Mark Humphreys
My family have supported Arsenal since the 1920s and beyond, and as supporters we have of course seen some great times along with the lulls. This seven-year period is no different, and most of us have solace in having seen great football and great times at one point or another in our lives.
The difference now is that the board are treating fans like fools, and this is becoming more and more apparent with the recent events - placate the fools and look at our dividends. The fools or fans are the lifeblood of any club and this board seem to be missing this basic fundamental here. There is only so long before people like me become disillusioned at constantly being told that, as a “business”, Arsenal are a blinding success. It is a fantastic state of affairs if you are one of the miniscule numbers of people who will benefit from a shareholding, but I am increasingly feeling that my nose is being rubbed in it.
If you own a business, do you tell your employees to gather round and look at the Rolls Royce that their endeavours have brought you? Do you flaunt the money that you have earned instead of praising the workforce and giving something back? No, nobody would, but this is what Arsenal are doing to us.
It's odd to say, but football is not about winning; it’s about competing. Then the odd success, as in the past, makes all of the support worthwhile. If football was only about winning, then there would be no Spurs fans! If you see the money the fans pay into the club being spent on competing, then we are happy; if you see the money being spent on the potential to compete, we are happy for a while. If you see the money being spent on placating the fools and huge dividends for the owners, then guess what’s going to happen?
The board are missing one huge point here - that being a supporter is about seeing your heroes not seeing your heroes leave for a profit. Our recent heroes have all been players that have been nurtured by Arsène and that’s great, but here’s another point. I for one miss the excitement of an off-the-shelf hero who wants to come to us not, one who wants to come to us to learn his trade and then go on to win with our rivals.
Every year since Bergkamp, I have held my breath at the thought of us getting a new hero and, every year, I am disappointed. Now, every decent prospect that we are associated with blanks us for our rivals, the latest being Eden Hazard who, I believe, wanted to come to us originally. I am for the first time in my life getting tired of it and I am not the only one.
The reason we pay to come is for our love of football and our love of Arsenal football club. The board are sadly mistaken if they think we pay to see a well-run “business” and them line their pockets. So a final word to the board - if you sponsored a friend and helped furnish him with a handsome yearly income, paid for his cars, houses and lifestyle, saw him live a life of luxury that you will never achieve in a lifetime, yet he turns his back on you in times of need, how long would you suffer it?
