By Tony Attwood
You know that great thing that Arsenal do with the league cup – charging just £10 and £20 for tickets. It never gets coverage in the press, no one points out what a great deal it is…
Now compare and contrast with the much wealthier Manchester United. They insist that season ticket holders buy tickets for every cup match whether they want them or not. If you don’t pay up then your season ticket gets suspended.
At the same time Man U has teamed up with Global Forex and Online Financial Trading (for reasons that escape me, but they have)
Manchester United said in a press release that the company was chosen because of its “shared values of transparency and trust”, offering customers “the ability to take their finances into their own hands”.
Hmmmm. An interesting comparison with Arsenal, and one that has not really made the headlines much. Or at all. One or two papers have covered what Man U are doing. None has contrasted with Arsenal over the issue of cup matches (where we have the choice of whether we buy them or not after the first six that are included in the season ticket price.)
So Manchester United warned its season-ticket holders that they had to buy a seat for the FA Cup replay against Cambridge United. If they didn’t their season ticket would be suspended and their seat sold to someone else for the next home match.
Now this approach is not secret. The terms and conditions that the club impose clearly says it can do this, just as clearly as Arsenal’s says that league cup matches are not included in the season ticket price.
Of course Manchester United has a defence. Which is, “we’ve been doing it like this for two years.” And it is in the terms and conditions.
While the press like to contrast the cost of season tickets at Arsenal and at Man U the fact is that Arsenal’s ticket prices includes cup games, but not the league cup, and there is no obligation to buy other cup matches.
Worse the ticket office phone line at Man U is one of the old style where you can hold on for half an hour or more. Of course as a season ticket holder at Arsenal I don’t have to call them, but when I did call earlier in the season to get tickets for an away game, I got through on two rings. Can’t say that is always the case, but it was impressive on that day.
Contrary to popular belief I don’t believe that everything Arsenal does is right, and there are a few battles I am involved in with the club to try and get it to change. But I do think we ought to accept that sometimes Arsenal does do it better than others.
Anniversary of the day
15 March 1884: Birth of Leslie Knighton – one of Arsenal’s least successful managers, and the man who for sixty years led historians astray with a stream of wholly inaccurate claims and false tales about Sir Henry Norris in his autobiography.
The books
- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
Spot on Tony – apart (I think) that we get 7 cup ties, not 6.
Chelsea 1 = 1 Southampton FT
Man Utd 2 – 0 Spurs 22 Mins gone.
Man Utd 3 – 0 Spurs
Oh dear, are we looking at 8 ?
8?
Not looking that way now.
Man utd back to there usual plodding ways.
If, and it’s a big if spurs can get the next goal could make it interesting.
Would prefer another draw, but that’s a long way off.
FT 3 – 0
St tottering day moves one game closer.
A draw would of been better but I suppose we cant have everything.
If Swansea can take 2 or 3 points off of Liverpool that will complete a fantastic week.
When we last played the Totts they appeared as if they were fueled by something illegal – they kicked us off the field for a full 90 minutes – but today they were a mere shadow of that team.
The transition reminds me of a certain team in the Potteries who usually kicked us off the pitch & then would lie down for the Manures.
But, it still has been quite a good w/e!
What a week this has been…..sugar high.
2 points closer to Chelsea. Just 1 point behind Man City.
Go gunners.
Let’s destroy Monaco.
what is the most number of cup games one team can have if they are drawn at home in every round of the FA cup & league cups and also get through to the semi finals of the CL?
If – a big IF! But forgive me…can’t we just win the league? The skies are getting clearer. If we win MANURE, chelsea and Liverpool, I don’t see why. So long as manure just play against chelsea like they did today against the tiny totts
The league isn’t happening .. honestly. Much much as I’d love it to happen and me to be proved utterly wrong and a big fool – if Chelsea win their game in hand .. its 10 points. And 10 points in 8 games WITH us bein perfect throughout – is far too big a gap. 2nd is a big possibility though… but I think we’ll draw a couple or lose 1 in the run in…so my bets are we finish 3rd around 5 points off the top.
9 games sorry..ugh
The maximum achievable is 84 points, assuming we win all the PL matches left. Even so, assuming that Cheatski lose all their tough matches (with ManU and Liverpool at home, and with us away), they will amass 86 points. Our chance is that they lose at least 3 points in the other games – away at Leicester, Hull, QPR or WBA, or at home with Stoke, Crystal Palace and Sunderland.
Football is not a logic game, Burnley city? Chelsea bradford? Arsenal monaco? Why lose faith? What do we have else? We should try our best, and if Chelsea miss up, we are there to take it, and not City.
I hope our players do not think likr our fans. Come on, In order for those crazy nights to happen, first we should be in a so bad situation, do not lose faith, not in the P. Or the CL.
We will not win the league. Too far behind and not enough games left.
Beating monaco by 3 goals, in my opinion, is more achievable.
If this does happen then the cup double is definitely on.
I have friends who state quite clearly that they are Arsenal supporters but prefer the Chelsea way of selling season tickets. A Chelsea season ticket is for 19 Premiership games; tickets for all cup competitions are sold seperately and priced according to the round and, maybe, the opposition. My friends argument is that they prefer “freedom of choice”. They don’t want to pay to see Besiktas. But they will pay later on to see, say, Bayern Munich. In other words, let the poor eat cake. If they can’t be fortunate enough to own a season ticket at Arsenal they will be allowed to see some comparatively obscure team; but don’t bring your inferior self to the big games; they’re for me!
I prefer the Arsenal way of doing things. I support Arsenal and watch them against any opposition because a League competition means meeting Hull City as well as Man. City; and many times it provides better entertainment than the expectations from a big game provides.
The expectation of a “shock” means it is great to see Arsenal play Bradford City; because you never know: ask Chelsea.
So, to sum up, I like the Arsenal method of season ticket pricing; I like the League Cup arrangements; I don’t like selfish supporters who want jam only.
It’s the Arsenal way
trapper
March 16, 2015 at 8:10 am
Ye of little faith! We scale heights despite the PGMOb & you cannot see us victorious? Just believe. There is a power greater than the FA & PGMO looking favourably down on the Arsenal.
Horsham Gooner – I’m with you. Watching Arsenal practice is more entertaining than listening to Maureen.
Just a gentle reminder that Arsenal are even fairer than we are giving them credit for here. If Arsenal have a very good season and we get more top home games than the season ticket allows then Arsenal simply extend the season ticket and add the charge to the next season. Nobody could ask for fairer than that.