1. Home
  2. Online Exclusive

A letter to the Arsenal board

How can gold members know what they are paying for on May 31st?

5 July, 2011 10:00 35 comments
A letter to the Arsenal board

Will he be back?

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOONER

*Please note, I write this letter amid the speculation on the night of the 30th June, regarding Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri.

Dear Arsenal Board,

In this letter I will state my argument for the request of the season ticket renewal date as of next year to be postponed until a week before the beginning of the new season.

As did many Gooners this year I sighed when I read that the season ticket price for the season 2011/12 would increase by roughly 6%, but nevertheless still coughed up the money to watch my beloved team.

Now, since the renewal deadline passed there has been the usually transfer rumours circulating, Bendtner saying he will move on, Denilson saying it’s time to go and the usual Cesc gossip. But on the night of the 30th June I was rather dismayed to see that on Sky Sports News they was reporting that both Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri were in advanced talks to join Manchester City, for £7million and £20million respectively. There was also the usual piece suggesting that Cesc had signed somewhere other than the pieces of paper held out by young fans at the last game of the season. (Surprisingly it was AC Milan claiming he had signed for another club).

Obviously as you can imagine to many, many fans this is rather dismaying news as all three players are key members of the team. Many fans may be resigned to the fact that we may very well after years of speculation be losing our captain.

But let’s be fair to you, there have been rumors on the other side. Chris Samba, Gary Cahill and Gervinho are all reported targets, which is good, if we’re Everton or maybe Aston Villa. Now I’m not doubting that Samba and Cahill are good players, but they’re no Adams, Keown, Bould, Campbell or Toure; shall I continue? As for Gervinho, he made 35 appearances for Lille last year and scored 15 goals, so he hardly set the league alight, and this is the French league (RVP scored 18 goals with 10 fewer appearances). So again, I shall compare, Gervinho or Henry, Berkamp, Wright and yes I am going to say Adebayor. He may have been a bit of a scumbag but he performed (and he ended the Spuds CL run so he can’t be that bad). Give me a Kanu over Gervinho any day (as I write this I’m thinking if he signs I’m possibly going to regret that in a year).

This is why Mr. Peter Hill-Wood, Mr. Ivan Gazidis, Mr. Ken Friar OBE, Sir Chips Keswick, Lord Harris of Peckham and Mr. Stanley Kroenke, I ask if you would consider moving the renewal date back next year, so loyal paying fans can see if you sell off our best payers, before we cough up X amount for next year’s season ticket.

With all due respect I congratulate you on running a fantastic business. The stadium is fantastic, I have been to London Colney, and it’s superb. But football for the fans isn’t a business it’s a passion, and I’m sorry I would trade magnificent stadiums for trophies any day.

Although on a last thought as many fans have been saying recently after getting fed up of the gossip over El Capitan, no man is bigger than the club.

Kind Regards,

A Concerned Fan

NEW! Subscribe to our weekly Gooner Fanzine newsletter for all the latest news, views, and videos from the intelligent voice of Arsenal supporters since 1987.

Please note that we will not share your email address with any 3rd parties.

Article Rating

Leave a comment

Sign-in with your Online Gooner forum login to add your comment. If you do not have a login register here.

35
comments

  1. dominick

    Jul 06, 2011, 17:15 #9613

    I think the we need to get rid of the deadwood at boardroom level & get some younger, fresher people elected onto it & bring David dein back, that would be a start. Then start by offloading Diaby, Bendtner, Rosicky, Denilson, Arshavin, Traore, Almunia, Fabianski, Squillaci & Koscielny, use whatever money we get from those sales & put it towards Nasri's new deal & combine the money we already have in the kitty with the money we get from Cesc & from Clichy & get some decent quality in the side. I reckon we could get Given, Samba, Cahill, Leighton Baines, Felipe Melo & Alhy Cissoko all for under £100 million, that would appease us the paying fans & with a few of the younger players we could finally mount a decent challenge for a trophy. Simples.

  2. AfroGoonieGooner

    Jul 06, 2011, 4:33 #9586

    I guesss everyone has the right to an opinion so I appreciate the writers time an effort in compiling this editorial.... But now here is my opion. This article doesnt make sense as it implies the stars we are looking to sign in no way compare to the stars we have had. At the end of there careers yes I agree with you. But when these stars we used to have first came to the club they were nobodies, just like the players we are looking at bring in now. I think this is a fundamental mistake in this piece of writing.

  3. game over club dying

    Jul 05, 2011, 21:30 #9582

    board screwed up or lied which is it. moving to emirates didnt make us part of europes elite. were nowhere. were in same boat as spurs, we are a nett seller of our best players and wenger for sure is not a better manager than harry sorry

  4. steve tulett

    Jul 05, 2011, 19:57 #9581

    dont bother going to the soleless hole,went to the sunderland game last year and it was cr*p.could not belive the amount of tw*ts we have going to games now.sitting next to a prat wearing boating shoes for f*ck sake.come to away games mate and tell them to stuff there season ticket were the sun dont shine

  5. Darren Clark

    Jul 05, 2011, 16:16 #9576

    Our last major signing was a chap who went by the name of Bergkamp! I know many will say that Wenger creates classy players but its no longer the case and a world class signing would give the whole of Planet Gooner from fans down to the players. We deserve a little treat.

  6. Sven

    Jul 05, 2011, 15:26 #9574

    Well written! Couldnt have agreed more! Hopefully they will announce Wenger's departure in May 2012 to make sure we all renew our season tickets!

  7. charles

    Jul 05, 2011, 14:22 #9572

    Sorry mate, nobody is listening. Watch the game on tv - you can switch channels if it get boring.

  8. Gooner SA

    Jul 05, 2011, 13:38 #9571

    Whilst I agree with your proposal it's not going to happen for two reasons. 1) the board couldn't give a monkeys if gold members want more time to see which players have come and gone, they just want your money in the club's account earning interest. 2) Arsenal's friendlies including the E****t*s cup are in july so the club would say that you need to renew before august to give people an opportunity to get tickets for those matches! Good luck.

  9. Ian

    Jul 05, 2011, 13:35 #9570

    You can return your season ticket to the club before the first home game, and receive a full refund. Stop being a drama queen with "open letters". Put up or shut up if you're unhappy.

  10. Gooner1711

    Jul 05, 2011, 12:38 #9568

    IDEA: Apply for a change of seat and you get to delay your money for at least 6 weeks....easy! We all want the best for the cub but the shallow words of Ivan and Arsene are, I feel, coming back to haunt them.....they do not have much time to sort this very worrying situation...

  11. Brigham

    Jul 05, 2011, 10:47 #9566

    Whilst I can see what you are trying to say here, I cannot really agree with your sentiments. I renewed because I am a Gooner and have been for many, many years and love the chance to watch my team. The only reason for me to not renew again would be purely down to finances, or lack of them. I am not having a go at you and I can understand your frustration, as I am sure many can.

  12. Oxy-Moron

    Jul 05, 2011, 10:41 #9565

    To all those saying "give AW a chance as it's only the start of July" - we would, if only the man had a history of making deals in later parts of July. He dosen't - Squillaci is how he performs - last-minute panic buying of cast-offs that nobody else wants. I would reminf fellow gooners of a critical fact: Wenger has never completed any deals for players while the club is on pre-season. That means anyone arriving now will not do so until after the Emirates Cup weekend. That leaves him two weeks to make this the "busy summer" he promised. Anyone confident he will? I have this horrible sensation that the start of August will bring the start of the "we have the quality"/"He was not availbale" stories. As an previous article was headlined: Come on then Arsene - surprise us!

  13. Moses Watasa

    Jul 05, 2011, 10:36 #9564

    Arsenal is a flying plane but it is apparently on auto-pilot right now. The pilot (Ass-ne Venga) in deep slumber. Venga's co-pilots (the Board of Arsenal FC) are deeply snoozing but hallucinating – dreaming, visualising a huge feast off the proceeds from the sales of the club’s star players. Meanwhile, the sound clearly indicates the plane (Arsenal FC's) engine has developed a fatal break-down and a crash from a high altitude in inevitable. The cabin crew (Nasri, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas etc) aware of imminent tragedy are secretly collecting parachutes, ready to jump to safety. The plane’s passengers (Arsenal FC fans) are meanwhile singing their favorite – eternal tune, "In Arsene We Trust".

  14. Kleinfeld

    Jul 05, 2011, 10:29 #9563

    In regards to the stadium, they tried to get a larger capacity, but they were turned down by the council - due to the transport infrastructure not being able to deal with that amount of people.

  15. Dan h

    Jul 05, 2011, 10:03 #9560

    For every summer for god knows how many years it's nearly always about who we sell before who we buy.It's fair to say a fair portion of the speculation in the past could be taken with a pinch of salt not this year. We now look like we will lose three of our starting line-up not exactly the transfer business we wanted but not unexpected.I have read many blogs & views i can fully understand the frustration many gooners feel. I believe our policy on contract renewals has been a shambles the last few years Nasri being the latest case.This summer should have been about moving on the deadwood to the extent i would advocate waiving a transfer fee for a few of them just to get the wages off the books! The club has taken our support for granted for too long for a club our size it's total mismanagement.The 6% rise this year was about one thing only imo to top up the shortfall in the sponsorship deals.

  16. youngsouth

    Jul 05, 2011, 9:48 #9559

    Why cant we be sincere with ourselves and let us tell ourselves the truth about what is going on in the arsenal board, this is six years with nothing to achieve now arsene wenger is selling off all the key player in the name of money which i cant really figure out if emirate is meant for buying and selling or buying and winning. For the past some weeks a player is being negotiated at the end it will become history either the price is high or some kind of excuses will be given by the so called arsene wenger.

  17. Vineet

    Jul 05, 2011, 9:46 #9558

    Nice Letter - quite true - straight from the heart. In good old days of 2002-2004 (I am a recent convert) I used to wish to be in London only to be able to go and watch Arsenal at highbury. Now I thank god that I am still in New Delhi and not London. Parting with so much money would have hurt big time. Our problem is barring, Cesc, RVP, Nasri, TV and to some extent Sagna, Wilshere, Ramsey & Arshavin (provided he is in a mood to play) we dont have many very good players in our squad. Addtion of likes of Samba, Cahill, Shay Given, Scott Parker, Benzema, Enrique/Baines/Van de Wiel would be a great step over likes of Denilson, Diaby, Eboue, Almunia, Bendtner, Rosicky, Vela, Fabianski, Kosc, Squilacci, Song and a few more similar jokers. You dont need 11 superstars. 3-4 great players (we have in Cesc, RVP, Nasri) combined with other very good players (names given above) can do the job for you.

  18. lance (south africa)

    Jul 05, 2011, 9:45 #9557

    here in south africa if we do not like something we strike..come on my fellow gooners do not buy season tickets or go to the games until the board start showing some iniative....

  19. Gman

    Jul 05, 2011, 9:35 #9556

    If you’re going to mug or pickpocket someone then you don’t give them any indication it’s going to happen? That’s why the Club get the renewals in early!

  20. Gunnergandalf

    Jul 05, 2011, 9:23 #9555

    I became an Arsenal supporter in 1961 and we won nothing for ten years and then another eighteen years for a league title. My point is that I am an Arsenal supporter with two season tickets for twenty two years and not a "must win something every year" supporter. In fact in that time we struggled to survive in the first division for a few of those years. So what if someone who has amassed billion of pounds, in whatever manner, has to prove his reason for living is buying yachts and football trophies. I got far more pleasure and satisfaction from what we won, despite the opposition spending tens of millions more than us, than any glory hunting supporter living in fear that their benefactor will grow tired of his new toy and leave them in dire straits. In my time I have seen many so called stars leave to "better" themselves but very few have achieved their dreams and most spend the time at their new teams talking about how Arsenal are doing. And how many other teams have taken as many unknown talents and turned them into world class players chased by all the others.

  21. katman

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:48 #9553

    If I hear another Arsenal fan tell me the stadium is fantastic i think Ill scream.Yes fantasticly too small. This board had the chance to reach for the stars and build a 100,000 seater instead they have reached for those few fans who can afford to get in pockets.Did anybody bother trying to realise how many arsenal fans there are just in the london area alone.!!??

  22. Richard Ansell

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:32 #9552

    With you all the way Mike. The wheels are falling off and Wenger is behaving like a rabbit caught in the headlights. He does not seem to have a clue, and our best players are quite rightly looking at other more ambitious clubs. Wenger is in a hole of his own making. He has ignored our appalling defensive inadequacies for too long now and most of us have run out of patience with him.

  23. West

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:24 #9551

    How about not paying for a season ticket at all. Then whilst your at each game, you can pay as you are leaving. The cost will be related to the quality of the game, and how long you stay in the stadium (I can see a lot of people saving money there!).

  24. @RSenLive

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:23 #9550

    You seem to have put in a blog (letter) exactly what we've all been thinking. Only Clichy has left so far but the fact remains that Arsenal have only signed Jenkinson (who?) from Charlton and it has not been the busy summer of transfer activity that we were promised. While I like to see optimism in our fans, its hard to feel anything but pessimistic considering the last few summers. As a season ticket holder, you have every right to ask the questions that you are. The club have kept us in the dark as usual and all we've seen so far as other clubs denying that any offers have been made by Arsenal for their players and the newspapers linking our players with moves away. Your point on Gervinho is also valid as far as that we are selling Nasri (French International with Premisership and Champions League experience) at a knock-down price due to his contract having 1 year left but Lille are holding out for more money for Gervinho who happens to be in the same position. Arsene Wenger was regarded as some kind of genius in the transfer market but recently he seems to pay over the odds for players who are just not up to the job. The club has wasted money on transfer fees and wages for players like Squillaci and Koscielny, not to mention the new deals given to Denilson and Diaby. I wish I could feel more optimistic but I don't and your letter is asking the questions we all want to ask and it has summed up the way most of us gooners are feeling.

  25. Chiedozie

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:17 #9549

    Great post, well articulated. I hope the Arsenal board will listen and take the advice of some partionate fans before it is too late.

  26. kim

    Jul 05, 2011, 8:01 #9548

    We all pay for the club, salaries, you pay for canal + to watch games in europe...where does the mney go?

  27. Dave Button

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:57 #9547

    Through thick and thin we are red and White. We ain't that ****e down the road we are Arsenal.

  28. goonerbeau

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:52 #9546

    The sentiments of this correspondence are fair but it has been very clumsily put and will find its way into the waste paper bin pronto and is very doubful will be read or even seen by a single board member

  29. Paul Saunders

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:44 #9545

    I agree and sympathise with everything you say As a season ticket holder you deserve a lot better. The problem as I see it is we alwYs seem to take so much time "looking" at players that another club buys them and we're left with what's left! Also isn't it plain to see what is needed in terns of strengthening the team - surely Wenger could have bought the players we need on 1st July - what are we waiting for - surely the adage the early bird gets the worm comes into play here?? Anyway it's time we realised that if we want to keep our best players that a Bergkamp moment is required - that was the last time I can honestly say I was excited at a new signing - and he was bought by Bruce Rioch!! So come on Arsene surprise us, if we are to stay in the top 4 (let alone win a trophy) I think you are going to need to. I dread to think who we would be able to attract player wise if we weren't in the Champions League, especially as we don't pay the big bucks,

  30. Red_Member

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:40 #9544

    You've embarrassed yourself there, mate. Ridiculous letter. You knew full well when you renewed that Gael and Nasri had yet to sign new contracts. You knew that Cesc would be linked with Barca. Fact is that, at present, only Clichy's gone, now as much as I appreciate his efforts while here, it's not like he was a key player and lots of people wanted him replaced last season. Don't get sucked into the press' "Arsenal Crisis" hyperbole. If Cesc and Samir follow then we'll rebuild and move on. Remember, we're the Arsenal, not some two bit outfit with a chicken on their chest, we're bigger than any player. Finally, if you want people to take your letter on Arsenal seriously, can I suggest you spell Bergkamp properly and don't compare Adebayor to our 3 greatest ever forwards.

  31. Utkarsh

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:39 #9543

    Give the club a chance, except United all the teams have yet to get players in, and Gervinho is quality better than Hazard who got all the hype this guy performed and he is a winger same position as Walcott and is very skilled

  32. LouGooner

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:37 #9542

    Well said! i proposed the same thing to a fellow gooner on Sunday, only in the terms that i would not have renewed (i may have, a week before the start of the season) had the price rise and the lack of investment been so painfully obvious before i parted with my money. the world of football has changed. Arsenal have not! the money men rule (whether it is an honourable thing or not) so if we dont compete with them we lose! players will leave, new players will not come and we will carry on our inexorable slide down the table. i am and have been very proud of our stance regarding salaries and transfers but unfortunately you cannot buck the trends of this greed driven, material and 'now is everything' world. if we do not swim with the sharks we will get eaten! i paid my money because i love our club and could not imagine not going to watch them but it is becoming painful to watch the johnnie come lately's take over purely on a financial footing. ManU have stayed up there because they have continued to shell out the bucks, we are slipping because we will not! AW and the board please speak to us and let us know what you intend to do about it. do not sit there with your arrogant stance presuming that all will be ok with one sub-standard signing per year!

  33. hec

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:23 #9541

    Weve got the premier leagues highest paid bench, highest paid reserves, highest paid youth team, we have youth team players driving in 100,000 pound cars , that is where the money is going to the under and non achievers,I suppose its suppose its easy to pick up star kids when the we pay them so much ,problem is they lose the hunger, and our big players think, why am I making 75,000 pounds a week, and Denilson is on 60,000 pounds a week , think most big players would get peeved with that.

  34. Gooner S

    Jul 05, 2011, 7:12 #9540

    Regarding the season ticket renewal - I hate to state the obvious but we pay for a season of football. Not for a season of football with conditions attached. If you don't like it, don't buy. So Samba, Cahill etc don't float your boat not as good as Henry, Bergkamp etc. When those players joined Arsenal they were not at the top of their game. They either still had it all to prove (Henry, Vieira) or had a reputation that was seemingly on the wane (Bergkamp, Overmars). Posts like this just betray a lack of thought.

  35. mubeen

    Jul 05, 2011, 6:59 #9539

    i agree with you.. im really sad with what happen to arsenal now..its true we know wenger will do something,, but he should sign some great player,, like samba, keep nasri,, buy gervinho,, and ricky alvarez