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Stories
Modern attendances are huge but lack the spectacular feeling of the past
20 June ~ With Euro 2016 nearly halfway though and the Champions League, FA and Scottish Cup finals barely behind us, it feels like the entire planet wants to attend a football match. Huge, packed venues dominate the media. And all I do is rue the fact I’ve never been in a six-figure crowd and that no ground in Europe can currently hold one.
Relations between club and fans are fraught at Arsenal, where a new stadium has left some feeling short-changed, reports Matthew Bazell
A lot of accusations have been levelled at Arsenal fans recently, claiming we are a spoilt bunch of ingrates who have no right demanding better from our team. We are told we should be happy where we are because things could always be worse. I do not go to games any more, partly because modern-day prices are a rip-off, but when I put myself in the position of Arsenal season ticket holders I came to the conclusion that, if I spent that kind of money for admission, I too would be incredibly demanding.
The problem with all-seater stadiums is that you have to stand up, argues Huw Richards
It was nice of Arsenal to provide the away fans with padded seats, if somewhat less charitable to retail them at £35 a shot. It was too bad that the only time we were able to sit in them was during half-time. Swansea’s first trip to the Emirates earlier this season epitomised what you might call the all-seater paradox. The theory behind all-seater grounds, compulsory in the top two divisions since 1994, is that they stop people standing. In practice, particularly if you are an away fan, everybody stands.
John Duerden says that despite an influx of money across the continent, clubs and governing bodies remain haphazard in their organisation
“A team that has scored just one goal in four matches has eight points. I am simply too amused to try and find an explanation to this,” said Uzbekistan’s Olympic coach Vadim Abramov of United Arab Emirates’ resurgence in the qualifying group. Amusement was not the general reaction after the worst of the wildly varying standards of professionalism in Asian football were revealed once again.