Ok, I do not know how this is going to come out, what it will sound like and if I will even make a remote bit of sense. It is all pretty jumbled up in my head and I have not had the chance to extract, analyse it and make any sense of it. It has been up there since our defeat to Manchester United or more to the point, the reaction Chamberlain-gate and the subsequent fall out.
A twitter conversation or debate lead me to ask questions about our relationship with Arsenal FC. Not just Arsenal but any supporter of any team around the world.
It started with the right and wrong’s of booing your own team, players or manager. Those who have listened to my drivel long enough will already know my stance on the matter but to those who do not, I will quickly summarise my thoughts.
- I want Arsenal to win football matches.
- Booing a player is negative and it is why the opposition do it to the opposite team. An opposition crowd will boo a penalty taker against their own team because it is supposed to cause tension and put that player off their game.
- Therefore surely booing your own team will give your own players less chance of winning.
I don’t really need to explain anymore than that, it is and has always been self explanatory.
In response to my argument the other tweeter, pardon me as I cannot remember the name right now said that it was his right to boo as it is the supporters club and they pay the players wages.
I have mentioned in the past that I strongly disagree with this thinking because it is not the fans who pay the wages, it is the club who pay the players. The supporters are the people who pay the club, and there lies the big difference.
But this is not about the booing, it was the tweeters response that made me think a little further. Yeah, I know it hurt my head as thinking generally does but when you look at that response a little closer and think about what is being said, is any of it really true?
Do we have the power as supporters? What is our role? Is it our club?
I would argue that Arsenal FC has very little to do with most Arsenal fanatics. Have we become a little too self important these days? Do we have the right to demand improvement, demand spending, demand anything?
It strikes me that football clubs are only linked to us because we decide they do. Should I pack my Arsenal shirts into the bin and go and buy the latest Manchester City, ‘Silva’ shirt do I have the right to nip to the Etihad stadium and boo throughout the 90 minutes? It is interesting when you think about it.
Arsenal FC just like every single club in the top flight is a business first and foremost and we can dress it up any which way we like to suit our own thinking but you cannot hide away from the fact that money comes in and money goes out just like in any business. Ultimately the owners of the business make decisions, they decide how extravagantly or how prudently they wish to spend and or run the club.
Football fans tend to have a picture in their minds of owners, players and even managers who have the same feeling in their hearts. They play for Arsenal so they must love Arsenal just as I do. Samir Nasri will sign a new Arsenal deal because he has been converted, he now supports Arsenal. Generally this is not the case but you do get a few exceptions. On the whole, the players are businessmen and the clubs are a business. Football fans are very different on the whole.
Let us get one thing clear here though, our self importance is massively important to the business. Without our regular income, the business simply would not be as successful as it is. Football clubs want us to believe that we pay the players wages, they want us to believe that it is our club. It would be stupid not to. If it is our club then we will generate money into the business.
Let me also be clear that I am not attacking the Arsenal board, this is about football clubs in general all around the world.
Football tugs on our heart strings like no other sport, well that is a guess but personally I cannot think of anything that can make someone so ecstatic, upset or verging on depressed yet have no real link to you. Football is like a drug, it grabs you and doesn’t let you go. It is very difficult to shake off the obsession but it is an obsession that you enjoy having because it feels special. You link yourself to a club and in your head, that club is yours just as it is mine.
In primary school I decided to become an Arsenal supporter, I decided to show my support and to watch what Arsenal FC had on offer. Twenty odd years later I am still obsessed by the club, it is still something I probably think about more than most things on a daily basis.
Arsenal fans and indeed football fans come in many shapes and sizes, many different ages and have many different relationships with the team that they have taken under their wing. The internet today means that we get to see a vast range of opinions and views at a touch of a button, Hell, we even have people pretending to be supporters of the club voicing their opinions. Some things about Arsenal make fans livid, while others tend to take a more philosophical approach. Neither way is the correct way or the wrong way, I guess it comes down to how best you relate to the Arsenal FC.
I don’t know if support has changed over the years, it feels like that from my early years watching George Graham’s teams but it feels like a lot of fun has been taken out of following a team. The finer details have been discarded for results only. Killing a high ball instantly is ignored, passing our way out of danger is the norm and collecting three points is ripped apart in search of negatives to pontificate over.
Supporting a club is not like paying tax, we have a choice and we made the choice to follow, support and watch the team. While we as well as every football fan at every club around the globe want our team to do better. Whoever’s Arsenal this is, I want to continue to this weird experience, continue on this up and down ride but let us try and enjoy it a little more and find the fun that made us call it our club in the first place.
EXAMPLE OF AD POSITION
