like the higher prices at Arsenal get spent on the team though is it? Highest prices in the Premier League but we get told we need to be frugal in the transfer market whilst the additional income sits unused in the bank.

jrock

I think the socialist wage structure is more to blame for this.

THEREISBEARCUM

Except that’s bullshit.

But thanks for your uninformed ad hoc ‘reckon’.

Damien

It isn’t bullshit though is it? We do have the highest ticket prices in the Premier League and we don’t have either the highest wage bill nor do we spend much on players. So, Mitchell and Webb quotes aside, what part of that ‘reckon’ is bullshit?

Ollie

So what? The prices are ridiculous and football’s out of control. I can’t believe I forked out £50 quid a ticket to see us draw with Sunderland and lose to Swansea when my wallet is as desolate as it is. I get no joy from modern football when it takes so much from us and gives so little back.

goontang

Ive spent thousands of dollars to fly to london twice in the last 5 years from Aus to see the arsenal play. Both times i have seen them it was a 0-0. i am yet to see them score a goal. now that is fucking disappointing.

Silent Stan

*looks away, inspects cufflink*

Heh

More seats for usmanov and his fat arse then.

Gooner

At least he attends Arsenal matches once in a while. On the other hand seeing Kroenke at the emirates is a rare thing. Usmanov wants Arsenal to perform. On the other hand Kroenke’s only motive is money. Took over the club in 2011 and in 2 years 4 best player at Arsenal is gone without replacements of similar quality.

DCGooner

@gooner – nice facts but I’m sure it would have happened anyway. Arsene would have the final say I bet

TomJ

Bullshit DC Gooner

Lettraggad

Ha ha the best thing is that for that price they get neither drinks nor points.

Matt

Sad that the club makes Squillaci buy a ticket to watch from the dugout.

James Garvey

That would be his first worthwhile contribution to the club.

Adam

£62 for their ticket. We were charged £51 when we went up to the Emptihad.

Gearoid

in fairness, that city fan also criticised his own club, saying that Southampton fans should have boycotted the Council Hous… i mean Etihad.

TomJ

Well he should ask his Shiek to subsidise it, like everything else is at the club. But I agree in principle and I do hope they boycott

TomJ

Had to laugh at “only the clueless daytripper types will be sat on their own”. Thats 90% of the goons here

mulidenno

MAN SHITTY

MAN TITTY

Lldre

Hahaha I find this funny. I thought the sheikh almyarse funded those plastic fans to go to games. How wrong I have been.

£62 is kinda steep though, seems we wanna we lost off vierra, toure, clichy e.t.c. Make it £90 then.

Elly

I don’t blame them one bit, including travel in that it would cost them over £100 to go not even considering food etc. bloody ridiculous amount of money to watch a football game.

Rob'67

Exactly ! It’s absurd and unless Clubs change their tune there’s going to be huge swathes of empty seats in years to come. You can already see them at the Emirates. But try telling Gazedis that and you get blank denial.

What you reap you sow. Clubs think fans earn player type wages they don’t. And Arsenal are amongst the very worst for this. If they don’t wise up, they’ll see the consequences.

TomJ

They would rather see 50,000 different day trippers for each home game buying merchandise at the Armoury and stuffing their faces than a full house of regulars

Eric Irish gunner

Two trips over from Dublin with me kid nearly cost me the price of a fucking season ticket and now me other lad wants to go, I should never have turned them into gunners 🙂

Zack

“That is a quarter of my season ticket pal.”

Has to be said, but this won’t hold for long, with Man City being quite a distance from qualifying for FFP’s “break even” point.

TomJ

FFP will never be implemented, anybody with 2 brain cells know. the richest clubs who do not want it have too much money, and power to be excluded from European tournaments. Wenger and Gazidis would love you to believe it will be implemented though. Buys them another couple of years breathing space while you do

bard

Who are these clubs though? The top 5 revenue-earners are all capable of meeting FFP (Man Utd, Madrid, Barcelona, us and Bayern). As are really a lot of other clubs.

The Milanese clubs are in dire straits, but one might argue that they have much less leverage nowadays.

FFP might not be as strong as Wenger hope it is, but it’s not that unlikely that a big part of it will be enforced.

DoubleDoubleDouble

Man City and PSG look fucked as far as complying with FFP goes.

I wouldn’t be surprised if those two are the ‘biggest’ clubs to get bans; it would show Platini is serious, and doesn’t have much of a detrimental effect on the competition.

So banning them would be a win-win scenario for UEFA, and also for Platini to show he’s got the clout before he makes a move on Blatter’s position.

TomJ

How naive are you? Money/ power will prevail, whether thats by relaxing the rules (as has already happened and its not even implemented yet) , or by creative accounting, as the £5 million profit Chelskiannounced last year demonstrated

DoubleDoubleDouble

PSG and Man City don’t have power with UEFA.

Platini is a very astute politician and he’ll know that making a couple of rich, but politically insignificant, clubs look weak will benefit UEFA (or more accurately, him).

UEFA won’t take on the real heavyweights, because they won’t have any need to.

Pong of the OxCoq

It’s easy for ManShitty to comply with the ffp regs… All they have to do is have one of their other subsidies… Etihad… strike up a sponsorship deal in the 1/2billion range… that should take of the requirements….. It’s all bollox to be honest.

TomJ

Doubledoubledouble are you 12? Don’t you get it that money rules football? Why did Quatar get the WC? Why is advertising an unendosred sponsor a worse crime than racism? Why were the playoffs for the 2010 WC changed from an open draw to a seeded one when it became apparent that Russia, France and Germany might be in the playoffs? Even if the very clever accountants and sponsors cannot ensure these clubs cannot comply with FFP (which I seriously doubt) all it will take is a few clubs like Citeh, PSG and Chelski to threaten forming a breakawayrom UEFA and… Read more »

Zack

Given the combined strength of teams like United, Barca, Madrid, and us, there’s a lot more money supporting these rules even compared to City and PSG, and that’s before you even mention the entire German and Dutch leagues which have far more restrictive break-even policies than FFP.

In short: there is a lot more combined financial strength that wants to see FFP through, for a variety of reasons, than you suggest.

DoubleDoubleDouble

Man City and PSG forming a breakaway UEFA, without Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man Utd or Bayern Munich…that will work out well for them, won’t it?

All the established clubs back FFP, not because they think it’s a noble idea, but because it’s in their interests to protect their monopoly.

Man Utd want a form of FFP in the Premier League, not because they give a fuck if other clubs go to the wall, they just don’t want another Chelsea or Man City ballsing up their financial dominance.

FFP was never about fair play.

TomJ

Youre right PSG, Citeh and Chelski will never find a way around it. Dont forget to put that tooth under your pillow tonight

Gooner

@bard
FFP will not be strong enough to prevent crazy spending, because PSG, Man city, Chelsea etc will get huge sponsorship from their owner’s company which they’ll be able to spend. PSG already did that with 150 milion/YEAR sponsorship. FFP is a convenient excuse of Gazidis to not spend. btw Arsenal doesn’t need millions from owners to succed. The profits (50 million+ every year) from revenue is enough for our club to keep our players , add 1 or 2 quality and compete for trophies

jacob

i know i am going to be disliked and thumbed down so many times but it has to be said, ive been a gooner for a long time just like my older brother and dad but only arsenal can have the most expensive seat in the land and yet fail to win trophies and not use the money they have to actually buy world class players, or give proven players such as rvp a wage that he deserves instead of giving players like chamak and that asian fella that is on loan now almost the same wage parity .. if… Read more »

A. Wenger

Agree with everything you’ve said except a small detail but nonetheless important that van persie was never offered a new deal (which would probably have been much improved) because from his negotiations with gazidis and wenger he didn’t see enough ambition to buy the level of player we need to win trophies.

TomJ

Why would you care if someone thumbs you down. At least half the retards here will do it anyway whether they agree with you or not. I agree with what you say, but how do you suggest we make a stand? By making a banner our saying “we want Arsenal back”. that just made us a laughing stock.

jacob

by not going to the game and leaving them with less revenue thats the only way the board can understand a message

TomJ

So youre proposing an empty house for a home game or just the NB/CE?

Exiledgooner

Completely agree, my friend. I now work as an English teacher in Leeds and so the price of commuting to a match, plus tickets and food etc. makes the cost of going to a match rather prohibitive. Making the journey down there is a bloody mission in itself, not to mention having to buy tickets months in advance. I still come two or three times a season, but I’m beginning to wonder why I bother, given that the attitude of the players seems to be hit and miss (you never know which ‘Arsenal’ is going to turn up) and that… Read more »

Adam H

So true! Arsenal fans get your heads out the sand and realise there has to be big changes at the club to go back to the top, where we belong!

Aran

Oh please, as if you were going to get thumbs-down for that

TomJ

I can believe the number of idiots who actually give a shit whether a faceless nameless keyboard warrior thumbs them down or not

Reality check

city fans are a bunch of fucking hypocrites! If they didn’t sell off their club to the highest bidder and artificially increase transfers, player salaries etc Arsenal wouldn’t have to charge so much.

I know, I know its not like we pay crazy salaries or get transfers done either.. Shouting abuse back at them just seemed like the right thing to do.

argonaut

It’s not the fans that sold their club out. In the same way, it wasn’t the average fan that sold Arsenal to Stan “I don’t give a shit about Arsenal winning anything if I still make a profit” Kroenke.

Jasonissimo

Except, he doesn’t take money out of the club does he? where is his profit going to come from if the team doesn’t win? Think about that for a second and stop repeating the same drivel about Kroenke’s profitting from the club instead of bankrolling transfers.

Jim Jimminy

What kroenke is doing is ridiculous. Why buy all those shares so he can own a football club if thats all he ever intends to do. He must be getting something out of it.

It’d be like winning the lottery and just keeping the money under your mattress and never touching it. Maybe he’s just so rich he ran out of things to do with his money.

Peter

To continue on what Jasonissimo writes: Arsenal’s financial report for the last financial year shows that the only money Kroenke took out of the club in 2011/12 was £25,000 in director’s fees, a paltry sum in comparison to someone like Gazidis, who took home more than £2 million including bonuses. Arsenal doesn’t pay dividends on its shares, so he’s not getting any return there either. It’s really not clear what Kroenke is trying to do with Arsenal, if indeed he plans to do anything at all in the foreseeable future. As Wenger might say: Do I know what Kroenke’s motivations… Read more »

Jasonissimo

Oh no, City fans want to win without having to pay anything for it. Meanwhile, some Arsenal home fans think that their high ticket prices entitle them to trophies.

Adam H

You’re full of shit mate

Jasonissimo

I’m not your mate, Adam.

TomJ

but you are full of shit

GM

taste the flame

wengers furrowed brows

reality check and all the kids thumbing him up needs to check their brains.
FANS SOLD THE MANCITY TO THE SHEIKHS?!?

if this line was told by any stand up comedian i would have laughed. But dear me, how far is some fans from the reality. FANS selling the clubs to the highest bidder is just plain Mr Bean and Homer Simpson at their best.

Maybe, we arsenal fans also sold the club to that mute american SOB. Did we? Common sense people please use some common sense.

Alf

There is a massive ‘discussion’ going on on another forum (which is attempting to get fans to boycott the match in protest) about the fact that the league match was a Category C but the cup match has been “Upgraded” to category B. However the reason, as far I can muster is that the 7 cup credits on the season ticket are based on Category B prices so the matchday ticket prices must be Category B. It also states on the website that all Uefa & FA Cup matches will be based on Category A & B prices and category… Read more »

Greg

Tough one this. On one hand I agree that it’s a ludicrous amount of money. But I agree with Jasonissimo as well, in that one of the reasons that clubs like Arsenal are having to charge this sort of money is the fact their wage bill is so high, and it’s clubs like City that are dragging players wages so far in that direction that the result is Arsenal have to compete with that. With our self sustainable model, it’s then the ticket prices that have to go up. So – it’s actually City’s fault, and they can all fuck… Read more »

Voldermort

We don’t compete with city though do we, or with Chelsea or Man U, our cheapest season ticket is dearer than Man U’s most expensive.
It is tough one when they are being artificially supported but the fans up there earn what they earn and £61 is taking the piss.

Dave Gooner

But ManU is in Manchester. You can buy a house in Manchester for 500 quid. Its a dump.

_

But man u is in, you know, manchester. Common sense is telling me you really can’t compare its prices to london, one of the world largest metropolis.

And yes, we compete with city and such, cause crazy clubs like this are the ones willing to pay theo 130k pw.

Voldermort

Understand what you are saying and yeah being in London will always carry a premium that’s obvious, and if your comfortable that our dearest ticket for this game is £126 then fine but the differential in prices between us and the likes of city and Manu is just far to wide to just warrant it being a north south thing.

Jasonissimo

It’s not just a north/south thing–it’s a subsidy problem. Man City can’t pay its way based on the club’s income, including matchday revenue. It’s squad transfer fees and wages are paid out at a loss to the club that is covered by some very deep pockets as a rich boy’s fecking hobby. It’s fans don’t want or can’t afford expensive London tickets. They can boycott if they want, it’s their right. Going to away games seems like a privilege to me, not a right, and if they return their tickets then some other fan gets to go to the game,… Read more »

_

it’s not a north-south thing, it’s an offer-demand thing. As long as you will find 60k customers in 10m london happy to pay that price, you are doing the right thing for your profit. I’m not saying I agree, but as a seller, would you sell for less when you can charge more?

TomJ

Youre completely wrong Greg. The reason our wage bill is so high is because of the idiotic wage structure where Bendtner, Squallaci, Djhourou, Park, Chamakh, Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin earning 50- 80 grand per week.

Greg

Indeed Tom, and I’m not saying that the structure we have is the correct or fair one, especially in regards to the players you mentioned (and perhaps what Theo is going to be put on!). I’m talking more about the general shift toward very high wages for footballers per se, something that is getting pulled even further in that direction by the likes of City and Chelsea. Expecations by players (though not of them, in some cases it seems) are then generally higher in terms of what they are worth (“well, if x is getting paid that then why shouldn’t… Read more »

M5

Cannot believe any one can criticise the City fans for this, its a disgrace I for one won’t do any cat A games except for the human efulence.
No way should any seat for any game be more than £40 anywhere cue thousands of empty seats again this weekend…..

progman07

Socialist wages, capitalist ticket prices. 🙂

jackoss

Aren’t those prices agreed between the two clubs? Why don’t they blame their own club then?

Joe

Well when they stop inflating the market for players and wages, ticket prices might go down for clubs which have match day ticket sales as a chief source of revenue. As in, not a ridiculous pile of cash coming in from a super rich oligarch or royal…

Nick

Cry me a fucking river! At least you have the ability to see your favorite team play. Even though most of the Citeh fans are newfound since their oil sugardaddy started buying their team instead of developing it. For me to go see Arsenal play I’d have to pay for a plane ticket from here in the US, ticket prices, lodging, meals, etc. If I were a Citeh fan I’d be more upset that Arsenal are just pocketing the money from the ticket sales and not re-investing it in new players! Much like these fans though, the only way to… Read more »

Fellonious

Me too mate. I dream of one day watching in person the Arse putting Sp*rs to the sword like they have the last two years…maybe one of these years I will be able to afford the trip over there. My local COLLEGE basketball and football teams charge around the same amount for decent seats, and I go a few times every year despite not being able to afford it.

A Yank

Yep… went to a match this season. Norwich. Away. Cost me around $2500. So £90 would be a fucking bargain.

But hey at least I can say I’ve been to East Anglia.

TomJ

£1500 to watch us lose to Norwich. Wish I had met you that night I would have felt better

Karl

I assume Bayern Munich would be considered a “category A” type team? They have the audacity to charge £110 for…….a season ticket! Even if that excluded all cups and European games that has to be bargain.

Jasonissimo

I’ve read that a lot of British football fans have started traveling to Bundesliga games because attending matches in Germany is cheaper all-in compared to seeing their local clubs. Something to think about.

Jasonissimo

– a lot
+ some

TomJ

Id rather watch Arsenal on a shit stream than go to Germany or any other country supporting another team

R18

C.U.O.C.O.

Cock up or Cock off!

Eric A Blair

Ahhh, this one takes me back….

safety

Cough Up, surely?

With the right and the left

Quite ironic how City fans could complain about inflated prices in football. All too delicious

Jasonissimo

My sentiment exactly.

THEREISBEARCUM

Cry me a river. England v Italy at the 6 Nations was going for £80+ last I saw – and that’s fucking RUGBY.

RUGBY!

pete

I’ve heard prices at the Brittania are quite reasonable if you’re a big rugby fan…

The Lady Eowyn

But Man City are like the richest club in the world. Surely the fans can afford to pay.

You are not just paying for a 90 minute game. You are paying for a great day out. With the chance to see Gunnersaurus, Arsene and all the gorgeous Arsenal fans. Arsenal attracts the good looking fans, including myself, Thierry Henry and Rory McGrath. I would happily pay hundreds to see Gunneraurus and Rory McGrath, even if it’s from a distance. Then you can go back to your friends and say “YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO I SAW TODAY!!”

Tenzo

Including yourself huh? I’m definantly coming to the Emirates this year.

DoubleDoubleDouble

If you see Piers Morgan, then you get a refund.

North Bank Gooner

theres a new free game now available, included in the ticket price, to add value. its like “wheres wally”, but you have to spot Piers. then you get to punch him repeatedly in the face.

£62????

cheap at twice the price 😉

PGunner

Fucking brilliant. Isn’t the queen a Gooner too? Though I’m not sure she get’s over to North London of a Saturday too much anymore with the inflation busting ticket premiums!

lovelyboi

AHAHAHA… fair enuf..

pete

I can understand why City’s fans are so upset, coming all that way and spending all that money just to see an Arsenal win

Wengered

It’s all about money, even especially at emirates…for the dirty americano. wenger is the biggest hypocrite. He comments on all sort of things, but said ABSOLUTE NOTHING about gunner fans paying HIGHEST ticket prices. Big flaky hypocrite.

Shaun

Yet they support a club that paid Adebayor 170 a week. See root cause.

arseblog

What are they supposed to do though – stop supporting because the people that run the club are mad? You could just as easily apply that to us, yet we’re all here.

They might be rich as fuck, the average City fan isn’t. And yes, it has an effect on us, and all clubs, but you might think there’d be some common ground to found between fans because it just makes the game more expensive for everyone.

Jamie

I think that is what everyone is forgetting, man city IS Manchester’s club, hence they have a large fanbase not because they win things and get plastic fans in with a lot of money (chelsea, united). With that in mind I do feel sorry for them paying those prices considering how poor the area is, but then again they do get to watch their team buy anyone they want to as long as the price is right.
All in all I just think they don’t want to see City lose 😉

Shaun

I think fans find common ground often to be honest. We can certainly relate to ourselves with significantly more definition than owners, or players making 170 a week. Completely valid point you make because we support the most expensive ticket in the scene. Like all good markets, it’s nothing more than a bubble that can only absorb so much. When it’s all said an done, I still believe the owners should be held accountable. I just think it’s absurd that the same people who won’t pay for tickets would also be the first to line up and comment that they… Read more »

arseblog

And look, how many fans here who have no sympathy for City’s fans call for Usmanov to pump millions in and simply add to the problem?

It’s all fucked.

Glasgow_Gunner

Who knows? Usmamov may become, the only option left if FFP never gets going.

TomJ

Well take a look at Stans history in the US with sports franchises and tell me sporting success means anything to him

Canberra Gooner

@TomJ I don’t know why I’m bothering writing this given your aggressive negativity knows no bounds but… All American sports have very strict financial management and salary cap arrangements and while periods of success and dominance are achieved by some teams, there is nothing to compare to Liverpool and Utds dominance of English top flight in recent decades. Therefore, questioning Kroenke’s commitment to Arsenal’s success on the basis that his US sports teams don’t win enough is total crap. By the way his MLS team, the Rapids, won the MLS Cup in 2010 (FA Cup equivalent). Also, winning creates a… Read more »

TomJ

@Canberra Gooner First of all I dont know why I am responding to your post with your condescending ‘I know more than everyone else’ tone, but here it goes… 1. At no pointy have I been aggressive towards anyone here and I would like you to point out where and when I have ever threatened anyone or been aggressive towards anyone here 2. My negativity comes from calling it the way it is, years of underachiegvement, we pay the highest ticket prices in the world, (i mean those of us here, not the plastics who admire from distance),are outside the… Read more »

kevs

Fucking City supporters, demanding low prices to watch their team (last years champions). Cheap prices for watching a team full of worldclass players, am i dreaming or what?!

Their support is absolut shit, club with no history. They are just proud city supporters since 2009..

Nick

I’d wager most of them are “proud” city supporters since May 2012!

TomJ

Thats bullshit. Even when they went down to the third tier they were getting 30,000 + at Maine Road. I wonder how many of you plastics from the US and beyond would be interested in us if we were in the 3rd tier

Bern

F*ck them, if they dont take their allocation we’ll have them back.

I travel to every home game from Cardiff, (my wallet is going to take a hammering over the next few weeks). If you want to support your club you have to make sacrifices.

City’s problem is most of their fans are new glory supporters! They cant even sell out there own stadium.

Gunsen gunner

Where’s djourou when you need him…

neil

Respect to those City supporters from an Arsenal fan.That is exactly what Arsenal fans should also start doing – to boycott the cames because it seems it is the only way to stop the board and mr. “economical genius” pissing all over us.
Stop them from taking our money and giving us poor results , poor performances, ridiculouse excuses and shameless lies.
Fucking cunts – i tell you.

AgentITK

You suggest better results brought about by decreased revenue and you respect the City fans for being the ones to suggest it?
Do you see Wenger and the board changing things because of a boycott?
Money wins you games, that’s what the league shows year after year, with a handful of exceptions (Us, for example). If City fans had boycotted over the take-over of their club or after they posted record-breaking losses, I’d have a little more time for them now.

DoubleDoubleDouble

“It’s worth noting at this point that 5,000 City fans did take advantage of £10 tickets to watch Sergio Aguero knock us out of the Carling Cup last season; a ticketing policy implemented to ensure top level football remains accessible to the next generation and one which has been broadly praised.”

…by the fans, but not by the other clubs who receive a vastly reduced share of revenue from gate receipts for cup matches.

Yep, that’s right, opposition clubs have complained that Arsenal didn’t charge their fans enough.

Ro

Have to disagree with the conclusion of this article. Terraces can never be as safe as seating.

More importantly, the prices Arsenal charge are not unreasonable: there is a limited capacity to the stadium, and demand still exceeds supply. Until there start being tickets unsold for games, supply and demand theory indicates that prices are actually too low.

Now that’s some real food for thought.

arseblog

It’s possible to have perfectly safe terracing – see Germany. And it adds so much to the atmosphere.

And re: supply/demand – seen how many unused tickets/empty seats there are at every game these days?

Ro

But just because a seat is empty does not mean that a ticket for that seat has not been sold – they could be unused season tickets, or a person bought a ticket but then was unable to make it.

I know all about German terracing and that is still no evidence for it being as safe as seating. The likelihood of accidents is higher for terracing than for seating, therefore seating will always be safer than terraces.

Voldermort

Love to see standing come back, this day and age it can be done safely. I don’t think I’ve been to an away game in the last 8 years or more and have sat down once.
Having said that, if we did bring it back I really couldn’t see this arsenal board dropping prices by too much.

Jasonissimo

As The Hives sang, “Supply and Deemand!”

Theeeo

Let me guess Ro year 1 economics student?? thats such a narrow view point and it’s also part of the reason Arsenal don’t compete with teams like Man U on a commercial scale (although a lot has to do with Arsenal’s lack of trophies). If it were simply supply/demand look at exciledgooner’s case he is an Arsenal fan who travels to matchs he is now not going to bother and in this instance Arsenal lose his girlfriend as a real fan (who knws she might love it). This means she in turn cannot spread the word of the joy she… Read more »

Naveen

Pricing this season wouldn’t be bad if we had a chance of winning the league but considering where we are the prices are looking ridiculous. Add to this the nonsense we go through this and every transfer window, and you understand why so many home fans are now no longer going to games.

sam

Let’s kick out the greedy Arsenal board!!!

J0hnire

City fans saying that our prices effect the whole market of prices for teams? Yet the prices their club pays for players does the exact same at a much larger level to football in whole. Which leads to clubs like ours being forced to raise ticket prices to compete. Fuck them.

neil

If you hurt their purce – something may finally get stuck on these teflonmen.
Gunners for life!

neil

Soory – i meant purse.

Anon

Here’s a whole new creative way to make away fans shut up and whine over the internet apparently.

Chaz

It’ll never happen, but I went to a Yankees baseball game in NY in the summer – sitting in the nosebleeds costs $5, with tickets behind the batter going for something daft like $2,500 a game – worked so well, and would be a good solution. Plenty of rich wankers who’d pay an arm and leg for front row football seats…

Nothing worse, as a red level member, than paying £50-£60 for a ticket and ending up in the back row of the Emirates…

Gareth Priest

Welcome to the world of Arsenal fans… who keep paying it, at least City win!

subeyr

What ? The emirates doesnt have them standing terrances ? Damn. I like in Australia and been to a few a-league games , saw heskey play aha . But here we have them places were the supporters stand , drink beer and etc . Thats where all they noise and support comes from. That’s fucked if Brits don’t have that

DoubleDoubleDouble

We’re not allowed to have it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Report

Red Fred

They should want to pay double that to see their future players while they are still quality, rather than after they sign them and then just go thru the motions :o)

nahAllow

Simple solution. Wage cap. Not just something keeping man city, arsenal and the like down to mid-table expenditure level, but something which gives players reasonable wages in this economic climate. The fans shouldn’t be paying to see footballers get a years worth of their own wages in a week.

DoubleDoubleDouble

Wage caps are pretty much impossible to implement, unless EU law provides football with an exemption and it is imposed worldwide.

One possible alternative is that total salary spending is capped at a % of club turnover, or something similar, e.g. if club turnover is £100m, and the cap is 60%, then you can spend £60m on wages and divvy it up however you want to amongst the players.

TomJ

Well thought of genius. Funny that happens to be exactly the way it is at Arsenal, most other football clubs, and every other business that operates within financial constraints

DoubleDoubleDouble

You don’t know what it means when people refer to a wage cap for the league, do you?

TomJ

I understand perfectly what a salary cap is. I also manage a business where I know I can only spend a % of annual turnover on salaries or we operate at a loss. My response was to your suggestion that salary spending is capped at a % of turnover as if it was some novel idea, when its the way football clubs and businesses operate already. Well done for coming up with it all on your ownio though

AgentITK

“Well thought of genius. Funny that happens to be exactly the way it is at Arsenal, most other football clubs, and every other business that operates within financial constraints”

It might be like that at most other football clubs but it’s the ones that aren’t that skew things for the rest of the league and it only takes one. Chelsea and City obvioulsy didn’t operate like that when they inflated prices which lead to Everton paying wages at 79% of their turnover. Genius.

DoubleDoubleDouble

There is no salary cap in the Premier League, you are talking about individual club policies, which is irrelevant. The original post is calling for a salary cap in the league, and infers that players earning vast sums in a week should be eliminated (a hard cap on individual wages). My point was that having a hard cap for an individual is against EU law, with the only real alternative being an overall cap based on % turnover, and gave a simple explanation of what that meant. At no point did I suggest that it was a ‘novel idea’, only… Read more »

Ro

Any form of regulation with regard to wages or prices is, in my opinion, morally offensive.

Kenyangoon

Where i’m from, we spend about 40 sh to watch the arsenal. Thats the price of a bottle of soda. Beer is about £1 or 140sh. Anyway, saving up to come to the emirates one day, at this rate i have alot of saving to do…

TomJ

Stay where you are dude, all you’ll get over here is wet, cold and fucking fleeced by the board

Joeos

Man City website announced at 9.38 on 31 December 2012 that they had sold out their ticket allocation for the away game at Arsenal. Fairy story from a newspaper desparate for hits on website?

Joeos

I don’t disagree that is possible, but it seems odd that they would have returned tickets in mid December and the “story” comes out now. I have been following the level of ticket sales for this game out of curiosity to get a feel for how some of the performances this season may impact on sales. In previous seasons this game would have sold out some time ago. The sales have been slow but very few tickets are still available. What I have not seen is tickets being available around the away fans blocks. This could be due to them… Read more »

Comedian

City might have a few fans and they might be loyals who have supported them all those pre-sheik years before, but their success has not bought more fans like when chelsea did.given this situation about less dans turning up for games home and away , they are still fucking winning.
And yeah if the city fans decide of boycotting games (which we always say we should do for kroenke reasons) it wouldnt matter the sheikhs but it might him buying out away fixtures tickets for them who knows.

Greg

They rarely sell out whens its cheaper at home

Rodders1971

I feel some sympathy with the genuine City fans,however when I think about the club & players they support my overriding thought is…fuckin’ northern cunts,bollox to ’em.

kms

Isn’t there a 60,000 capacity limit imposed by local council for the stadium re residential issue? How would safe standing be introduced at emirates if there is such ruling?

Jasonissimo

I doubt that is the case. Average attendance is 60,094 with capacity listed as 60,361.

Jasonissimo

Rethinking, there may be some limitations on capacity imposed by the local government, as you say, though obviously 60,000 is not the hard cap.

kevs

Wengers socialist wage system is ridiculos, i thought a good contract was something you deserved. Just look at manure, they are paying their worst players with wages around 10-20k. We are paying our deadwood players with 50k+. So that they can offer their best players the contracts they wants and keep them.

Fatgooner

I think it’s outrageous that these City fans have turned their backs on the game. After all, Mr Kroenke needs as much money as possible in order to pay for his new ranch.

Fatgooner

By the way: I’m just listening to the build-up to the Capital Cup semi-final between Villa and Bradford. It’s fucking annoying that we are not playing it – how did we lose to that shit?

TomJ

Because the manager is no longer capable of motivating the players

Lldre

Hehe tomj u piece of shit.

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