Mike Francis
It’s my privilege to be bringing you the final part of The Gooner Survey Results for 2015. We’ve looked at what you thought about last season , the squad and manager, the Board, ticketing, atmosphere and all sorts of other stuff in the previous parts, so this section is dedicated to what you think about The Gooner and Online Gooner.
Almost 3,000 people took the survey this year from all over the world and unfortunately not all of them are readers of either the fanzine or our website, so the results in this section came from a subset of the total, but still provides us with some valuable feedback on what we’re doing well and what people would like to see us do differently.
Favourite Cover
1. Issue 250 – Achievements 1987-2015
2. Issue 251 – Let’s Do It Again!
3. Issue 244 – Red Hot Chilean
We started by asking you which was your favourite and least favourite front cover from the eight issues we published last season. I always feel that the result of this question proves the old adage that you can’t please all of the people all of the time because every single cover received votes in both categories.
However, the clear winner this season was our landmark 250th issue which featured a list of Arsenal’s achievements since we published our first issue in late 1987. Darren Rackham is our regular front cover designer and he updated this one at the end of the season to reflect our 7th FA Cup triumph during The Gooner’s lifetime and record 12th overall. The back cover of the same issue was also very popular as, for a comparison, it displayed what Spurs had won during the same period – just one FA Cup and two League Cups plus SIXTEEN managers. Big club my arse!
Filling the second and third positions in this category were the two covers with Alexis Sanchez - our Gooner Player of the Season – who lived up to the caption on our first cover of the season: Red Hot Chilean.
The least favourite cover was issue 247 which had a photo of Arsene Wenger and was captioned Enough’s Enough. The issue was published in December in the wake of a string of disappointing performances against the likes of Hull, Swansea, Anderlecht and a poor Manchester United side. There was a view that we could no longer ignore the tide of fan opinion with polls demonstrating the majority of fans were of the opinion a change was required. Difficult messages like that are rarely going to be popular, especially when viewed at the end of what was ultimately considered a successful season.
Regular Features
1. Talking Reds
2. Well Played / Pain in the Arse
3. In the Away End
4. The Spy
5. Mickey Cannon
6. Programme through the Years
7. Anger Management
Our regular features provide the backbone for each issue and it’s therefore pleasing to note that all those listed were positively received by our readers.
Kevin’s Talking Reds column sets the tone for each issue and deservedly finished as the most popular article once again. You may not always agree with Kevin’s views, but what you won’t get from him are knee-jerk reactions or ill-thought out opinions. You can also read more of his material on the website throughout the season as he generally posts his thoughts on every game the day after.
In second spot was the very popular Well Played/Pain in the Arse column which now resides on the inside front cover and, along with Talking Reds, can be read by everyone as part of the preview of each issue through The Gooner App or at www.exacteditions.com. Nominations for this section are always appreciated.
In third place was David O’Brien’s always entertaining In The Away End piece in which he visits the forums of opposing fans on the day we play their teams and reminds us how lucky we are to be Arsenal fans.
Favourite Writer
1. Simon Rose – 23%
2. Charlie Ashmore – 16%
3. Ian Henry – 11%
4. Robert Exley – 9%
Aside from the columnists responsible for the regular features, we asked who your favourite other Gooner writer was. Simon Rose, who is an ever-present in the fanzine and a regular contributor to the Online Gooner with his That Simon Rose blog, was a clear winner with 23% of the vote, followed by Charlie Ashmore (16%) and Ian Henry (11%).
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who contributes to The Gooner in whatever form it takes and invite anyone who would like to get involved in the future to get in touch. You can submit articles for the website and fanzine here or email us at [email protected].
GetchaGooner!
How many of you hear our sellers shouting this on matchdays and walk past? More than we’d like is the answer – 44% of you didn’t buy a single issue of The Gooner last season. However, one in five of those people have said they expect to buy more next season.
Very many thanks to everyone else who bought one or more copies during the season. It’s very much appreciated and is largely the reason we will be around for at least one more season.
By the way, some people suggested The Gooner wasn’t available where they live, but mail order subscriptions and digital subscriptions are available wherever you in the world so there’s really no excuse.
Website
As well as the fanzine, we try to make sure there are three or four articles a week posted on the Online Gooner website to keep you amused and almost half of you visit the site at least once every seven days to check the latest content. We hope those of you who don’t stop by as frequently were just not aware of us and won’t be strangers in the future.
Podcast
To complete The Gooner experience, we also record a podcast about once a month during the season to discuss whatever is going on at the time with a panel of Gooner contributors and contacts.
To differentiate ourselves from most other Arsenal podcasts, we get together in one place to record each edition not only because we like the social aspect, but also because it makes it feel more like a typical pre/post-match pub discussion, the type you all have with your mates on a regular basis.
Last season we were hosted by Piebury Corner and we’re aware this led to some complaints about the sound quality. We like the pies too much to switch location so we’ve invested in some new equipment which we hope will combat much of the background noise.
Just over a third of survey respondents (36%) listened to at least one of our offerings last season and 10% of you are regular listeners.
