Is a new Arsenal club being born? Actually, probably not.

By Tony Attwood If you create a magazine which boasts that it is the “New Home of Football Writing” then all it needs to be is a little bit better than the football journalism that exists elsewhere.  Which you might well think is not that difficult, given the lunatic inaccuracies that we see and hear …

Uefa takes more care than the Prem Lge, plus more rule changes proposed

By Tony Attwood We have been pondering whether there are any regulations at all in the Premier League about the quality of the pitches the PL matches should be played on.  Judging by Tottenham’s game against Manchester City the answer is an extremely big “no”. You can play on gravel if you like. Or sand. …

TV wins as Arsenal/Tottenham fails to sell out

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 …

Guernsey v Dover Athletic (played at Lancing)

Guernsey 2 Dover Athletic 3 Why do we go to watch games of other clubs?  Why travel 250 miles in a day to watch a game where the crowd is just a few hundred? Why, when two of us are Arsenal season ticket holders, and the third comes along to Arsenal when work and other …

A Champions League debut, statistics, food and Carroll

By Phil Gregory Unfortunately it was not “that” kind of Arsenal Champions League debut, but I was lucky enough to be at the Emirates for my first Champions League game on Wednesday night. Having only been living in London for a matter of weeks, my previous experience of live Arsenal games was either weekend games …

Arsenal’s foresight leaves others drifting backwards

Arsenal made a profit last year, despite a drop in property sales (because we had already sold most of Highbury Square) and despite buying buy not selling players. The operating profit (before exceptional costs, depreciation and player trading) in the football business was £45.8 million (2010 – £56.8 million).  The gains made on the commercial …

A day at Dortmund; what football is about

An evening in Dortmund By Walter Broeckx Going to Dortmund is a drive with the car of about 2 hours from my home. So it actually is closer than London is. And no water to go up, over or under.  So when the Benelux supporters met near Antwerp we were all in good mood. Of …

Tottenham apply for non-refundable government money to redevelop WHL. We talk to the minister

By our undercover reporters M. Adeup and T. Ruth Following revelations that Tottenham Hotspur FC have applied to the government for a non-refundable grant for the redevelopment of their White Hart Lane “ground” we decided to seek an interview with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the Right Hon Jeremy Richard …

Football attendances in Europe – Arsenal in Europe – the final part: how much does it cost?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here Victory Through Harmony By Walter Broeckx As I was working on the articles about the football grounds in Europe I had to do a lot of research. And the more numbers I got the more interesting it became.  I found it particularly interesting to see who …

Football attendances. Arsenal in Europe: who can fill their ground

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Walter Broeckx So finally we are in part 3 of our series on football crowds in Europe. Part one was about the capacity of the biggest grounds in Europe . And in part two we have seen which team gets the most supporters in their …

Football attendances in Europe – which clubs fill their grounds the most?

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here This is part two of a series on football attendances and football grounds in Europe.  To read part one on the biggest stadia in Europe please click here. By Walter Broeckx In part 2 of our article on football grounds in Europe I will be trying …

Football attendances: Arsenal in Europe – part 1

Who was the first Arsenal player to star in a movie? Which was the second novel about Arsenal to be published? Which website openly boasts that it always follows the Arsenal motto 100%? Football attendances: Arsenal in Europe – part 1 By Walter Broeckx After I gave you some numbers on how Arsenal manage to …

Was the prediction of an empty Emirates correct?

I twit therefore I am @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Walter Broeckx Looking back I can remember two big stories swirling around during last summer.   One of course was Cesc, and his going.   The other was that renewals of season tickets had collapsed and that the stadium would be fairly empty this year, …

Season tickets at Arsenal – just how big is the waiting list? At last, an answer.

We’ve debated this issue over and over again – how big is the waiting list at Arsenal for season ticket in the main part of the ground (by which I mean upper and lower tiers, not Club Level and Diamond Geezer Level). The Anti-Arsenal Arsenal (AAA) web sites have suggested since the start of last …

Football’s Guide to How to be Incredibly Stupid

It never used to be like this. In the olden days each season was pretty much the same as the season before.   There’d be two new clubs in the First Division (usually West Ham and Blackburn, if memory serves) and every other year we would have a new centre forward (probably Scottish). If there had …

Untold world cup: football with altitude. What the mainstream media never tell you.

By Tony Attwood The last post (the one from Walter on what you can and can’t say to a ref) was about football with attitude. So this is about football with altitude. Clever eh? Oh well… Anyway, as you would expect, the issue of playing 10 miles up in the air is one that FIFA …

Heysel May 29

Heysel – the Belgian perspective.  By Walter Broeckx The history of the Heysel stadium goes back to 1927. In those days the city of Brussels decided to build a brand new stadium which was meant to become the home for all kind of sporting events in the Belgian capital. It was finished in 1930, thus celebrating …

How to get to the Ems, where to stay in London?

I have had two enquiries from friends of this site, both of whom live outside of the UK, both asking for help in terms of their visits.  I’m more than happy to pass on the questions. If you have any thoughts can you put them below in the usual way? Thanks. First Jay Javari has …

Heysel: 25 years on. The view from Belgium

By Walter Broeckx I remember the day that Belgium had it’s greatest tragedy in football history very well. I know it was a very bright and sunny day. As I worked in the office of an industrial laundry at that time and we had a lot of hotels in Brussels as clients we had a …

Exclusive: the real reason why Watmore resigned from the FA

The Football Association chief executive resigned on 18th March 2010 after about nine months in the job.   Like virtually all of his recent predecssors he  has simply thrown in the towel once he realised the enormity of the problem the FA faces. No reason has been given for his departure, and at the moment I …

Hull v Arsenal from the ref’s perspective

By Walter Broeckx Another eventful game I must say and once again some very strange things going on, on a football field. Let me start with the actual field of play.  In the Fifa rules, which Mr. Blatters finds so important, there are some clear rules concerning the lines on a football field. When I …

As the industrial sludge dwellers of the north pick up their knuckles and prepare their black puddings

Oh what a week, what a day. The chauffeurs are chauffed, the postilions are in position, and the trusty Austin 7 is in the drive ready for the 88 miles from here to Arnos Grove underground station. And there I was a few days back thinking that these Burnley people were jolly nice folk who …