Arsenal have officially confirmed that they’ll be heading for the USA this summer. As we told you last month the US was very much on the agenda and that’s been set in stone today.
The Gunners will play a friendly against New York Red Bulls in New Jersey on July 26th as part of their pre-season preparations.
That means they’ll face former Gunner Thierry Henry who said, “It goes without saying that hosting Arsenal at Red Bull Arena will be a special moment for me both on a professional and personal level. As I have said before, the club is in my heart and this will be another terrific chapter in my relationship with Arsenal Football Club.
“Along with my team-mates, I am excited to host Arsenal in New York – one of the greatest cities in the world – and hope that Red Bulls and Arsenal fans will be able to enjoy the match.”
While Arsene Wenger said, “This will be a great chance to play in front of supporters who have not seen the team play before. The New York Red Bulls will be midway through their season, so they will provide a good test. Obviously it will be good to play against Thierry. He is a very special player in our club’s history and I know the players and the supporters will enjoy this very much.”
Chief executive Ivan Gazidis added, “We are delighted to be visiting the United States for the first time in 25 years. We enjoy fantastic support there, and in particular in New York, so we are looking forward to providing our fans with an opportunity to watch the team play live.”
No tickets have been announced at this moment in time, but will undoubtedly be made available through official channels of both clubs.
It’s great for US fans, and very tempting for the rest of us to try and combine some holiday time and Arsenal time in a great city.
I gotta hankerin’ for some more of those epic happy-hour Margaritas and late night pizza slices.
fucking hell.. yesssss
This is birthday present to Mikel Arteta. Isn’t his best buddy Cahill playing with Titi over there?
You planning on coming over, blogs? We’re preparing here already!
You never know 😉
Finally! I was planning on making a trip home to NJ around then anyhow! I hope to god I can get a ticket.
Tongue in cheek.Our 7 injured players may be ready for this match but perhaps not Diaby yet.
Great to spread our brand westwards
Great opportunity for the fans out in the States!
I didn’t realise how big the Arsenal support is over there until recently.
Fantastic to see football growing over there.
Arsenal’s first trip to the USA, for one game at a 25,000 seat stadium. That’s going to be a pretty tough ticket to get.
Yeah, feels like they are leaving a lot of money on the table here. Bet they could fill Met Life at 80,000. If it’s the only game in the US, plenty of Gooners would travel.
Limited demand will push ticket prices to pretty ridiculous levels on the secondary market and that might get some publicity, but really, a bigger stadium is more money that we wouldn’t spend anyway.
I saw Barca play there…we can fill it (the Met)…great venue..I wouldn’t be surprised if the switched venue…
Here’s to a stress free non transfer deadline day panic buy rush summer
What the chances of Henry swapping sides at HT? Now that would be nice.
Hope some cunt ref taking a friendly featuring arsenal waaay to seriously doesn’t spoil it for him again.
Gosh I hope they expand to Texas or somewhere that’ll be easier for me to travel to as well
Approved! And off to the Blind Pig for pre-game. And post-game. 🙂
Nice to hear from Gazidis
It would be interesting to hear from him about the team’s recent performances
Please………..leave bitterness alone for two seconds. I know your world might implode but please for the rest of us a moment of non bleating would be nice.
What has Gazidis got to do with the results?
Can’t wait. I live in New York and this will be the first time I will be seeing Arsenal play.
me too! I’d’ve thought they’d play in Yankee Stadium or something, though… I know it’s where the red bulls play but it seems a little weird to stick the game in Newark. gonna have to take goddamn NJ transit
Actually you don’t have to take the NJ transit, you take the PATH train, it’s pretty convenient in the sense that the stadium is right next to the Harrison station. It’s a lot closer & cheaper to get to than London btw.
And it’s a really nice new stadium, the pitch was nice too. Went across for Henry’s debut (predictably he scored against the visiting Scum) and for the meet & greet w/ Henry, that the fine folks at the NYC Supporters club organized.
FYI – Henry’s taken the PATH a few times himself (including that evening).
yeah I noticed that you can take the path after I commented that. but as a native of NJ I’m obligated to disparage the public transit options.
I’m still a little worried about getting tickets but hopefully I’ll be able to!
Me too!
yeah Yankee stadium is a nice hop off of the subway…
I’ll pretty much do anything for a ticket. Let your minds wander…
Maybe we can bring home that badass McCringleberry as our first transfer. 😛 His moustache can score goals
I hate to piss on the parade but Red Bull Arena isn’t close to big enough for the only game in the states in a decade. They could play 5 games there and not meet the demand for tickets. Why not do a proper tour of larger venues and make a week out of it?
Because it’s a world cup year, players will need a rest afterwards. We still have to host the unnecessary Emirates Cup and we might yet still have to play in CL quali games and hopefully the FA Community Shield. Simply unfortunate timing. Even one game stateside seems a bit risky and unnecessary in my opinion, but if it’s in place of multiple friendlies I suppose it would be a nice change of pace.
Yesss finally. I just called nyrb and they are selling only season tickets now which include the arsenal game. They said general sale for the arsenal game will be announced soon
They need to come to California!! I’ll personally promote ticket sales myself to make sure they sell out the 90,000 seat Rose bowl. I’ll help raise the funds for high profile striker! Falcao? Cavani? Take your pick Wenger!
Absolutely to California! I know they could sell out, say, AT&T Park up north or some large venue in SOCAL. And for that matter, what about the Midwest? When Chelsea and Man City played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis last year, all the tickets went in seconds (and they drew a crowd beating the largest the Cardinals had ever drawn). I’m ready guys, SF, LA, or the Lou!
Don’t forget Canada too! Toronto FC and Jermain Defoe would love to play Arsenal as well 🙂
If you’re near Toronto you can easily make it down to NJ 😉
I guess you’ve never been to New Jersey, haha.
You could live in New York and it’s not easy to get into New Jersey.
Not with Chris Christie still in charge (warning: American jokes)
Never been happier to be a Red Bulls season ticket holder. About fainted when the news came out.
You got an extra?
Unfortunately with limited seating most attendees will simply be Red Bulls regulars. Arsenal fans from elsewhere probably won’t get a look in. Strange to go so far for a single game – maybe more announcements to follow?
I hope that’s the case, as well. There are many great venues in the US with strong fan support. It would be a shame to go only for one game. A tour westward would make sense, ending with the Sounders.
Not the Sounders. Timbers.
Ramsay and Ozil will probably still be injured !
It’s doubtful any of our World Cup players will go on the tour, which means no Ozil, Cazorla, Mert, etc. But Ramsey will be there, as well as (quite possibly) Walcott. I’m also excited to get another glimpse of Zelalem, who was one of the best surprises of last year’s pre-season.
I can’t believe I’m already excited for pre-season. It’s almost like I think this season is already over…
As bad as the past week has been, for the first time in 3 years we are actually in with a chance of winning a trophy. And at least we did compete for the league until march (who knows- win on Saturday and we might still be in with a chance. After all the league has been bonkers this season).
That’s right, A… NEVER give up hope.
Let’s see……passport to get into States – $80, Gas to drive to NY and back – $150, Hotel – $150ish, Ticket – guessing here @ $200-$300 minimum for scalps as I’d never be able to get one online. Food & souvenirs – $200-300ish. Ouch. Maybe they’ll make a DVD of the game that we can buy…….
BUT ITS ALL WORTH IT! It’s fun to make a trip out of it, no
I’d love to, as it’s my dream to see a match, but I also love my house. And that’s my Mortgage payment out the window. hahaha.
What chances are of us playing one of Stans teams as well?
Oh
My
Bergkamp
I live in Los Angeles and am already planning my trip
Come to India, pls 🙁
I know the pitches are bad, but we have a fucking 1.2 lakh-seater stadium at Kolkata. Not a single seat would be vacant.
And i’ll travel 2,500 kilometers to watch the match.
What is a lakh?
A lakh is a unit number in India which equals one hundred thousand.
That’s a big bloody stadium
Great news. Guess I can plan and take the day off. Will be worth it the drive from the midwest
Most of the seats at red bull arena are not purchased by season ticket holders. but they will have a resale for us season ticket holders so a lot of seats will get bought up that way, I’m sure. I’m lucky enough to have my 7th row seats included in my season ticket package!!
I think you’ll find the date is July 26th,
Here’s a link.
http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/27/new-york-red-bulls-to-host-arsenal-in-summer-friendly-on-july-26th/
*presale
1. Too bad I live in Cali
2. World Cup, depleted side full of youngsters
3. Are!
I live in London, Ontario and this is the greatest news I have heard in a loooooong time! After 15 years I will finally be able to see The Arsenal in person!
Arse! (Fuck you, autocorrect)
NYC and AFC, blooming Nora, what a combination! I’d love to be able to get out there for that one. I’m loving reading how excited all the Stateside Gooners are, good on ya lads (and lasses of course!)
Can hear Thierry Henry ringing out already!
So Arsenal will be showing off their new Jersey in New Jersey
Bravo sir, Bravo !!
Take a bow.
Much like Ryo, I can imagine this will be a game where they heavily flaunt Zelalem. Again, another game or a biggest venue would have made much more sense.
The Statue of Liberty’s a Gooner, da, dood, dood, dood, dood!
Just found a picture taken of the moment Thierry heard this news….
http://m.skysports.com/image?id=3049771.jpg&date=mobile&width=440&height=260&domain=skysports
I’m glad it’s not at Yankee Stadium.
The NYC Arsenal supporters will be out in full force. Would be nice to get the lads over to the Blind Pig for some holiday pints….. We can dream, right?
COYG!
the YES channel used to air Arsenal games…I would like to believe they will contract for a game while the team is in town….
Nah, the Yanks have since partnered with City for the NYC Football Club, the new MLS team in Queens. And they don’t show Arsenal games anymore.
If they do decide to move it, and I doubt it, since this is a Red Bull event, it would be to Giants stadium at best.
They should play at the Giants stadium, 80,000 seats are way better than 25,000!! I need tickets
This is quite the glamour tie. You can sense the MLS is getting properly established now and unlike a cynical tour of an eastern country, there’s an actual link to this friendly, thanks to Thierry.
Now, play the Emirates-sponsored Cosmos, too.
Lucky me! Will be visiting New York in July and August. Hoped to catch Thierry Henry in action, now I can watch The Arsenal!!
Anybody can give me an idea how much the ticket can cost?
280+ on secondary market. best off knowing someone at RB or a RBNY season ticket holder.
Er, wot? Since when was New York a great city?
New Yorkers just think they’re the center of the universe.
Benvnc, very clever pun
shame it is the only game outside of europe. i hope we get back to some hardcore altitude training, but we can do that and then some in Colorado. mint on games there and make stan a few $ from concessions etc.
i am no operational nor marketing genius, but even i can see 1 game at a 24k seat stadium whilst right on the doorstep of your majority share owner who just so happens to own a team/stadium/training facility in mountains a mile high, is a little “short sighted”. arsene knows?
Boner in full effect now! Charleston to NJ? I’ll fucking walk if I have to!!!
Train ride to the game for me. So so so so excited. Traveling Gooners should look up my group if you want to meet up!
Seen EM hundreds of times when I lived back home in London, but will be making the trip up from Florida to see this.
Good news! I was planning of spending some of my vacation visiting my Brother in New York. Not been stateside since 2008. Could be Nice to time it with Arsenal’s visit. However, i dont fancy our chances at getting tickets if it is only 1 game in a 25k seat stadium? I Usually travel 2-4 times a year over to London from Norway to Catch atleast a couple of games each season at the Emirates. So Dont get to watch Arsenal Live all that often. So would be super awesome to get tickets to the New York game since im… Read more »
This is absolutely great. Can’t wait to purchase tickets for my family. Have been to the Emirates in London but was only able to visit the stadium with no games in play. We were there in July the last two summers. Finally retiring this summer from teaching and will finally be able to attend a game in London in 2014-2015. But at least now I will be able to see them play this summer. I live in New York.
Does that mean Wenger will still be in charge??? OMG. Kill me now!!!
Why should there be something wrong with wanting something different???
Finally! It’ll be great for the club to raise its profile over here, there’s too many kneejerk Chelski and ManUre fans around.
Amongst season ticket holders, there have been rumors of Arsenal coming to Denver. The Rapids are an affiliated club, owned by the same guy. Makes sense.
Happy for the sake of all the Gunners in the states. Too bad it’s only one game
in a tiny stadium tho.
Wouldnt be surprised if the team went on a longer trip to the US next year!
This is excellent news.
Soccer (Footy) is the fastets growing sport in the US and one with a bright future (considering demographics and Hispanic growth)
Arsenal have been slow to exploit this considering henry’s presence at Red Bulls.
IMO, they should really sponsor an Arsenal (developmental) team here to compete in the MLS.
…following Zelalem, there will be more major stars unearthed in the United States. You heard it hear first.