By Tony Attwood
- How Arsenal moved from 20th to 2nd in one season
- Suspicions arise that many children have been trafficked to England to play football
- Are Arsenal the only bottlers or is that just another stick with which to beat us?
It is of course commonplace to talk about Arsenal being in trouble, (what with not having won the League since 2004), while simultaneously ignoring the financial doping that has gone on with Manchester City, and the notion that Arsenal have won the FA Cup five times since the unbeaten season.
Of course, the FA Cup is not the title, and we all know which one we would prefer to celebrate, but it is still a trophy.
Winning the FA Cup in 2020 was Arsenal’s 14th FA Cup win and as I say their fifth since 2004. So since 2004 we might note that Chelsea have also won it five times. Manchester City have won it three times. Liverpool have won it twice as have Manchester United.
Perhaps we might also note that of the big six clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hots) Arsenal have won the pot the most along with Chelsea, while Tottenham have won it the least with, err. none.
The other teams who have picked up the pot are Portsmouth in 2008, Wigan in 2013, and Leicester in 2021. Although we should remember that for a little while Leicester were considered a big team, then having won the league they went on to sack their manager, and have since slipped down to the second tier. They are currently nine points and 22 goals away from Premier League survival. Funny how this “sack the manager” thing never seems to work well, but people still keep on believing in it. We blame the media.
Anyway, while journalists rabbit on about the notion that, “Two decades have passed since Arsenal last won the Premier League title Arsenal were one of the first clubs to build a completely new stadium and then face the unlimited wealth of Chelsea (for a while) and then Manchester C (likewise).
Meanwhile, we are told yet again (I think for the seventh time) that the result of ManC’s 100+ caeses before the League is about to be announced. Fortunately, I didn’t hold my breath last time.
The legal type summaries were put forward last year, but still nothing is known. If this were a real court we’d be worried about the state of our democracy – but no it is football and there is no democracy, or seemingly rule of law, although there is a very strong rule of secrecy.
The closing arguments of this hearing were heard at the end of 2024 and the eventual verdict will be subject to an appeal from either side. And we might remember that the cases related to issues which arose over seven years ago! Which raises the question if ManC are finally guilty, what reparations will they pay for the past seven years of trophies gained under the influence?
A fine will of course be utterly silly since the Mancs have access to unimaginable wealth that the argument has been all about. Extermination would be an interesting option, leaving them free to set up their own City Group League. But if that is refused, then mass resignation from the Premier League (as the clubs did when leaving the First Division of the Football League) would be a fairly reasonable step.
Meanwhile, we should note that in coming second for the last two seasons and winning the all-time record number of cups, Arsenal have done this while coping with the bottomless wealth of Chelsea and ManC while at the same time building a new stadium which the club is paying for. As we all know, the league hasn’t been won but we are established at the top of the tree of non-financially-dodgy clubs.
The only problem is that Arsenal keep making a loss. For 16 years the club made money, now for six years they have lost money. Over £3 billion in fact. All the surpluses previously accumulated have gone. Another way of saying this is that Arsenal have invested in the squad and come second two seasons running, just behind the biggest financial dopers the game has ever seen.
No, it is not running out of money that is the problem Arsenal face, it is PSR. Arsenal are not about to be hauled up for breaching the PSG rules like Leicester, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Manchester U, Newcastle U, and as we all know (but they still deny it) ManC. It is the fact that Arsenal although not in breach of the rules, have got under £50m that they can spend without getting into trouble, although because of the funny way the rules work across the years they might well get away with anything up to £100 million loss. But if they did, they would then have nothing less for emergency purchases to cover for future injuries which seem certain to happen if PGMO go on letting players kick Arsenal teams to bits, match after match.
As has been said before, when it comes to the rules and applying them, it’s a funny old game.
