Safe Standing

It has always baffled me why safe standing has not existed for decades.

I appreciate the incident at Hillsborough – and other grounds – where over crowding caused a huge catastrophe and numerous more near misses. But standing was never really the problem.

The issue was always more than just fans standing.

It was too uncontrolled standing which led to too many fans being in a single area. And it was those fences. Caging fans in like animals. Add in poor ground organisation and police herding fans into grounds like cattle.

Football is a very different place now to the 80s. And has been for a long time.

Grounds are now “ticket only” with only the lower leagues offering pay-on-the-gate.

Fans have their allocated seat, capacities are capped, and there are no fences between fans and the pitch.

I have been standing in away ends for over a decade and it has never felt unsafe or over crowded.

It is actually safer to have safe standing sections, with the specific rail seats rather than having fans stand in front of regular seats.

A number of clubs have been pushing for safe standing for numerous years. Sadly Arsenal have not been one of them.

When Tottenham built their new ground, they specifically designated a safe standing area.

Wolves were the first to install the rail seating and have been followed by other clubs including the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.

It is sad that Arsenal seem to show no interest in safe standing. They could easily make the entire North Bank end safe to stand in.

They could have a one year of moving seats where anyone in the area who did not want to stand would be moved elsewhere in the stadium, and those elsewhere who want to stand being able to replace them.

For example I sit in block 3. I would be interested in standing so would apply to move to that area. My seat would then be swapped with someone in that area who does not want to stand.

Same price. No issues.

Safe standing actually slightly reduces capacities, and there is a cost associated with installing the new seats. And this is probably why Arsenal are reluctant to implement the changes.

We know our club does not really care about match going fans, and the main focus is on maximising revenue.

From their point of view, spending money on something that generates less money than the existing set up makes zero sense. And from a business point of view they are right.

But football clubs need to be more then a business.

Owners should be custodians of the club doing what benefits the most important group of fans – the match going fans. And if that means spending a couple of million installing safe standing which loses the club a couple of million a year. Well it is not really a big deal.

It is brilliant that standing at football is returning. But I fear Arsenal will never implement it.

Arsenal beer mats still available #Arsenal #ArsenalFC #afc https://t.co/zn8hEh76Df pic.twitter.com/gleJK6GuJ3

— Kick Off Merchants (@KOMerchants) August 19, 2021

Drinking in the stand

Like with the lack of standing, not being able to drink in the view of the pitch has always been a bit silly.

Again, it all comes from the fall-out of Hillsborough.

Fans were labelled as drunken louts and it led to a lot of restrictions post-the disaster.

But numerous investigations and reports have highlighted bigger issues in football grounds at the time beyond just fan behaviour.

It is too easy for the press to label football fans in a poor light. That fans like me who like a beer are booze-fuelled thugs. This is simply not the case.

At rugby, at cricket, you can drink.

I drink more at cricket than I do at football. At England India at the Oval the other week I do not remember the final sessions play.

Bottle of vodka, bottle of gin and a lot of beer was consumed over the days play.

90 minutes of football limits how much a supporter will drink in the ground.

If they are going to end up drunk and disorderly, it will be due to how much they have consumed before entering the ground – not what they have drunk inside.

By drinking in view of the pitch, you are having one, maybe 2 more beers. If that. It really is not a big issue.

What I would do if drinking in your seat was re-introduced is still have the bars shut between 5 minutes before kick off and 35 minutes.

That then limits people getting up and down throughout the game to get another beer.

So you grab your beer before kick off. That does the job for the first half and you are not interrupting the flow of the crowd 20 minutes in to grab yourself and your mate a second one.

Twickenham has a huge problem with what they label a “flowing crowd” where people are constantly in and our grabbing a beer. For me this is not helpful to the atmosphere and will damage peoples enjoyment of the game.

Let us drink in the stands, but ensure that people going backwards and forwards during the 90 minutes is limited.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments…

Keenos

What a difference a few weeks makes?

As the pubs filled up around the ground early doors, you just knew there was something special in the air.

It was 1pm and the Swan had only been serving for an hour but the pub was heaving – the bar 4 deep.

Other pubs up and down the Holloway Road were the same. The Arsenal had turned up; and turned up early.

Pre-game in the concourse you could barely move. This time not due to the clubs disorganisation but because of the pure weight of fans having it off. And the sound carried through to the terraces as the game kicked off.

It was non-stop throughout the game. We have not had an atmosphere like it in years. And I am not just talking about the last 2 years with Covid restrictions. I am going back to since the stadium has opened.

I can not remember a game where the atmosphere was better.

3-nil up at half time and again the concourse was a completely different place in comparison to that Chelsea defeat.

A late goal from Spurs did not dampen us and at the final whistle the celebrations began.

The sound echoed around the concourse once more as fans left the ground. Singing about Tottenham getting battered everywhere they go.

And despite it being a Sunday evening, the beer was flowing in the pubs.

A good 10 minute rendition of B’Jesus . No one wanted to go home.

I have seen a few people comment that Arsenal fans celebrations were over the top. That we were celebrating like we had won the league.

The worst thing is I have seen some Arsenal fans comment this.

These sort of fans just do not get it do they? They project their negativity onto everyone else and hate seeing others happy.

I imagine these fans were crying into their dodgy lap top streams on Sunday night whilst the majority of Arsenal fans around the globe celebrated.

People have been in lockdown for 18 months. Hardly been to a game. Many spent a period isolating.

To be back at the football was something special. To be back in the pubs with mates brilliant. And for The Arsenal to beat Spurs memorable.

Sunday weas a release for everyone in that ground. A release from the last 18 months. It was needed.

If you do not understand why Arsenal fans were so delirious on Sunday, then maybe live sport is not for you. Maybe stick to X-Factor or Peppa Pig or something.

We go on to Brighton where again our away support will be excellent.

I does feel this season that we are more up for it in the stands; home and away.

A little bit of Covid, a little bit of the press criticism making it feel like it is “them against us”. Whatever has changed, I love it. And I will ride that wave.

I did not even mind getting up at 5am this morning to commute to work on 5 hours sleep and 12 hours drinking!

Love Arsenal man.

Arsenal (3) 3 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Sunday, 26th September 2021. Kick-off time: 4.30pm

(4-2-3-1) Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães, Kieran Tierney; Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Emile Smith-Rowe; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Alexandre Lacazette, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Cédric Soares, Nicolas Pépé, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Gabriel Martinelli.

Scorers: Emile Smith-Rowe (12 mins), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (27 mins), Bukayo Saka (34 mins)

Yellow Cards: Nuno Tavares

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 47%

Referee: Craig Pawson

Assistant Referees: Ian Hussin and Dan Robathan

Fourth Official: Peter Bankes

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Stuart Attwell; AVAR Constantine Hatzidakis

Attendance: 59,919

The first North London derby of the season, and just like all of the other previous ones, a win is paramount. Granit Xhaka returns to the line-up, whilst Nicolas Pépé is on the substitutes’ bench, other than that, the team is a familiar one to us, albeit at an average age of 24 years, 261 days, the youngest set of players that we have started with at a North London derby since 1988. Our line-up today is a strong one, and certainly the best that Mikel Arteta can put out as a starting eleven at this time: all we can hope for is a great performance from the team, one that can convert into a winning one this afternoon.

The visitors kicked off the match, after a well-observed round of applause from both sets of supporters across the stadium for Jimmy Greaves, who passed away a little while ago. A generally unsettled start to the match with a few reckless derby day tackles flying in here and there, but for the first ten minutes, it was us who were applying pressure on the Spurs goal with some good build-up play and one or two strikes on goal which came to nothing. Our passing was neat and precise, and on the twelfth minute, an unmarked Emile Smith-Rowe opened proceedings with a simple tap-in from close range after a superb cross from Bukayo Saka. We now started to dominate the match, with our confidence there for all to see. Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were both unlucky not to score with long range shots, and although Spurs started to try to come back into the match, their attempts were fairly easily neutralised by our defenders. We were fighting for every ball, with our players moving into position in order to receive it, which was truly fantastic to see after all we have been through a month ago. After twenty-seven minutes, we were two up when Emile Smith-Rowe received a superb ball from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and ran down the left channel, leaving the Spurs defender behind; he crossed it neatly for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to stroke the ball home with his trusty left foot. We deserved our lead, as we were by far the most dominant team on the pitch today, and the sccoreline now reflected that. Seven minutes later, we grabbed a third when Harry Kane lost the ball to Bukayo Saka near the centre circle, who composed himself perfectly and ran through the Spurs defence, and despite being tackled, he swerved and jinked, then stuck the ball away past Hugo Lloris with some aplomb. Complete control now. Spurs are looking a mess in all departments, and we are looking both strong and confident, with six attempts, four on target, three goals. Coming up to the half-time break, we merely consolidated our play, and stayed in command until Craig Pawson blew his whistle to signal the half-time break.

We kicked off the second half with confidence and within a couple of minutes, Thomas Partey was unlucky not to score when his blistering shot went over the bar. And still we kept coming forward. We had a penalty shout denied by Craig Pawson, and although the subsequent corner went nowhere, it still showed intent. When the visitors tried to come forward at us, our “defence in depth” tactics appeared to be working well, and even when Aaron Ramsdale pushed away a shot from a long-distance Harry Kane attempt, Takehiro Tomiyasu was on hand to nick it off the feet of Son Heung-Min for a Spurs corner, which showed intelligene and top-class defending under pressure. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was unlucky not to score from close distance when a clever Emile Smith-Rowe free-kick found the Gabon international in space on the right-hand side. The match started to level out a bit, and although we still had control, we desperately needed another goal to cement our dominance. Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score when he cut inside from the left-hand side and hit a low ball which was heading goalbound, but Hugo Lloris somehow managed to push it around the post for an Arsenal corner. With eleven minutes of the match remaining, Son Heung-Min grabbed one back from close range (whilst Granit Xhaka was lying on the pitch injured), and although Aaron Ramsdale got a hand to the shot, it was too powerful to stop. Granit Xhaka’s injury was such that he was unable to continue, so Albert Sambi Lokonga replaced him with nine minutes of the match remaining. And still we came forward; Kieran Tierney’s twenty-yard shot narrowly went wide, and although there were tired legs out there, we still kept our shape as Spurs started to attempt to knock on the door during the last few minutes of the game. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe were replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Nuno Tavares with three minutes to go, and there was a lot of firm tackles flying around in the final stages. During the five minutes injury time, Lucas Moura hit a looping shot from about twenty yards; Aaron Ramsdale just got his fingertips to the ball and pushed it onto the crossbar and away for a Spurs corner. Despite this, it was the final act of the match, and we ran out more than worthy winners on the day.

Wow. A superb performance by everyone; we completely dominated the game, and by rights, we should have got even more goals, but regretfully we didn’t. Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka were truly immense and this victory against the old enemy must surely have given us the impetus to carry on and play in this manner from now on. The only minus point was that we tailed off a bit in the second half, but by then the match was won anyway, so in the greater scheme of things, it mattered not. A great win!

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, 2nd October at 5.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.