Mark Halfpenny
Arriving at Highbury for the first protest, nobody knew what to expect. We had no idea how many would turn up, or indeed if anybody would turn up. Well - within an hour, everything at Arsenal had changed. No longer were fans sitting and suffering in silence. No longer could the Club claim that the fan base is solidly behind Arsene Wenger and no longer did the thousands of disaffected supporters have nowhere to voice their long held concerns.
Two things have struck me throughout these protests. One is the level of frustration at what is happening at Arsenal. The second is that so many protesters are lifelong Gooners that have simply walked away from the Club. They have returned to protest because they feel totally alienated by the lack of effort, the excuses our manager makes, the ridiculous ticket prices, the stagnation that is engulfing England’s third most successful football club.
And that frustration and anger isn’t going away. It is increasing and so are the size of the protests. On Sunday there were estimated to be 1,000 people walking together from the mobile billboard to the new stadium. That estimate wasn’t cooked up by the protest organisers, it comes from Sam Green of The Sun. Mr Green’s article also covered the disgraceful fighting amongst Arsenal supporters and I can state categorically that all of the aggression is being thrown at us, not the other way around.
If anything, I have been really surprised at how all of the protesters have not responded to some pretty unpleasant provocation. There is no point in me ignoring it, or pretending it isn’t happening because on Sunday I witnessed, right in front of me, a middle aged pro Wenger fan pushing and grabbing several protesters before trying to grab one prominent protester by the throat – not one protester responded to his utter stupidity.
We accept fully that not all fans support what we are doing but resorting to physical attacks is madness. If Arsene Wenger’s teams didn’t keep collapsing like a wet cardboard box, accompanied by his dreadful excuses, we wouldn’t be protesting.
The Club are quite clearly content with the stadium conflicts; content with the continuing on-field humiliations; content to finish each season as also-rans, just so long as the profits keep rolling in. And awarding Wenger a new contract will confirm, once and for all, that the rarely seen, majority shareholder is concerned purely with making money.
The protest group wrote to Ivan Gazidis two weeks ago, to state (very politely) our position. That the manager and the Board still haven’t made an announcement with all that is going on speaks volumes. And that means that the protests will continue. Not just at the new stadium but in other places. Such as at the London Colney training ground this morning. Or the team hotel. Or at Wembley. Basically, we are not going away until Arsene Wenger announces that he is standing down.
The next protest will be tomorrow evening before and during the West Ham match. There will be another walk together from Highbury to the new stadium, leaving the East Stand of our beautiful old ground in Avenell Road at 7pm, marching to the Two Cannons Roundabout outside The Armoury.
And this time there will be a protest during the match, as we have already called for Arsenal fans to go into the ground but not to go to their seats until the 13th minute of the match. Supporters are asked to remain on the concourse (where you can watch the match on the screens and have a beer if you fancy) for 13 minutes, to symbolise the 13 seasons that Arsenal have failed to make a challenge for the Premier League title.
Arsene – our message to you is clear. We thank you for what you have done for our great Club but we cannot keep suffering humiliations like the 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich. The 8-2 to Manchester United. The 6-0 to Chelsea. The regular last 16 defeats in Europe. The annual Premier League collapses.
You were great but two, or even one more year will just prolong the agony. It is time for a new direction. Time for a fresh start. Time for change.
For updates on our activity, and ways to join in, even if you cannot get to the ground, follow us on Twitter@NoNewContract. On occasion, details of our activities will be revealed late, to ensure the club do not try to arrange anything to counter them, such as the hire of the second plane at West Brom. To continue our work, we need your help in the form of donations to our JustGiving page. For us to continue hammering home the message to the club in fresh and innovative ways, more financial support will be needed, so if you want change and understand that it has to be forced through protest rather than left to an unambitious and complacent board, please chip in. Finally, sign our online petition if you wish to see something different at Arsenal next season.
