Arsenal aiming to introduce a Standing Area at the Emirates

I am one of the Arsenal supporters that can remember clearly the days when nearly every fan was standing all the way through every game at Highbury. It certainly made for a better atmosphere with a massive crowd chanting together.

Those days may have been gone for some time, but now Ivan Gazidis has seen Aston Villa ask for permission to introduce a Safe Standing Area at Villa Park, and is keen to do the same thing at Arsenal.

The Chief Executive said: “It is something that I have always been open to. The more I learn about it; viscerally it is something that I find attractive because it gives fans, a certain group of fans who like to stand who create the atmosphere, another way to be in our stadium.”

He continued: “Why would you be against that, if you can do it safely? There are some issues, but it is not something I am close minded to and I am prepared to explore it.”

From what I hear it simply means putting in flip-up seats instead of fixed ones as well as a safe handrail in front of each space, but another reason that Gazidis would be keen is that it would nearly double the capacity for the areas used (1.8x in fact, according to German plans)

Who thinks that this would be a good thing for Arsenal supporters?

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  1. Gooner S says:

    What romantic, misinformed nonesense. Yep I can remember standing on The North Bank and the Clock End….when it was terracing….and it was so packed you couldn’t move, when people decided to piss where they stood….yep lovely. Or being bent double over a crash barrier when something like a goal happened. Or when there was nobody there on a freezing cold February…still no atmosphere. Did I mention the fighting and arguing?

    There is only one reason why the club would entertain this…money! You can get more people in the ground. Think about it. It’s going backwards and totally uncalled for.

    This “debate” about atmosphere has been going on as long as I’ve supported Arsenal. Face facts….Arsenal fans have their moments and when they do they are as loud as any fans anywhere but all to often we are not. It’s they way we are. In fact most London teams are like this, despite what fans of Chelsea and Spurs might say.

    If you want a better atmosphere I would suggest lowering the prices, not removing the seats, and putting some tickets on general admission for tickets on the day.

    But the real thing that will separate the men from the boys, in terms of support, is how we all behave when the team is struggling. And by the way we aren’t struggling now! No, I mean when you are consistently facing relegation or (god forbid) find yourselves in the (old) second division (Championship my arse).

    So think about that if you are going today, stop expecting to win every game, enjoy it and shout out for the team… do not need to stand for that. Oh and you can turn up on time, not 10 minutes into the game, and you can watch the full 45 minutes of each half and not piss off to the bar with 15 minutes of the first half left and you can come back on time for the second half and stay for the whole of that half…now wouldn’t that be a thing? Regardless of the score.

    So all those winging and moaning about Wenger….think about it.

    And before I go…I have a season ticket in block 18…everybody stands! Go figure….atmosphere is still the same…it’s no better or worse than anywhere else in the ground.

    Rant over…I enjoyed that

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