6OONER PETE
In general, supporting a football team nowadays no longer creates the same feelings that it used to. Matches are rescheduled to fit in with TV. Tickets are overpriced. There is a lack of atmosphere. There has been an influx of players who seem to be there only for the money and who have no real passion, which makes it difficult to feel an affinity with them. We are treated like customers. It is unfortunate, but since the Taylor report, Sky TV and for other reasons, we are never going to get back to ‘the good old days’. Supporters are dismayed at the gradual decline, and many wonder what we can do by way of protest. On a personal level, I decided a couple of years ago to relinquish my season-ticket and not to spend any money at the club on tickets or merchandising until the regime at Arsenal changes. (I have kept my red membership for future use.) This is a silent protest.
There have been many posts on the Gooner website from fans wondering how we can make our feelings clear to the board about the way our club is run. It is clear to many of us that massive improvements could be made at our once-great club.
How about if we had a campaign of wearing red and black scarves instead of red and white? The red shows that we still love Arsenal and everything it used to stand for. The black shows that we are not happy with the demise (or death, as we see it) of the club. It would give fans who attend matches the opportunity to continue to support the team vocally, but also to show visually that things need to be changed. United had a similar scheme a few years ago with green and yellow scarves (I can’t remember exactly what their protest was about). It soon caught on, and thousands of fans were wearing the scarves.
It would need someone with contacts to find a suitable supplier who could produce the scarves. I think they should be sold at a price to cover costs, rather than to make a large profit.
The club can’t stop supporters from entering the ground with a different scarf. If they tried to it, would be good publicity for the cause anyway. Our slogan/song could be “We want our Arsenal back” (to the same tune as “We’ve got Cesc Fabregas”).
What do other supporters think?
