By Tony Attwood
Whether its the constant storms, the fact that it is on TV, the really daft kick off time, the worries about being stuck at the station yet again because the trains aren’t running, or just because it is the cup and hence not as good as the league, Arsenal v Tottenham is not sold out.
(I know this because I can’t make it to the match – the kick off time combined with my journey from Northamptonshire to London and back when trains are erratic, is my problem – and my ticket hasn’t sold via Ticket Exchange).
The clubs will of course go on taking the TV money and the change of kick off times that go with it, and sparing a thought for the fans is just about the last thing that anyone will do, but Arsenal v Tottenham not selling out is quite a big warning.
Adebayor will play it seems. He is only the second man to score for both sides in London derbies (not the same London derby!). The first was Jimmy Robertson.
At the opposite end of the age spectrum, Arsenal are thinking of putting 16 year old Gedion Zelalem on the bench even though he hasn’t signed a professional contract with Arsenal yet. He’s been on the bench before (including against Tottenham in the league) and recently has been playing well in the under 21s.
He returned for Arsenal Under-21s in November and an impressive performance against Manchester United Under-21s on Dec 20 convinced Wenger to promote Zelalem to train with the first team again.
Zelalem, in case you missed it, is the next Cesc Fabregas, and was found playing for Olney Rangers in the US.
Meanwhile in an exclusive last night, the Mail reports that Mark Clattenburg (who is listed as the referee for the Tottenham game) is now being investigated after being accused of ‘abusing and insulting’ Adam Lallana
The event is alleged to have happened in the Southampton’s 2-1 defeat at Everton – and adds the the annoyance that Southampton’s manager has been expressing that the referees are biased against them.
Clattenburg has form in this regard in that he was accused by Chelsea of racially abusing John Mikel Obi in a match against Man U. That time around the FA said there was no case to answer but Clattenburg did not do a Chelsea game again for six months, despite the extraordinary lack of referees employed by PGMOL to take charge of Premier League games.
As for this occasion the Mail says, “Lallana confronted Clattenburg at Goodison after his cross was met by the hand of Everton defender Antolin Alcaraz. The referee turned down Southampton appeals for a penalty.
“According to sources close to the incident, Clattenburg spoke to the player in a manner that is ‘not what you might expect of one of the game’s top officials’.”
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Actually I’m pretty sure it is sold out. You can’t ticket exchange your ticket until it is sold out. Your seat may be empty, but it has been sold.
The reason it has not sold out and a point you have overlooked is the fact that just after christmas the price for an adult away icket is £62 plus booking fee thats why it’s not selling out
even allowing for the fact that arasenal denied spurs half of the tickets the fa states a visiting team should get i agree that it is alarming that this one is not a sell out
still, nice to think that arsenal’s refusal to be good citizens (they gave all 15% to chelsea for a night game) will deny then some cash
arsenal never sell out. they constantly lie about crowd numbers. whats annoying is we should have 9000 fans but they bottled it again
It has ‘officially’ sold out but in reality there are often seats left empty by ST holders who can’t make it on the day. Mine sold in 30 minutes but its a lot cheaper than Tony’s. For a bit of context I’ve been to Hull, Everton, Chelsea and Cardiff in December at approximately £240 in tickets, £100 in travel, £14 in programmes and about £80 in food and drink; that’s £434. It’s not a cheap hobby football!
To be quite honest I would take it with a large pinch of salt the accusations leveled at Clattenburg. Not that I like the git but players to day have no respect for referees and get away with murder when having a verbal go at referees. If Clattenburg was not being racially abusive and told the player where to shove his opinion I would have no problem with that.
It reminded me of older times and a particular story I once read about Dixie Dean who played for Everton. He was being racially abused by a spectator at a game and either during the game or immediately after confronted the person and planted his fist under his jaw. A nearby policeman went up to Dixie and shock his hand! This would have been in the 1920’s I believe and it would be interesting to hear from you guys if you have heard about this and if this story has any basis in truth.
We could have sold another 20,000 for you. Serves you right.
@Cyril is that the same Arsenal that wanted to reduce the price of Carling cup tickets when playing spuds so more kids could attend but the move was blocked buy spuds?
It’s not sold out, you can still get tickets. Plastic club with plastic fans worried about getting wet.
Tony apparently has an upper class ticket 😉
Serious now. It does seems that the current fixture congestion does push some people out of the game. As Blacksheeps shows paying £434 in a few weeks time for those matches costs a lot of money and not all can afford it.
But hey let us demand another superstar being bought at superstar wages so the club has to find even more money…They come at a price and it is us who have to pay for it.
I do think the ridiculous amount of football with 5 matches in 12 days for Arsenal is too much.
To some extent the actual football, and the supporters of many clubs, no longer matter. It’s just a business nowadays and all about making profits for the owners. How they conduct their business is their choice. Allam at Hull, Tan at Cardiff just 2 examples of having their own agendas and disregarding fans wishes. All IMHO of course
Southampton are really on thin ice with this, every week refs are subject to constant abuse from players. If refs decided to stop the abuse they receive from players there would hardly be a game that lasts the full 90 minutes. It would be interesting to hear how Lalana phrased the initial complaint to Mark Clattenburg. Some Referee’s (Mike Dean) are not my favourite people but, there’s no denying they suffer shed loads of abuse in every game, and its time for it to stop.
Just read that clattenburg issue in the mail and I do think they maybe a case to answer this time. I don’t think there’ll be a defence of the player misunderstanding what the ref said, Lallana is English. And Graham Poll has an article which seems to suggest clattenburg is known to give some of the abuse back.
While I may sympathise with refs for some of the abuse they get, if he did abuse the player then he should face the consequences. It might in turn mean refs also start to clamp down on the players abusing them in the first place, like Rooney was allowed to do to Webb without being punished on new year’s day.
To be fair, if I wanted a ticket, I’ve never used the ticket exchange, instead I use Twitter and meet someone before the game – you get some better deals sometimes if people don’t have any other offers.
Intersting stat (i am led to believe) – If Gedion Zelalem plays for Arsenal tomorrow he will be the first player to play for Arsenal who was born after Arsene Wenger took over as manager.
Gedion wasn’t even born when Wenger arrived…..
I love that!
Fred I am not sure it is the price. The price is the standard Arsenal A grade price, so it is the same for a number of other clubs. Last season Man City made a fuss about the price, and returned their tickets, which were then immediately sold to Arsenal supporters.
I got a free ticket from a mate’s dad – no idea if he tried to sell it on first or not.
No doubt the weather, travel disruption and financial cost of all the festive games is weighing on fans. I paid nearly £100 on ticket exchange for a ticket to the derby earlier in the season -there weren’t spares lying around then that’s for sure!
Expect a catering report Tony!
Well, price has something to do with it, especially upper tier at >£80 ?
I can see tickets for sale all around the ground in the upper tier and a few dotted in the lower.
I can’t make the game either way and will probably catch the 2nd half on the TV… but I’ve already shelled out for two Cat A games (lower tier, on the ticket exchange) this season and to be honest, even if I could make the game I don’t think I’d bother this time.
If it were Cat B I’m fairly sure it’d be close to capacity
It’s so soon after Christmas, money is tight for most but for me the timing of the kick off is crazy. A whole day of drinking for those that want to is just asking for trouble and it screws your Saturday evening.
I would too love to see Gedion Zelalem play again, but unless we are thrashing spuds or we get a serious injury(hope NOT) i don’t think we will just yet. This will be a strange game tomorrow, and i hope all goes well for us. Keep an eye on those tackles ref i implore you.
There are literally dozens of tickets being offered on Twitter in particular the @arsenal_ticket thread. Prices ranging from £55 – £95 at the moment.
Price is one thing and undoubtedly has something to do with it and is the reason we are not going. Train fares from Oop North, plus the potential travel disruption makes it an entirely unappealing affair.
However I also suspect that the stupid KO time is a key factor as well.
More importantly of course is why the hell we have to play so many congested games during the Xmas period and then essentially have 10 days off to make space for the F.A Cup. Bloody preposterous.
PS: Spuds will get smashed tomorrow regardless of the team we put out.
I’ve read somewhere that on the internet that the spuds are also responsible for the fact that is has been listed a cat A match? Arsenal first wanted to put it in cat B?
But don’t know if this is true. Do visiting teams get a cut of the revenue in FA cup games? In that case the spuds would have every reason to have it listed as an cat A match.
Walter, the division of finance between the two clubs is very strictly laid down in FA rules for cup matches, and I believe (from memory – it is friday night and I am not doing any more research tonight) that it is 55% to the home club. Likewise the number of tickets made available to the away fans is clearly defined, and Tottenham will have a much bigger number than you would see at any league game.
I’ve just had an email from Arsenal saying that my ticket did not sell on ticket exchange. I’m not able to go, because of the insane change of time to a late afternoon/early evening game. So my seat will be empty and the match will not be a sell out.
The fault is that of ITV and the way the FA bow to the demands of ITV to have matches at crazy times. A 3pm kick off and I would have been able to make it.
TONY
why not offer it at a discount or for free to a friend or associate. Anything better than a empty seat. Don’t you think?? and congratulations on you article on ARSENAL.COM.
Fascinating reading.
While I have every sympathy with those regular “attenders” at the Emirates, being messed around by the TV people in regard to kick-off times etc, I would ask them to consider the world order of Arsenal supporters who have never seen and will never see their heroes in the flesh. Their only recourse is the TV coverage. Remember that the overseas TV viewers for one game, will outweigh the total Emirates attendances for a complete season.
Tony, both the FA Cup and League Cup are split, after MATCH expenses – 45% to the home club and opponent and 10% to the FA.
When the clubs play at their home grounds. For the semis and the final, it is different.
Forgive me, Tony and Walter, to nail a lie before it becomes the truth!
Luis Suarez was NEVER charged with using the Spanish word “negrito”. Source, the Report – The Football Association and Luis Suarez.
The word “negrito” is discussed in paragraph 353 of the Report, on the usage in Mexico. By extension, also Central and South America.
Bootoomee, was way out of line, in his response to a fellow blogger.
Para and everyone else.
If Gedion Zelalem plays tomorrow, he will be the first Arsenal player to debut who was born after Wenger came to Arsenal.
Also, did you know, Wenger has managed in the premier league for 1 month longer than all the other managers combined.
STUART
you would think some respect is due given hid longevity and success. Well at least from his and ARSENALS true fans. I suppose that is just fine with him. Let the others and media take a hike.
they picked off Southampton and Liverpool one at a time and moyes to come. I was hoping for some solidarity from the club specially ARSENAL. not to be I guess. There must be a good reason for it at least from AW’s point of view.
A quick note on the amount of tickets given to the away fans for today’s FA cup game. In 2007 the board of Tottenham hotspur football club agreed with the board of the FA and that of Arsenal Football Club that they will receive a 8.1% ticket allocation for cup games at Arsenal due to safety fears raised by the police. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club were happy with this compromise as it raised the percentage from the original 5% that Arsenal Football Club were offering. Safety fears were initially raised by the police over having such a large amount of away fans from a local club in the surrounding area and inside the ground. police were worried about their ability to keep home & away fans separated before and after the match, they raised their issues with Arsenal Football Club who originally offered to reduce attendance for away fans to 5% but on discussions with the FA and Tottenham Hotspur Football club the police and Arsenal were happy to raise it to 8.1%
Spurs were happy back in 2007 to only have 8.1% what’s changed then?