By Andre Kirby and Tony Attwood
Andre wrote to Untold thus…
I first came across Untold Arsenal in January and I have become a regular reader ever since. All the blogs are well written and well reserched, which I like. Because of this I am requesting that you write an Anti-Vuvuzela piece, as I have heard some Premier League clubs are thinking about selling them in their club shops. This cannot happpen.
The only thing I like about the Vuvuzela is the name, but I am happy to leave them as a distinctive sound of South Africa, which will also make the tournament that little more memorable. When the 2014 world cup arrives in Brazil, they will have their unique samba sound and if we get the 2018 bid then we will have the lovely sound of the English moans and groans. Only joking. Well kind of.
Anyway, back to my reasons for why I don’t want to see the vuvuzela’s in the premier league is because it takes away all the passion and emotion you get from the crowd. Every club has their own songs, whether they be about a player or the club as a whole, and there is nothing better than hearing a guy a few row’s behind you make a witty comment about a player and then find over a thousand people echoing this in a chant. I also love the sound of tens of thousands of seats slapping shut as the whole stadium stands up when there is a chance on goal.
I’m sure you have heard during a match when the team put together a string of good passes or a player pulls out a piece of individual brilliance and the crowd applaud, when the ball whistles over the bar and the crowd gasp, when the ref falls over the crowd cheer. It’s all part of the match day experience.
And I’m sure you can appreciate when things are not going Arsenal’s way and then the Emirates comes alive with ‘Come on Arsenal, Come Arsenal’ or ‘Arsenal FC, by far the greatest team the world has ever seen’ and it gives the players a lift.
All of this is lost when you have 60,000 people blowing vuvuzela’s. It is one continuous monotonous sound. No emotion at all. Now I don’t know how many Arsenal games you get to, but I’m sure you will agree the only thing missing from the Emirates is a consistent atmosphere and a trophy. So now we find ourselves in a chicken and egg situation where we don’t know if we need a trophy to lift the crowd or the crowd to lift the team to get a trophy. All I know is once we get our first piece of silverwear at the Emirates, the crowd will be louder than ever and I want to hear our fans singing that Arsenal are champions again.
Andre Kirby aka Icedre218
Tony’s reply….
By nature I am a libertarian, wanting everyone to be able to do his/her own thing. I mentioned why, the other day. Half my life as a musician / composer, half as a writer – in both cases always trying out the new and the different, earning a living from being creative.
As such there is always criticism – just go back and look at Ivory’s criticism of me for the Earl of Sidcup piece, (if you are not sure what criticism looks like read this. He/she attacks my very psyche, my spirit, my motives, my creative ability… You don’t get closer to wounding me than attacking my creative ability.)
But I demand in a democratic open society, the right to express myself and to explore my creativity. After all that’s how I earn my living – by writing advertisements.
So, every fibre in my being wants to say, “no don’t ban the Vuvuzela.” Not because I like them, but because I embrace freedom of expression (most of the time).
One of my hobbies (other than Arsenal) is jiving – the dance form which more than any other combines a freedom of expression with a need to master the rules. For a man you have to learn how to lead the lady, even if she doesn’t know the moves you are executing. That is the skill – the combination of creativity as a dancer with the ability to lead.
The Vuvu (I”m getting bored with the full word, so it’s a Vuvu from now on) has no creativity and no expression. It is just a bloody awful noise. But I don’t want to ban it.
In the same way, I think the guys who write Le Grove have got it very wrong, but I don’t criticise them for having a view different from mine. But I am very critical of the way they delete posts they don’t agree with, and even worse, the way they change posts that people send in, either to make them look as if they agree with the writers of the articles, or to make the writer of the comment look stupid. However I would never in a trillion years support any view that Le Grove should be stopped. Indeed I would be on the barricades to support their right to be there.
So, maybe you see my point. I think the Vuvu is a pain in the head, and I can’t imagine what would make any semi-intelligent vegetable want to blow one. But if that’s what they want ok.
What I would say is that if anyone (or any group of fans) is so silly as to bring a Vuvu into the stadium, it should redouble the volume of those of us who want to chant, and sing, and cheer. If the opposition support use them, then we should have a suitable riposte. After a day in the office writing adverts I can’t think of one (even I need to stop sometimes, and besides Tom Petty is on the CD and that always makes me realise why I never made it as a musician), but maybe something along the lines of. “You haven’t got a song” would do.
There’s one other thing… I felt that throughout much of last season the volume of the Ems really did go up. Maybe it was because some of us felt we were under attack. Maybe we were so pissed off with the negativity. But from where I sit, during that unbeaten run towards the end of the season, the noise level was higher than I have heard since we moved.
“Vuvu Vuvu play us a tune” is probably too advanced in its irony for most vuvu blowers to get, but it has a certain post-modernist humour which I rather enjoy.
“You’re braining my damage” (too sophisticated for a football match, but funny anyway)
Or perhaps to paraphrase,
“The fascination of football as a sport depends almost wholly on whether the person next to you is blowing a vuvuzala, or not.”
The masterful riches of a rambling brain
The past, the past, God save me from the past
Did I write this? I don’t recall.
“Vuvu-Vuvu”, call it what you like to me it`s a menace that
may express the passions of some at the expense of others, like so many other things these days. Freedom, democracy and anarchy are seperated by a thin line and the sound of this blasted device would spoil the enjoyment of thousands who watch football on TV. Myself I have not followed the World Cup because I can`t handle the noise it makes, the only match I watched I muted the sound. Should it be allowed at Emirates I`ll have to watch the games in silence, now that`s not very democratic is it? Freedom of the minority at the expense of the majority, how trendy.
when i saw the title, i got quite excited about vuvuzelas comig to england then i read the extract and realised that the support is actualy amazing and that the vuvuzuela would completely ruin it.
Wenger must stop buying these french players period,Diaby,Clichy,Gallas & Sagna I felt sick watching them yesterday Maloude was better than all four of them combine that tells you something.With Fabregas on his way we will be left with these players GOD HELP US ALL.How is that possible we miss out on players like Michel Bastos of Brazil i thought we we the best team on finding talent,players like Alexis Sachez of Chile that we miss out.I hope we don’t lose Calos Vela for he showed his quality in this world cup & Do Santos i don’t know how the Spuds can let him go
Take a tip from America… I believe some of the stadiums in our so-called top tier soccer league have outlawed them because they absolutely killed the tv ratings. Are you listening to this!
I lvoe getting up early to watch the Premier Leagues games, and one of the main reasons is the atmosphere. We haven’t developed the passion and the songs like the English and it adds so much to the game.
As an Arsenal fan, I laughed so hard when I heard 60,000 singing to Jose Mourinho asking if Ashley could come out and play, or singing Lasagna to Tottenscum.
I am a musician myself, and there is nothing more annoying than listening to the same flat note droning on and on and on and on and on and on and on….
Please, please, please, please stand up and say no to the Vuvuzela !
In Belgium the teams of the first division have talked about a ban of the vuvu but they have decided not to ban it FOR THE MOMENT. The reason they gave is that they think it has no background in our country so maybe in the beginning of the season some young fans shall try to bring it with them but they think this will stop from itself.
A typical Belgium reaction: they decide to decide nothing.
But most of the clubs don’t want the vuvu in the stadiums and they have a very strong thing to stop it : in Belgium you are not allowed to bring anything in the stadion where you can hit someone with. You can bring in a flag but if it is on a stick the stick has to be flexible. As far as I know if you would try to hit someone with a vuvu it will hurt and so the clubs can decide on themselves to not allow anyone in with a vuvu for security reasons.
I think whoever controls the very lucrative TV contracts for the EPL will find a way to ban the stupid vuvuzelas in all stadiums. Can’t have viewers tuning out because of the drone.
if the noise of the vuvus gets too much, just make sure each and every person who doesn’t want to hear them is armed with a kazoo! then we could start a vuvu/kazoo war muhaha
. split the population with another divide and control them with fear. man i should work for the government. anyhoo nice blog dude
“i may not like what you have to say, but i’ll defend your write to say it……”
bring on the anarchy! enjoy the chaos but remember before anarchy can exist an ultimate selfregulation beyond mear will or discipline must reign!
oh was there a match on?
You’re just such a kid.
Can’t believe that.
You attack le Grove first, I try to open your eyes to your own criticism, and what do you do? You write an astonishingly creative article in an hour quoting my nickname as a reference for criticism used in a way of taunting me.
You know what? Keep on Emperor.
There’s always something good to learn even in the bad.
The vuvuzela is the most destructive thing to happen to crowd noise and atmosphere since the Emirates’ overly-officious stewards. But my concern is for its negative effect on the pitch. Various players in this world cup have stated that the horns make it nearly impossible to communicate on the pitch, and I’ve seen one player booked for playing on after the whistle… because he couldn’t hear it. Even here in the USA, a baseball game’s outcome was affected by vuvuzelas. The home team gave away the poxy horns to ticketholders, who blew them throughout. What would have been the winning run was disallowed because it was driven in by a player that the umpire said “he didn’t hear” was coming to bat. I consider myself a libertarian as well, but this is not an issue of freedom of speech or expression or censorship. This is just a loud, obnoxious, continuous noise, and I think members of the crowd have a right not to be subjected to it, which should take precedence over someone else’s brat wanting to blow a horn. Ban them.
*in baseball, when a player is substituting for another player, as happened in this instance, the umpire must be notified beforehand. The manager who made the substitution said he told the umpire and that the umpire nodded in affirmation; the umpire said he didn’t hear what the manager had said, so the resulting run was disallowed. Just more fallout from introducing the vuvuzela globally.
I think VUVUZELA will make our dull game more lively and exciting. You are tumultuously welcome from South Africa, Vuvuzela.
Please i want to talk about Joe Cole issues here, i think there is something going on about Joe Cole that i don’t really like please here me out. The other day it was announced that he has signed a pre contract agreement with some London club Arsenal, even Harry and some certain Chelsea board members confirmed it that Arsenal is Joe Cole first choice after the World cup . The news again came around these few days that Joe cole will or has snubbed Arsenal and will sign for Man Utd even harry again confirmed and now that Man Utd have distanced themselves from signing him what next for him? I am not against us signing Joe Cole but does it mean that he is seaching for who will pay him more or where he will play football week in week out? We should sign players who want us as their first choice like Chamakh did when he snubbed some clubs who even offer more wage than we did to come to us. If you ask me i think there are more better players to Joe Cole who can do even better than he can do for us and also with better wage. If you ask me again i will gladly snub him too and sign another England player if we must sign an English player. Just my own Opinion.
Rock: more a stupid referee who nods in affirmation despite not hearing a thing.
He couldn’t just say I didn’t understand?
But you’re right. Blame the Vuvuzelas.
What they need is to pay some djembe and bongos players, and rythm.
In one of the last games, they showed it could be enjoyable even with a bit of synchronization.
Now rather than completely forbidding it, shy can they just limit the noise of it?
shy=why
IvoryGoonz,
I think Tony statements speak for themself….
I am not even familiar with you at all and I am offended by your posts…
Their is always a bigger point to all of this you read..
Just as you personalize your criticisms you are personallizing Tony’s point.
So for that I will add you are a creative idiot!
Im pretty sure i read somewhere the otherday that Wenger would object to the Vuvu at the emirates? But im not sure it would be all bad to have them. Because if you haven’t noticed they’re not as loud at England games. I would put that down to the fact England fans would rather sing. So you may only get a few people who blow the vuvu over here which wouldn’t sound bad at all. I enjoy this site but one critism i would have is the amount you go on about Le Grove, focus more on Untold.
vuvu sound is better than no sound
emirates is no sound, disgrace take me back to my library pls
Not sure I get the libertarian argument. The essence of libertarianism is that the government should not interfere UNLESS one person is infringing on another’s rights. No government here. And even if the club is “the government,” it should be able to step in and protect the liberty interests of those who don’t want to be forced to hear the vuvu’s. “Libertarianism” is not just shorthand for “anarchy.”
Tony,
My only problem with Untold is it does not coincide with my work schedule! The excellent topics continue and they ravish my mind. The Le Grub article is one that speaks to me loudly. But, at the end of the day I respect like you their inability I mean ability to do as they wish on their blog. Once a sparing contributor to their site until my participation ended because the authors felt the need to first ameliorate my post and then censor it completely. I never looked back though and am glad for that. You see they send their minions to deceive on this site for what I say? Probably because the tactics they use are so CRAP that most ordinary people just walk away like myself. And, here on this site we truly “can place our opinion and not have one….” Now they look at their hits and its the writers and the D&Gers which accounts for 2 or 3 so they come here and disrupt our home… This is true Untold…This is true passion…And, this is the True Untold Arsenal story of the love and passion for the Arsenal!
honestly, sometimes you can see the points they make at le grove, but untold is how true arsenal support should be, thanks guys.
recently i’ve found out i may just like this place for reasons other than the great articles and my love for the arsenal
i too enjoy playing and composing music and i’ve always been a writer. i think i’ll pick up my guitar or pen after this post!
thanks again tony, walter and co.
@supersam
Can you orchestrate a number for the vuvuzela please…and send it here?
This “South African culture” should not be exported…firstly the “vuvu culture” is all of 5 years old and has as much resemblance to the traditional kudu horn as I do to Julia Roberts; secondly it has been proved (seriously, that’s not a Le Groan “proved”) that hearing gets damaged and lastly, 3000 vuvus in the hands of brain-dead spud or Bolton supporters would drown any volume from the remaining 57000 at THOF.
If you must use it…a Christmas present to the young son of somebody you dislike is a suitable use as is using it as a funnel to direct water onto your flowers. Just don’t allow it into football grounds.
Ivory – hello again.
And thanks,
I think.
ESM – on libertarianism… I think I said, “By nature I am a libertarian,” by which I meant, my inclination in most things is to try and let people get on with what they want to do, giving them the chance to be what they wish and do what they wish.
But, then when it comes to helping those who can’t help themselves, I am an unreformed socialist.
So, basically, just another screwed up guy who never got it right.
“What they need is to pay some djembe and bongos players, and rythm.
In one of the last games, they showed it could be enjoyable even with a bit of synchronization.”
Totally agreed, i this would be a feature, traditional African drumming is very complex featuring polyrhythm which is skillful and interesting to listen to. Also if used in stadiums, it could build tension, add to the applause and cheering when teams scored, hand in hand with cheering. This is why i was left scratching my head when the first game started and all i could hear was a plague of locusts…. i just dont get the “culture” argument of the vuvuzela that so many people adopt.
At least in Brazil next time there will be REAL atmosphere, for the first time yesterday, the England fans outchanted those monotonous fuck pipes and it made me smile : D
Hartwick: just for removal of confusion. After you treated me of “creative idiot” and a “minion sent to deceive” I find no other solution than giving you the same treatment and defending myself;
Hartwick, you’re a sheep with the brain of a coackroach. (or even the contrary).
I’m a free spirit. I don’t belong to Le Grove, I don’t belong here. I’m a passionate person, and I can’t stand hypochrisy. I just tried to address some of the unfair treatment given, one way or another. And I’ll always fight stupidity until I judge that particular stupidity can’t be helped. And I’m afraid you just jumped in that category for your simple refusal of even trying to understand my post, or having a positive debate and see the solutions I propose.
Tony: at least you’re not a sheep… I hope this episode will teach us all something, and we’ll grow smarter. bless the open-hearted people.
Hartwick: one last thing, trust me, if you were “familliar with me” in real life – you wish – you would at one point discover how rude I can truely be with people who pass the limit of human stupidity and that I have truely kept my calm, cause I just can’t shut my mouth when there’s an injustice being performed.. And trust me, I haven’t passed that limit with Tony. Whereas I’m afraid i really don’t like cockroaches, and you’re now off-limit.
You’re the weakest link.
vuvuzela..hahaha.nice name
I personally have no issue with these Vuvuzelas..just ban the twats at the other end of them!
this for U Ivory
Tony Ivory said its his blog so he can do what ever he wants even del peoples comments well Ivory this is tony’s blog so he can do what ever he wants even write something that you dont agree with le grub is pure shite and tony should really put them in there place I cant stand liars and thats what they are …. but instead of you telling them off about there lies you come here Mr Ivory and insult Tony who gives us the truth and nothing but the truth. I guess not every one likes the truth thats why at le grub they have del all my posts u attack tony and say that he doesn’t like people who disagree with him so why are your negative posts still here and my positive posts been del of le groan.
Now shut up we not interested in what u have to say.
Never thought of it that way digger, but you’re absolutely right!!!
Good one Digger. I’ll pass it on! :0
That was supposed to 😮 at the end.
I like this post, I agree with the beginning as well that the Vuvu thing does kill the natural sounds of support coming from the grounds with the chants and songs etc! I did say to a friend yesterday during the england game, I can actually hear the songs and chants being louder than the Vuvuzela things which was good… It may have given England a lift!! —- The point about the Emirates though; it is gettibng louder BUT! We do need to win some silverware for it to come alive. At Arsenal, we all know that we are one of the elite teams not only in the Premier League, but Europe as well, however we NEED PROOF! If the fans have got something to sing about, there will be more passion when we sing “we are the greatest team the world has ever seen!” I’m not being funny, but often you’ll find away team supporters are loud in voice, and when we played Chelsea at home, not only did we get killed by the Chelsea team… but their fans also killed us!!! I was sitting in the upper tier and while we was singing “Sh*t club no history!”… they confidently turned towards us and sang back, “Fiiive years and you’ve won f*ck all!!!” over and over and over and over again! And we had no answer to it and the whole support around the stadium seemed to die! Was anyone else there when that happened, it was heart breaking :(( ?????
IvoryGoonz…
Speaking of weakest link..
Tell me where in my post I plunged into your heart…
You are a bit sensitve no?
I apologize for calling you out like that I sometimes blog with a beer or two…
For the record I will restate my point; and it is you seem to personalize everything and you should not. Take a step back and try to read this more objectively. The Vuva article is a brilliant piece.. The Le Grub article another. Both of which would have been written with or without you as the center piece.
If I were sitting acrossed from you I would buy you a pint my friend..not insult you as for honest debate I am good for a few give me a chance and as for belonging well I’m not sure I was ever voted in here but I found this site and they are stuck with me…
Vuvuzelas. Dont try one. once you have you cant stop. Its a weapon against the opposition.
Not sure which I despise more the ridiculous vuvuzela or the obnoxious “Eng er land, Eng er land…….”
Such creativity. Thankfully there was a football match (of sorts) happening nearby.
At the opposite extreme there our old friends the North Koreans, with their cohort of Government selected ‘witnesses’ in attendance (it would appear to confirm that the match took place and no fiendish western plot was being hatched). No big sale of vuvuzelas there.
Now if Thierry LeCheat hadn’t played basketball back in Paris in November, there might have been some REAL atmosphere at some of the matches.
Roll on August.
Honestly? are they really thinking of bringing this horrible instrument to england? what an obnoxious horn, it should be boycotted if it so much as comes close to being sold at stadiums. i think this is actually a big issue, the only thing that was worse than the performance of most teams at the world cup was that damn horn..
Half intelligent vegetable what a wonderful name to call a fellow human bein. Some things u guys write sometimes leave most of us from Africa wondering if u guys know that there are more Arsenal fans from this part of the world than there can ever be from the UK. That stated I must say that the vuvu can only b described as a nuisance. However, it is part and parcell of the South African football culture as such that should be respected and no body is forcing it on any body.
The vuvuzela is a good alternative in SA. It’s not a part of other culture though. Going to Kaizer Chiefs – Orlando Pirates it certainly never created any problem with athmosphere. Supporters in SA are extremely lively, amazing athmosphere. People are even standing on those expensive seats, wearing those crazy hats, singing and dancing. The world cup matches it is bringing in people who are not used to that as well, a completely new crowd; and strangely enough it creates unity. The balance is there on local matches; on world cup matches the local songs dont apply, so not everyone knows how to cheer on those teams. But certainly they are excited. Certainly they are annoying, but it balances out anyway as seen on local matches; its a new unifier, a new item which reflects old tradition; and as all new items it is exciting at first and I thing the unifying effect it has is brilliant. All from kids and old ladies playing them, it is important in a divided country like SA
f****ck, what are u takin abt? u are tired of writin full name? Hah, why not u tire making racist and culture-centric comment? u are libritarian? what else? ain’t u fascist?
@hartwick: see above
vuvuvuzela costs england….too bad 4 a team always overhyped.When will they ever be underdogs…propbably thats when they ;ll win the world cup…