Polly Riggs
During my usual weekend perusal of the BBC’s text commentary of the matches, I recently came across some comments about the lack of atmosphere in the Emirates. During the Everton match following the Monaco disaster, Sky Sports too picked up on this, panning with a kind of melancholic glee to the hoards of empty seats and commenting that fans ‘seem to be voting with their feet’. Of course, this is hardly groundbreaking news; we are talking about the birthplace of the wonderful ‘Is there a fire drill?’ chant after all. But, with grounds such as Selhurst Park (post-Pardew in particular), and even Sh*te Heart Lane being lauded as full-on passion pits, I feel that there is a simple explanation as to why the Emirates is less cauldron of hate and more salad bowl of indifference.
Born and bundled quickly into an Arsenal babygrow, I am an avid Gooner, dragged by my long-serving father to the Emirates and a handful of away games (including Old Trafford and the Etihad), and even to Highbury when I was too young to understand more than we wanted the team in red to win. At nineteen years old, my Arsenal is solely that under Arsene, and as it’s difficult to really be interested and understand aged below ten, the FA Cup last year was the first major trophy I saw us win. It’s this that makes me urge the need for change, and drives my opinion that it’s time for Wenger to step aside.
For the older generation like my dad, there is no doubt in mind that Arsenal are a great and glorious club, and it’s easy to cite the ‘glory days’ of the Invincibles or the 1989 ‘it’s up for grabs now!’ title to justify this. But think of it from my perspective. The Arsenal I know and follow have, and as far as I remember always have been battling for fourth place, not titles. I can’t remember not having an inevitable sense of defeat before the big games, and, (though this is less of an issue in recent years with the introduction of Ozil and Alexis) have always been frustrated by Arsenal’s incessant lack of transfer action. I am too young to remember the likes of Bergkamp and Vieira, but I do remember watching Fabregas, Nasri and van Persie leave with a sense of foreboding.
Arsenal need to snap out of this ten year lull, and start pushing to be a title-contending, powerhouse force of English football again, for the sake of my generation who can’t remember a time when they were. Otherwise, we run the risk of the ‘glory days’ simply fading from the memory of too many, and Arsenal’s legacy will become not one of glory but one of a decent enough club, but not to be taken too seriously. Give us something to shout about Arsenal, and we will. And I’m not talking about a nervy 2-1 win at QPR.
