Friday, March 29, 2024

PSV game off but Gunners will face Brentford on Sunday

Arsenal’s Premier League match with Brentford has been given the go-ahead for Sunday but the kick-off at the Community Stadium has been brought forward two hours to 12pm. 

The decision came hours after the Gunners confirmed that Thursday’s Europa League game with PSV Eindhoven has been postponed due to a Metropolitan Police resourcing issue while Queen Elizabeth II lies in state ahead of her funeral on Monday. 

It’s something of a head-scratcher given Arsenal were the only side due to play in London on Thursday whereas Sp*rs play their match on Saturday evening on an afternoon when Queens Park Rangers, Watford (technically outside London), Millwall and Leyton Orient also have fixtures scheduled. 

If the presence of away fans is a deal breaker for the police, it’s notable that Rangers skirted around the issue this week by agreeing with Napoli that travelling fans won’t be permitted at either of their Champions League games. The other option could have been to play behind closed doors. For whatever reason, neither path was agreed upon. 

We should point out that the Premier League clashes between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge and Manchester United versus Leeds at Old Trafford have been postponed this weekend “following extensive consultation with clubs, police, local Safety Advisory Groups and other relevant authorities.’

Crystal Palace’s trip to Brighton was never rearranged having originally been cancelled because of a train strike that now isn’t going ahead because Aslef, the train drivers’ union, didn’t want to be accused of disrespecting the monarchy during a period of national mourning. 

Last weekend, all matches in England from the Premier League down to the grassroots level were postponed as a mark of respect to the Queen following the news of her death on Thursday. 

Other sports, including cricket and rugby, went ahead which naturally led to questions as to why football felt the need to act differently. 

As things stand Everton’s league visit to the Emirates and PSV’s trip to London still need to be rearranged. The former will likely take place after Christmas, once the World Cup has been completed, but it’s likely Uefa will want the Europa League tie done in the coming weeks. If a suitable date isn’t available, Arsenal are at risk of having to forfeit.

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Matt Schmid

Errr confusion

Kris

You wonder if the Cologne game had a bearing on this one. Can’t really see why 3,000 travelling fans cause such a big issue for the police given the lack of other fixtures that evening. But the previous of 3,000 fans actually being 30,000 might have influenced their decision. I suspect they won’t make a decision on it until the end of the group stage and if it happens that we’re both through anyway and the placings are unaltered we’ll concede. Means we may have to play stronger sides than we’d have liked for the other 4 matches though.

Gooner7190

Seen a few reports saying the City game next month will likely be moved, possibly to January, & PSV will slot into that week instead

PeteyB

Feels quite arbitrary to put the PSV game off, but Chelsea Vs Salzberg is going ahead on Wednesday.

Maybe since she comes from Scotland Wednesday and only goes on display on Thursday?

Left Testicle

Queen Elizabeth II won’t be ‘on display’, she will be ‘lying in state’.

Sunglasses

Here, Here! Rightly said Left Testicle

Woolwich Tiern time

How do you feel PeteyB having been told off by someone going with the name Left testicle?

Left Testicle

PeteyB should know better!

Left Testicle

Bloody philistines!

Pete Plum

No matter what your opinion how can you downvote “Here, Here! Rightly said Left Testicle?”

ArseNibbles

Meanwhile, we Commoners lie intestate

Tired

It’s more to do with the PSV fans and amount of policing they require.

PeteyB

I see. PSV fans have a bad rep? Salzberg fans are chilled? I had no idea.

If that is the genuine reason it would be doubly unjust for Arsenal to forfeit the game.

Jeremy DG

Arsenal and justice don’t in the same sentence.

Eric Blair

A real life Madame Tussauds!

Fezec

Can’t see us voluntarily forfeiting the match. But it’s arsenal so also wouldn’t surprise me if somehow UEFA fuck us over and force us to play shock CL drop-outs Bayern Munich in the next round

Woolwich Tiern time

Gnarby will come back home in the Janruary transfwe window and and we then beat them

beldar77

Is it possible that the police presence required at a Premier league venue is much greater than cricket? But it is bizarre we play and Man U does not.

Ajay

Cricket is a gentleman’s game and there rarely have been any incident of violence for the last 100 years or so. Football is like what Bobby Pires said a dogfight on/off the pitch, where these canines can pull each other’s limbs off.
Hope that clarifies!

Woolwich Tiern time

Guess you was not at the Oval for the Pakistan Afghanistan game during the Cricket world cup then??

Woolwich Tiern time

I asuume because Man U and Leeds fans are known to have antipathy towards each other. But there are a kotbof bizarre decisions being made my those governing right now

Woolwich Tiern time

lot of

PeteyB

Conspiracy theorists would suggest it’s in Man U’s intrtest to have a few days off after a long trip to Moldova… Of course I don’t subscribe to such theories

dt1966

Shouldn’t be a problem with PSV they play fewer games but they could make it awkward for us it’s an easy 3 points for them.

Derek D

They could possibly move one of the PL games to next year and slot the psv game in its place before the world cup begins?

Chuck Felsea

If they have any interest in the European progression of their clubs, the league should definitely do that. If that is not possible, then Arsenal should sacrifice the league cup this season in Liverpool style, by playing an Arsenal “Under 23” in the league cup, while at the same time entertaining PSV, just like Liverpool did for the World Club Championships. Arsenal seem pretty confident that the game can go ahead, otherwise I guess there would have been the possibility to play the game at a neutral venue or behind closed doors. Playing as such seems to be no problem… Read more »

Gooner7190

Apparently we offered to go behind closed doors & The Met cut that idea off cause they’d still need to send some officers over

PrettyPires

Could we have not changed the PSV fixture to Holland, and play the home leg when the away match was scheduled?

Sean

Maybe too short notice for them to arrange a match there? Behind closed doors should surely have been an option rather than an even more congested schedule

Woolwich Tiern time

I thought rhe no away fans at either leg seemed quite an elegant decision. Sorry for the travelling gooners but wiuld the dutch really want to rock up in London at this present time?

Chuck Felsea

Since they mostly have their trip organized alread, I guess they would fear that many Dutch would indeed come and maybe they fear a scenario like with 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt a few years ago, where in addition to those with valid tickets, many more German fans came without tickets and tried to force their way in. In this case maybe the fans with valid match tickets would still come and also force their way in despite being banned.

PeteyB

My thoughts exactly. You’d think that a rational solution could be reached. The idea that we could end up forfeiting the game for reasons entirely outside of our control seems crazy.
Play at a neutral venue if necessary. Or even play twice in at PSV (if that not against integrity rules) Just get the game on.

Chuck Felsea

Would have been great, but I understand PSV if they don’t want that. Very short notice to sell tickets, so while it might otherwise be a sellout, maybe with such short notice it wouldn’t. Arsenal could conveniently sell tickets for their home game later and have full income and support.Without Arsenal goggles on I guess one would have to understand that no club would do that. An interesting proposal would have been to stage the game in Eindhoven as our home game and get the income from that, then playing their home game as scheduled. But I guess we are… Read more »

ImarnuelAFC

Be nice to see fellow gooners stop fighting. We all want the team to win. Let’s focus on that

Qwaliteee

Nah. You’ve got to let the downtrodden great unwashed have their salt fest.

Put on your best socks and sandals, don’t forget your nose ring, sup up your lentil soup and come join the revolution, comrade.

Cancelling a few Arsenal matches? I mean how shall we all (apart from Thomas Partey) ever find the strength to carry on from this utter utter travesty?

It’s enough to make you put your £3 million town house in Kensington up for sale!

Gervinho is Driving

It’s football, so it must be a mismanaged, ludicrous mess.

Cliff Bastin

(Disappointed fan meme)

Appels&Pere

Rest those legs Partey.

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

Until he’s gotta play 8 games in 7 days

Teryima Adi

Strange times we live in. But life goes on.

The Far Post

Why is Chelsea home game v Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday allowed to go ahead, but ours v PSV cannot? Don’t get it.

Danito

Probably because the authorities does not want alot of foreign fans in London the day the Queen’s coffin passes through London.

Sunglasses

And yet the Dutch have their own Monarchy, who’s to say they wouldn’t be very respectful?

Brady’s bunch

Probably trying to avoid the type of heckling Randy Andy got yesterday

The Far Post

According to the BBC the Queen’s coffin will travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday afternoon. So if anything, the Chelsea match conflicts more with that.

If the reason is that the police do not want to handle both groups of fans, then I would claim the Arsenal match should cause less disruption because there would be less time overlap with the Wednesday activities.

Eazy Deezy

Would be nice if they explained to us why they decided each match is being postponed or played, given all the disruption it’s causing to fans

Qwaliteee

Hmmm. That’s a real poser isn’t it? Tricky one. Why have these games been cancelled?

Answers on a postcard to Not So Eazy Deezy. 🙄

PB70

Why have these games been cancelled?”

A career in politics awaits you. Twist someone’s words and rephrase the question so you can be up in arms about some bullshit or another.

Going to change your name to Kwalitee with a big ‘K’ for your pic, now?

It Is What It Is

Wonder if the police get more money for UCL games than UEL games. I suppose Arsenal would pay more than Charlton to have a few visible bobbies on horseback.

Graham

Just cancel the season already

Woolwich Tiern time

I assume you mean with us being awarded the title?

Boy Bastin

It’s certainly frustrating (and particularly so if you’re a fan with tickets and intending to travel a long distance to any of the games) but we’ll just all have to get on with it and get over it, won’t we. The squad will have had a long rest come Sunday so any niggling injuries may have improved, and surely everyone should be up for the Brentford game and hoping to get revenge for the humiliating defeat there in the opening game of last season. These setbacks because of postponements don’t just effect Arsenal so let’s concentrate on winning at Brentford,… Read more »

TeeCee

Have the EFL outsourced the handling of schedule disruption to PGMOL?
This all feels more like their sort of massive fuckup.

Der Kaiser

Very frustrating. Personally I understand that with the Queen
lying in state on the evening of the PSV game their could be legitimate reasons re: Police resources to cancel the PSV game

In my opinion it was the cancellation of the Everton game that made no sense. The Premier League overacted and just wanted to be seen to be doing the right thing. Other sporting fixtures ( e.g. rugby and cricket) went ahead last weekend. Those fixtures should have gone ahead with black armbands and a two minute silence to mark the Queens passing.

Graeb

Hindsight is great. Respectfulness was the reason for last weekend: how much stick would we have got for thousands enjoying themselves at a time of mourning – forget that minor sports went ahead.
Sometimes minor shit happens and we need to accept it – think of those in Ukraine or Pakistan for real issues.

Woolwich Tiern time

You mean Ukraine where they have their football league up and running?

PB70

So we keep sports going during the issues that Ukraine and Pakistan are facing? According to your hindsight, the queen dying ranks well above any minor shit going on in Ukraine and Pakistan. If thousands were going to enjoy themselves regardless of the queen’s death – putting a stop to that means what? I’m sure the vast majority of people can enjoy themselves regarding sports AND be respectful some bad shit has happened – and for the small minority who can’t, fuck em. Why should they determine the outcome of any decisions? Might as well shut this site down if… Read more »

Thierry Bergkamp (non negotiable)

So… woman dies, the whole country has to be seen feeling sad and depressed, as if life musn’t go on?

Eric Blair

Sorry my friend, you’re spectacularly missing the point. A 96 year old woman has died, what is wrong with you? Have you no soul? It is entirely appropriate that certain arbitrary areas of society must grind to a halt in respect, even if that means economic difficulty for those whose livelihoods are connected to match day sport. Also even if it means Arsenal must forfeit the match, lose match day revenue, and face finishing 2nd in the group meaning extra matches in the new year, fixture pile ups probably affecting Premier League performances. The absolutely disrespectful tone in your message… Read more »

Boy Bastin

I think that the passing of the head of state (regardless of age or gender) would be treated much the same in most countries with various events cancelled, postponed etc. As to the consequences for Arsenal, the club will no doubt deal with them as best it can – what else can it do? We must also keep in mind that Arsenal are not the only club impacted – to read some comments you’d almost believe that this was a plot directed at us. I’m afraid that fixture congestion (for whatever reason) along with injuries, suspensions, bad refereeing decisions and… Read more »

Eric Blair

Right, Keep Clam And Carry On.

This Act of God was entirely unforeseeable and all consequences must be taken by those affected in a bowing (or curtsying) position.

Qwaliteee

Calm?

You can’t even spell it.

Boy Bastin

Absolutely right. As someone said in a different situation “There is no alternative.”

Clearly it was foreseeable – to some extent or another, it’s foreseeable for all of us, isn’t it?

The reaction when it happened to the head of state would have been the same regardless of whether it was a woman in her 90s or a man in, say, his 50s.

Pescatarian

“…..even if that means economic difficulty for those whose livelihoods are connected to match day sport.” I mean wow! People should starve or not be able to feed their kids so that some (seriously overly righteous) people can feel sorry for someone who just died? No way, cannot believe you just said that. You think the Queen would have wanted THAT? Her fellow countrymen/women and children going hungry? Jog on son. Get a grip and have some perspective. Oh and yours is probably the most over the top reaction I have seen since all this nonsense began. especially this: “Guardian… Read more »

arseblog

I think you’re missing the sarcasm

Qwaliteee

Heh. Does it surprise you? 😂

Alan Sunderland

Disagree, I think he’s just trying to be a self righteous cnut.

Der32

I reckon we should forfeit our place in the Europa League to not offend the monarchy.

Qwaliteee

Why don’t you give UEFA a ring, comrade?

Boy Bastin

Daft comment. We’re talking about the head of state which happens to be a monarch in this case but if it happened in, say, France it would be the President – and the French would almost certainly have done the same thing.

Qwaliteee

British freedom of speech right there.

Would you get away with writing (and Blogs – with publishing) that sort thing against the club’s national head of state if Arsenal were North Korean, Chinese or even Russian?

I don’t think so.

Eric Blair

What a royal mess.

Cornish Gooner

Pathetic, servile responses from both EPL & the police. I suspect fans in the northern cities are a great deal less “respectful” & could not be trusted not to indulge in a bit of disrespectful “booing”. Complete mishandling by the Establishment who are milking a funeral for all it’s worth. Charlie is not popular & will be even less so after this alienation of, particularly younger, fans & old, grumpy republicans like me!! European authorities would be perfectly entitled to kick all UK teams out of their competitions for creating fixture mayhem- but they won’t because of the cash cow… Read more »

Qwaliteee

Pasties and a pint or two of Bitter.

karl

It’s a shame that what looks like our best season in many years is going to be a fragmented one.

No criticism of anyone dying, but the winter World Cup is the big problem that could randomly derail a team’s season. Let’s hope it is not ours.

Eric Blair

It ought to be highlighted that last week’s postponements affected all clubs equally, whereas now we are into different territory where some are much more affected than others.

This has been on the cards for years, did nobody draw up a satisfactory directive about what to do in this situation?

Alan Sunderland

Run for parliament mate, you seem to have all the answers. Charlie’s no spring chicken, you could have the whole thing sorted so as you won’t have to go a week without your favourite toy when he passes on.

Fleurn

Couldn’t they swap it so Arsenal played away like they were talking about for this weekend’s games?

Ealing

It is what it is, & we are where we are.

Naked Cygan

Can they really make us forfeit if we did nothing wrong? Surely they can come up with another date.

Fatgooner

Quite possibly not.

Imagine if by forfeiting the game we miss out on qualification: that would absolutely stink. We’ve done nothing wrong and shouldn’t be punished for events outside our control.

Thursday’s game should have gone ahead, possibly with the stipulation of no away supporters. It can’t be right that other games in London are happening but ours is cancelled.

Mark

The only good thing about this is that both matches that will need to be made up are home ones so it won’t involve extra travel for us.

Pete Plum

I suppose a double-header in Eindhoven is out of the question? 60 minutes each match? This is the time honoured way

Alan Sunderland

Our best man man against theirs, no holds barred. I nominate big Gabi as our lad.

David Hillier's luggage

Having been in central London/Westminster area the last couple days, I’m genuinely surprised ours and Sp*rs’ games are going ahead this weekend. Feels like there’s a bigger police presence than after the 2005 bombings, which quite frankly is a bit ridiculous.

Gunnersaurus

I think the issue with the postponements is to do with how the Met Police split the territory up into their Basic Command Units. Arsenal and Chelsea sit within the Central area which also covers Westminster. You would imagine teams from the Central unit are being redeployed to provide coverage for the lying it state: obviously there is a transition on Wednesday evening so they’ve decided they can cover the Chelsea game but not ours the day later.
Brentford sits in the West area so they probably don’t get impacted hence the reason why our fixture goes ahead on Sunday.

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