The BSM walk: it's not about the Manager
27 November 2012
An article by Matthew Bazell, author of the book Theatre of Silence: The Lost Soul of Football.
“I’m not here because we’re shit right now, I’m here because generations of Arsenal fans are being priced and forced out of the club”. These were the sentiments of a BSM member outside the ground in protest at last month’s AGM.
I relate to that statement fully. I personally chose to stop going to matches at Emirates Stadium a few years ago but it wasn’t because of what happened on the pitch. I called it a day because I’d had enough of rip-off ticket prices and an over-controlled environment within an overtly corporate stadium. Not to mention a whole host of other things – to give just one example – our beautiful club crest being changed to that Walt Disney cartoon cannon that’s not even facing in the right direction. I didn’t like the direction our club was going in, and still don’t.
The BSM’s walk on December 1st is not a ‘Wenger Out’ march. Our focus is very much elsewhere. Things such as better ticketing options, better value pricing, the club supporting safe standing, and for fans to have far more of an input in to the way our club is run.
To put it into simple terms, our objective is to influence the club into things that will have a positive effect on the matchday experience for fans, no matter who is manager of the team. To ensure our kids, and our kid’s kids, can grow up watching and falling in love with The Arsenal like we did. Forcing loyal, core support away from the club won’t help achieve this; future generations of loyal supporters will be lost.
During the early to mid-1980s Arsenal had an average side, there were no trophies, yet there was nothing comparable to the Black Scarf Movement. Such a group is formed out of disenfranchised alienation from the club in general. More and more are feeling let down by the club, and numbers are snowballing. The Board to this point have chosen to turn a blind eye to what’s really happening among fans and it’s time action was taken before it’s too late.
So our focus (we feel quite rightly) is on the Board. Take Arsene Wenger out of the equation; with the same people running the Boardroom, things on the pitch would be unlikely to improve. In all likelihood a ‘yes man’ replacement would be brought in whose main objective would be to qualify for the Champions League on little investment – meanwhile the club sits on huge profits helped by extortionate admission pricing.
Just like the original BSM walk in 2011 the overriding message is Let’s Kick Greed Out of Football. If some people think they’ll turn up and find it’s a ‘Wenger Out’ rally, they are mistaken. Therefore we politely ask anyone with such an objective, to organise their own separate protest, on another day.
As a final note, some say things to the effect of “marching, protesting or boycotting will achieve nothing.” To which I would reply… Possibly. It might not change anything, but better to go down fighting then to be willingly trampled on. We’re not sheep; we’re passionate supporters who believe in the Thomas Jefferson phrase “Dissent is the truest form of patriotism”. History will show that money changed the football landscape dramatically, and it’s important to show that not everyone was happy and meekly accepted it. There is still time to have a say and influence change for the better.
An article by Matthew Bazell, author of the book Theatre of Silence: The Lost Soul of Football.
“I’m not here because we’re shit right now, I’m here because generations of Arsenal fans are being priced and forced out of the club”. These were the sentiments of a BSM member outside the ground in protest at last month’s AGM.
I relate to that statement fully. I personally chose to stop going to matches at Emirates Stadium a few years ago but it wasn’t because of what happened on the pitch. I called it a day because I’d had enough of rip-off ticket prices and an over-controlled environment within an overtly corporate stadium. Not to mention a whole host of other things – to give just one example – our beautiful club crest being changed to that Walt Disney cartoon cannon that’s not even facing in the right direction. I didn’t like the direction our club was going in, and still don’t.
The BSM’s walk on December 1st is not a ‘Wenger Out’ march. Our focus is very much elsewhere. Things such as better ticketing options, better value pricing, the club supporting safe standing, and for fans to have far more of an input in to the way our club is run.
To put it into simple terms, our objective is to influence the club into things that will have a positive effect on the matchday experience for fans, no matter who is manager of the team. To ensure our kids, and our kid’s kids, can grow up watching and falling in love with The Arsenal like we did. Forcing loyal, core support away from the club won’t help achieve this; future generations of loyal supporters will be lost.
During the early to mid-1980s Arsenal had an average side, there were no trophies, yet there was nothing comparable to the Black Scarf Movement. Such a group is formed out of disenfranchised alienation from the club in general. More and more are feeling let down by the club, and numbers are snowballing. The Board to this point have chosen to turn a blind eye to what’s really happening among fans and it’s time action was taken before it’s too late.
So our focus (we feel quite rightly) is on the Board. Take Arsene Wenger out of the equation; with the same people running the Boardroom, things on the pitch would be unlikely to improve. In all likelihood a ‘yes man’ replacement would be brought in whose main objective would be to qualify for the Champions League on little investment – meanwhile the club sits on huge profits helped by extortionate admission pricing.
Just like the original BSM walk in 2011 the overriding message is Let’s Kick Greed Out of Football. If some people think they’ll turn up and find it’s a ‘Wenger Out’ rally, they are mistaken. Therefore we politely ask anyone with such an objective, to organise their own separate protest, on another day.
As a final note, some say things to the effect of “marching, protesting or boycotting will achieve nothing.” To which I would reply… Possibly. It might not change anything, but better to go down fighting then to be willingly trampled on. We’re not sheep; we’re passionate supporters who believe in the Thomas Jefferson phrase “Dissent is the truest form of patriotism”. History will show that money changed the football landscape dramatically, and it’s important to show that not everyone was happy and meekly accepted it. There is still time to have a say and influence change for the better.
