Tag Archives: Arsenal

JW Diaries: Planning Pre-Season

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Back in the early 80s when I first started attending pre-season friendlies outside of England, there was very little information provided as to who or where we were playing, with getting there even more problematic. Sometimes the Arsenal programme provided vague info, but usually it meant a closed season trip to the old Travel Club office at Highbury to find out.

Today it’s a completely different story, as always, Arsenal travel around the globe, information is obtainable and nowadays it’s easier to book a pre-season tour to Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan than it was to Scotland back in 1980!

Gone are the days when we booked 2 or 3 weeks in a beautiful, but sleepy village like Bad Waltersdorf high up in the Austrian mountains, working out who we are playing, how we are getting there and where some of the locations are, there were times where we made it up as we went along!

In December 2015, the Club announced a pre-season Tour to Australia taking place in July 2017, some 19 months beforehand. For this to happen, it meant that Arsenal would have been planning this at least 6 months previous with contracts signed before making it official, the China leg wasn’t announced until February 2017 making it impossible to book the whole tour until after this date. When this happened, the Sydney hotel was booked early, but travel was impossible when we could be playing in say Asia, before or after these dates.

The good thing about the long-haul destinations, as well as most European ones, is that prices don’t go up as they do for Europa or Champions League matches.

Usually, you can work out dates and preliminary schedules before all matches are announced; normally, once you know when the Premier League officially starts, the weekend before is held back for a possible Community Shield appearance and before that it’s Emirates Cup weekend. This time round, I knew there was no Emirates Cup due to building works at the Stadium and following a 3rd round FA Cup defeat, there was going to be no trip to Wembley.

As I’m sure you all know, this season we travel to Singapore, Dublin and Stockholm. I was made aware of these matches in December with confirmation of Singapore in February 2018 and the two matches in Europe later.

Soon after I booked my trip to Dublin and Stockholm, the Singapore trip was officially announced; my expectation was that Arsene Wenger would be touring once again as manager and my hope was that this was to be his last time.

On Friday 20th April 2018, Arsenal announced that Arsene would be leaving the Club at the end of the season after 22 years, whilst I was surprised, with the announcement, the news wouldn’t affect Arsenals or my pre-season plans.

Before the end of the season, the Club also announced our annual pre-season friendly against Boreham Wood, they stated that this was to be an Arsenal XI which would normally mean either the reserves, the youth team or a mixture of both. It now looks like Saturday’s ‘opener’ will be made up of first team players who did not make it to the World Cup.

Soon after the equally surprising news of the new Head Coach, my Singapore trip was booked up, therefore my First Team pre-season preparations were complete.

Academy, Youth, Reserve and Women pre-season fixtures start to arrive and where possible, these are fitted in around my first team activities!

With the new season ahead of us, my aim is to write updates of the matches I attend following The Arsenal around the world; I won’t be writing match reports – there are plenty who do this, regardless of if they are in attendance or not – I will try to give you an insight into my world.

I will also be writing a diary for my trip to Singapore, which I hope will be published daily, bearing in mind the time differences.

Whatever happens this season, there are exciting times ahead and it’s a privilege to be able to support and follow the greatest Football Club on the planet.

JW

Introducing…The JW Diaries

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137 Arsenal games last season.

That is 1 game every 2.6 days. An incredible haul. But for John Williamson, it is just a regular season.

A well known face home and away at senior games, JW is also a regular fixture on the terraces at reserve, academy, youth team and ladies games.

His first game was in 1969 and since then he has visited 81 of the 92 league grounds with The Arsenal, been to 125 Away European Club Competition Matches; 369 Grounds; 42 Countries.

Chances are, if you have been to an Arsenal game away or abroad, you have bumped into him, had a chat to him, he might have even bought you a beer!

There are not too many fans who have been to more Arsenal games, or have more in depth knowledge on the club, or what is coming through the academy.

That is why we are delighted to announce that for next season, JW is coming on board with She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to share his thoughts on the club, from youths to seniors, and give you an insight into the trials and tribulations of a fan going to over 100 games.

He will also be sharing stories and snippets from previous exploits following The Arsenal over the last 50 years.

JW’s season starts today as he is off to Hale End to watch an academy game. It is then pre Season trips to Singapore, Dublin & Stockholm, before the first game of the season against Manchester City.

Please join us in welcoming JW to the team, and we look forward to musings.

She Wore

Football comes home for England

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England might not have won the World Cup, but I awake this morning thinking that football has come home.

The tongue-in-cheek song by Baddiel and Skinner with the Lightning Seeds from 1996 has galvanised football in the country.

Most fans sung it with a hint of irony from the first game of the tournament. We did not think we would win the World Cup; it was one of the worst England sides in decades with a manger out of his depth.

No one could have predicted that this rag-tag bunch of lower league players and their waistcoat wearing manager would end up in the semi-final of the World Cup.

A lot of people owe Gareth Southgate an apology.

He might not be the best manager in the world, the most charismatic appointment, a tactical genius, but what he did was bring together the egos of millionaire players and made the whole greater than the individual.

The English national team has had a huge disconnect with the fans for some time.

The Golden Generation of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole were arrogant and hard to like if you supported a rival club.

They thought they were superior to the normal Englishman, that the rules that govern us all did not apply to them.

Whether it was sleeping with brasses, fighting in night clubs, missing drugs test, parking in disabled bays or abusing Americans a few hours after 9/11, they were a bunch of players that were continually on the front pages rather than the back.

They used and abused women, each one as unfaithful as the next. And they underperformed massively.

Playing at Wembley also did not help.

A stadium built for cooperate hospitality has often been 30% empty, filled with people with little interest in football. The atmosphere of a funeral. England were boring.

It perhaps started at the game in Leeds prior to the World Cup.

Elland Road was buzzing. It was a proper atmosphere, taking us back to the days when Wembley was being built and the England team were on tour. It is something post World Cup that the FA should consider again.

Play games in Manchester, Newcastle, Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield and Southampton.

Londoners just do not really care as much about the English national team. 50% of the city is not English, and trekking to Wembley on a Tuesday night is a nightmare. A trip that most football fans in the capital end up shunning.

That enthusiasm in Leeds carried through to the World Cup as fans up and down the country decided they wanted their game back.

They wanted their game back from the suits, from the FA, from the corporate’s, from the England band and the happy clappy fans that turn out at Wembley.

The disconnect from the Golden Generation with the fans was bridged. Normality was the key.

Here we had a normal manager in Gareth Southgate. A man we had cried with in 1996. Someone who said it how it was. And he had a likeable bunch of players. Normal players. Players who had fought their way through the lower leagues.

Where as that dislikeable Golden Generation had all come through Premier League academies, been told they were going to be the best in the world from a young age and pampered, this side was completely different.

We all know the Jamie Vardy story. From non-league to Premier League champion in 5 years. And he is not the only one.

Hero of the Quarter-Final Harry Maguire has gone from Sheffield United, Hull City and Wigan to Leicester City. Whilst Jordan Pickford started his career at Sunderland, and had loan spells at Darlington, Alferton Town, Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End.

Kyle Walker was at Sheffield United, Northampton Town, QPR and Aston Villa, whilst centre back partner and Manchester City started his career at Barnsley.

Dele Alli started his career at Milton Keynes, Harry Kane had loan spells at Leyton Orient, Millwall and Norwich. In total 51 clubs were represented in the England squad.

This morning fans in Wales and Scotland are mocking England over football coming home. We have even had EU bureaucrats celebrating Croatia’s win like it was their own country that has just made a final.

What they are missing is that “It’s coming home” was not just about winning the World Cup. It was about a return to being proud to be English, a return to the English football team being a joy to watch. A return to the country being united once more.

Football belongs to the fans up and down the country, but the England national team had not felt like ours for a long time. During the World Cup, it returned to the fans. Football came home.

Keenos