A Good Day In Club
Feb 21st, 2010 by 'holic
“Alright mate, you confident today?”
I get to the Pins earlier than expected, and so does a bad influence! The first Guinness evaporates and I already know what sort of a day it will be. As the first half of the United game plays out on the televisions we are joined by another top Gooner. “Guinness, ‘holic?”
I feel no pain as we stroll to the Tollie to collect our tickets for today. Club level debut for me. More Guinness, more cheers as United fall apart in the second-half. More significant is the contribution of another mate. For once I have not got a hip-flask for half-time, but I needn’t have worried. Two flasks of Scotland’s finest are donated by a top man.
So in good spirits it is off to the entrance. Already the effects of the alcohol are kicking in as we confuse west and east. At least it means we get a good look around the facilities in Club. Very impressive, I must say, but then you would expect that for what these people are paying.
The biggest difference is that ten minutes before kick-off there is not a snaking queue at the Ladbrokes counter. There is no queue at all in fact, as the ‘holic pound is duly surrendered for another week. As the game kicks off it is pretty clear this as good a view as one can get. Close enough for the players expressions to be witnessed, and high enough to get a good impression of the tactics and movement going on.
It is a good day for Arsenal. Surprisingly there are a number of changes, and all of those coming in are contributing. Ramsey and Song interchange at will, Nasri and Fabregas are orchestrating most of the attacks, but a couple of passes in behind the full-back give Walcott a chance to stretch his legs and regain some confidence.
Sunderland attempt to deny us space in front of the back four by sticking Ferdinand in there, but he is being given a torrid time by Arsenal’s movement and switches with McCartney. The goal we deserve arrives when Eboue, impressive indeed at right-back, breaks through to cross for Bendtner to slot home.
Club levellers stand and cheer like anybody else, although this is the first sign of life up there apart from the lady imploring them to ‘Go go Gunners’. Behind me someone asks who the Sunderland number ten is, but that is the only sign of ignorance we witness. Tales of people sitting there reading papers and doing crosswords are exaggerated, it seems.
It is obviously at half-time that you notice the difference between here and down or upstairs. No huge queues for toilets and refreshments. Tables full of beer and wine. Help yourself. Cheers, I don’t mind if I do. A pint of Smiths and a glass of red wine later there is a television advising one minute to the restart. Now I know why people are late back up there. The game has already restarted.
A fairly typical Arsenal performance is unfolding. Control is established, chances are created with rather less haste than was once the case, and are too often spurned, but nobody is playing badly. Criticism would be unfair but that inability to kill the game off is almost costly as twice Sunderland break through the rearguard. Thankfully this is a good day for Almunia too.
In injury time we all have to do a double-take. When Campbell brings down Fabregas in the area the referee blows his whistle and points to the strange painted spot twelve yards out. Surely it can’t be? It is, it’s a penalty! Most of those around me have forgotten what it is like to be awarded one of those. Fabregas converts it himself and at last the scoreline starts to reflect the gulf between the sides.
This was clearly a good day to experience the delights of the misnamed prawn circle. I didn’t see one solitary prawn, although I’m sure they were available if you wanted them. There was never any danger of missing the atmosphere downstairs, such as it was on the day. With few controversial incidents I didn’t require restraining once! I wouldn’t want to be up there for a big game, but the experience was welcome, and I would happily repeat it.
What do you do after enjoying a win, a defeat for Manchester United, several Guinni, beer, wine, and whisky? Of course, back to the pub for more Guinni! If you were there (and it was good to meet you, Mr & Mrs Snail) can I thank you for contributing to another great day at the Grove. Football is about much more than the game, and yesterday provided further proof of that.
60 Responses to “A Good Day In Club”
Good post, I raise my pint of gunniess cold in appreciation to you ‘holic!
Scotland’s finest? I thought they were Ireland’s finest…
Lovely piece FOD! 🙂
…and it was nice to finally meet you too, ‘holic, and was glad to hear you finally made it back home.
Scotland’s finest? I thought they were Ireland’s finest…
Forgive me maestro. You may well be right. Some of my memory cells appear to be in Chipenham!
Bushmills and Black Bush 10 year malt, wasn’t it?
I’m sure that a certain man from the old West Stand could confirm.
When I first took my dad to club level at the beginning of the season, he looked thoughtful and a little disappointed. I asked why. He said: “this is what I expected the whole stadium to be like when we came over from Highbury, this is what it should be like for everyone.”
I reckon he has a point – using the toilet and grabbing a beer at half time in the upper/lower tiers is impossible, unless you’re willing to miss the last 5 minutes of the first half. Most of us expected at least a service upgrade at the new ground, and most of us are disappointed.
Anyway, I still can’t believe we’re anywhere near the top, considering the injuries we’ve suffered – what a weird and wonderful season this is!!
Good blog as ever!
He’s in the new West Stand too, Snail. Top, top fella.
‘Eboue’tiful and eccentric. Arsenal regularly irritate and delight in equal measure and today was a live and fitting example. Nasri’s silky skills and Eboue’s direct running made for an eminently watchable affair but the continuing persistence to pass the ball into the net coupled with shoddy defending meant it was a nervy one too.
Still, Nick and Cesc got the goals so I’m not going to complain. Kudos to the ref for not shoving his head in the sand like a deluded ostrich when Cesc was felled in the box. The Manc molestation at Goodison means that this is another good matchweek for us.
Just continue plugging away boys.
Nice one “holic.
Sounds a bit posh that club level malarky, definetly too refined for riff-raff like me. 😉
I remember from my days in the North Bank it was not a good idea to take a beer that was just standing around, even a cuppa at the “catering locket” was pretty iffy, Ah progress eh.
I thought the lads were mostly in control yesterday although at 1-0 up there were a few sqeuky bum moments, Silvestre doing his very best to make Jones look like a great striker. Eboue played a blinder, Ramsey, bar a few hiccups, looked pretty solid and confident enough.
Walcott made quite a contribution for the first time in a while, he looked lively and his pace scared the crap out of the visitors defence, a little more work on his end product is required, but at least he seemed to have regained some confidence and his overall performances are improving. Anyone who had only saw the highlights of the game on MOTD last night must of thought he was the man of the match.
Thanks once again for sharing your experiences, your reports always remind me of home. (I grew up on the estate across from the Tollie)
A Pint of Lager for me and a pint of the black stuff for the Guv’nor please barman.
Cheers.
My only trip to the Emirates I was fortunate enough to blag club level – out of interest how do the seats downstairs compare ‘holic? I couldn’t believe the comfort!
When my Dad and I were approached by a burly steward I thought we had done something wrong. “Just this way to your seats gents..” he said. Definitely a different experience!
Lunch time tipple…
All the seats are the same, wherever you are, Catalan.
H2H, remember the old green shed at the back of the Bank fondly. Two pint pots of Red Barrel. “Got any meat in them pies this week, love?”
🙂
Nice, descriptive blog ‘holic of the place many of us will probably never get to visit. It’s nice to know that the tales of ignorance and a nonchalant attitude towards the club / game are unfounded.
3 lovely points to steady the ship.Was glad to hear the hip flask made it safely to the ground holic.
Good 3 points, before the first goal I thought uh oh this is gonna be one of those days where we get a million shots on goal and none go in…..but then Ebou’e slotted B52 in perfectly for the tap in, hoooraaayyy!!!! The penalty was a close one, it could’ve gone either way meaning a free kick cause he was right on the line, finally some luck fell our way!! I was frustrated at Walcott, he runs like a deer, but his end product blows a massive donkey dick, he needs to work on his final ball to get it all together like Sagna and Gael as well. Anyhoo glad to see Utd lose I only wish Chelsea would’ve at least drawn to Wolves, but thats asking alot from Wolverhampton isn’t it….. Up the Arse!
It is amazing football , one win and everybody forget the taste of defeat against porto , man utd , chelsea .
We are champion again ! At least . let’s live our dream for one day .
12 ‘holic,
Those were the days mate *nostalgic violin music in the background*
I actually started my “Highbury life” in the Clock End, but my best mate from secondary school’s old man worked the turnstiles on the North Bank and he used to let us in for nothing (3 of us went through one turnstile click) I think at that time it must of cost around one quid or one fifty to get in, can’t begin to imagine how much it must set you back nowadays. I saw something on FF a couple of weeks ago and I think they said a certain level cost 25,000 to join and 25,000 a year in membership fees? That’s just silly.
Same again please barman.
Holloway2Holland @ 10
I thought Silvestre played pretty well yesterday. I am not a big fan, but I thought he handled their strikers pretty well – he had a couple of “moments”, the most dangerous of which was when the ball bounced off his shoulder into the path of Bent but he didn’t dive in and concede a pen, and when he tried to play Jones offside when Vermaelen was behind him and thankfully Jones could not finish.
And speaking of penalties – what was that thing that happened in the end, you know where the referee pointed to the spot? That can’t be in the rules can it?
Only my 3rd visit to the Grove this season, (I live in Fife) but I will back for the Burnley game so here is hoping we keep up the momentum next week.
An orange juice for me @Holic – but have a hair of the dog guinness yourself 🙂
Watching Ferguson bottle it tactically at the San Siro (first half anyway), suffer injury problems, and not have the squad to compensate for tiredness due to mid-week European games has made me wonder if some segment of their internet-based fans will be calling for his head in a few weeks time?
18 zico’
I thought his positioning was poor and it looked like their strikers had the beating of him. I ofcourse concur that you being at the stadium would have a much better view of his overall performance then I could get stuck here watching a stream from behind my computer so I’ll gladly take your word on it.
He just scares me, always has. Maybe that “prejudice” just alters my perception.
I lent my season ticket to Irish friend so wasn’t at the game, but from the highlights (both MoTD and Sky’s Football First) I thought Theo did better than a lot of people have been saying. His first one-on-one was an attempt to nutmeg the ‘keeper, who saved well. Often those nutmegs come off and if yesterday’s had some of the critics might be signing a different tune. And on a couple of his other breaks he was really limited for options because he was so far ahead of the rest of the team. He seems to be the current favourite for a bit of player-bashing by some sections of the support – an honourable position once occupied by the likes of Song, Eboue, Diaby and Bendtner.
Nice description of a day out at Club Level ‘holic, but, notwithstanding the ease of getting a drink and taking a pee, I think I still prefer being with the great unwashed.
Pint of Pride please.
Like I said mate, I am not his biggest fan either. But like to give credit where due – we are probably both agreed that we need better and I expect he won’t be at Arsenal next season.
And there’s not much wrong with being suspicious of ex-Mancs, imo.
When all was said and done, I just expected Sol to play yesterday and I was concerned when I saw tha Silvestre was in the starting 11. But we kept a clean sheet – and that hasn’t happened to often this season – so here’s hoping its the first in a run of 12 !
Great stuff as ever ‘holic.
Need something medicinal for my cold. Vodka & Veno’s?
A very nice account of your day ‘Holic. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to visit the land of prawns and I really enjoyed them. It was the box for me yesterday and my nemesis WLLMc.
Why does Setanta persevere with Wee Lulu MacSparry? And why does Wee Lulu finish every single sentence with “Martin”? Why does he cover EVERY Arsenal game, Martin? What did we do to deserve that, Martin?
15 seconds into the game and the wee Glesca Bauchle pours feint praise on the Gunners. “Nae matter what you think of Arsenal, Martin. If they go two points off Man U, you can’t write them off, Martin.” A swift click of the mute switch and silence reigned. Lulu and Martin were off, on another wondrous woeful wiggling waffle, comprehended only by them and unheard by me. Can someone please invent a “crowd noise only” sound option?
Many have demanded of Arsenal, play ugly and win. I thought they gave the ugly sisters a pretty good run to the Palladium for their money, on quite a few occasions today. But WIN they did and deservedly so. Even dip-stick Steve, in his most grudging moments, couldn’t have seen it otherwise.
But the Goons were not, a thing of great beauty. They huffed and puffed like the wolf, but it rarely looked like the black cats’ house would be blown down to the extent that it was on their last visit to London. Goals were tough to come by. Chances a plenty were generated and then scorned.
Arsenal’s most potent attacking force was our one time pantomime clown, Emmanuel Eboue. It took one of his squash-buckling runs to break stalemate and give Nicky B the easiest notch on this boots he’ll ever tap in. Emmanuel even managed to break the mold of crossing incompetence demonstrated so ably this season by Messrs Sagna and Clichy. A very good outing for him, take a bow Emmanuel.
Just as well my sphincter muscle is in perfect shape at the moment. The porous pairing of Vermaelen and Silvestre, nearly gifted Sunderland a couple of match winners. Fortunately Kenwin Jones screwed the first gift wide left. Silvestre leaned sufficiently to bend Bent out of shooting shape for the second.
Many looked jaded today. Our passing game was “iffy” at best today, but hey, who’s complaining after our promenade to Portugal on Wednesday. A superb three points, made golden by manure’s dive off the dung heap at Everton. Another three burst blood vessels on the purple nose of the Old Red Grouse. I love it!
Anything long and cool for me please, Martin.
Thanks for an entertaining report – tho’ still it seems we too often waste good situations. To be honest, after the alcohol intake described, I’d be lucky if I was 1) still awake & 2) able to see the game. If I were your GP, I’d have my concerns…
Am I alone in thinking that Eboue should be starting every game on the right side of the front three? I thought he was outstanding, especially as compared to the recent performances on that side. His tippy-tappy is a bit more decisive than that of Nasri and Rosicky. We do have an embarassment of riches in the wide positions.
Sounds like a good description of Club Level. I’ve been a few times this season thanks to my girlfriend, whose great uncle has a pair of tickets, and it’s great. I once got told off for swearing (that person then disappeared 10-15 minutes before half time and bizarrely didn’t return) but I’ve had good times there. Weirdly, there are only a handful of people I’ve seen around me each time – seems like people are starting to sell theirs on. Perhaps that explains the better than expected atmospheres?
I had to leave the pub early for Apple reasons ;).
So I’ll have another pint of Gunness, please Maestro!
You’ll be on youtube soon too.
A pleasure, as always!
What? YouTube? What did I do? You’ve got me worried now, Ollie…
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to… what radio?
Pardon? I am beginning to not like the sound of this.
Good to see you again and see Mrs Mollusc too yesterday, Snail.
Spot on write up ‘holic.
Disappointed we didn’t better capitalise on our created opportunities however the scoreline was more than positive, as was the display of a notable few…..Eboue, Nasri, Bendtner, Walcott in particular imo. Good to get the penalty of course.
A large glass of house red for me please chap.
NB. I always try to respect the ref therefore prefer to leave criticism to others. But yesterday’s performance from the nominated overseer was poor (not to mention the monkey who was in charge on Wednesday).
Keep on believing.
@18, Zico. In exile in Fife? The magical, wonderful, Kindom of Fife? The mantle fringed wi’ gold?
That’s no an exile, son. That’s one of the blessings the gaed Lord’s cast upon ye. Anywhere close to Auchtermuchty by any chance?
I trust you know this ane?
“Fife’ got everything,
Just the place for tourists,
See the bonnie pit bings,
Standing in a row,
Fife’s entertainment,
Finest in the country,
we’re the boys to come to
if you want to get some tips,
Fitba’ at Central Park,
Necking birdies in the dark,
Haggis suppers, hot pies,
Bingo and chips.
Any word on this new home kit being real or fake? I’m guessing it’s too early to be doing the rounds. Rumour has it that it celebrates the 125th anniversary of the loan of shirts from Forest?
I’d like to see the normal white sleeves return one of these seasons.
http://youngguns.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/leaked-kit.jpg?w=497
@7 PG He said: “this is what I expected the whole stadium to be like when we came over from Highbury, this is what it should be like for everyone.”
A poignant comment. I suppose the popular riposte would be that it could be like that for everyone if they were happy to fork out 2500 a year for a season ticket. Such are the harsh realities of football economics, all driven by the market.
TV views of Bolton, Wigan, Stoke etc show that not too many punters are buying the product thereabouts. You could easily have played “spot the fan” at Todays match against Spuds. The market up there is urning sour, empty stands and 150,000k salaries don’t jive, do they?
A very good piece on the cash machine that football clubs can be, if managed properly, appears in Untold Arsenal today. Well worth a glance if your Sunday’s going as slowly as mine.
Tim, that is defo a photoshop on an original pic of this years blue kit.
Just uploaded my recording of our penalty yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwfVzG4cIAs
That is the ‘iPhone’ view from the back row of the upper tier. Plenty of regular season ticket holders up there, but it is the likely place to end up if you are a red member.
Excellent report again `Holic. After the video from Rohan it’s another opportunity for us far away to “taste” the Emirates. And thanks to Snail. Keep them coming guys, please!
I confess I watched the game in a haze, too early here given the alcohol intake of the previous night but I thought we looked very decent considering half the team was heavily rotated. 2-0 is flattering for Sunderland, you could argue they could have scored two but we should have score at least 5. It’s one of those days when things don’t go our way but I’m pretty sure Nasri, Walcott and Bendy will soon put the ball 2 inches within the frame rather than outside.
We have the character of champions. Say what you want but this season the team has shown that they have the guts to claw themselves back in contention after bad results. We are still a work in progress with imperfections but at least the winners mentality is there.
Walcott is simply showing that young players need a run of games to reach top level. He was not mom but he will be soon if he can stay injury-free.
Silvestre is a great asset to this team. I have a lot of respect for the man. We’re very lucky to have him and we will miss him badly when he leaves.
Good stuff, Snail. You were just above us, by the look of that.
Yes, abut 40 rows above you, and there were no free beers where we were mate.
😉
btw, you bought me my third pint of Guinness, so I think you hung around for a lot longer than some have suggested.
I bought a round? Blimey, I was more pissed than I thought 😉
No such club class luxury for me. I entered as normal via gate B and joined the usual suspects on the lower concourse. I made my way to the normal position in an attempt to buy a beer. “Pint of Smiths please” came the shout. My glass arrived only three quarters full. “Any chance of a full one?” I ask. “Sorry, the pumps are broken. We are using cans. That will be 3.50.” It may be 3.50 to you but when I can get 18 of them in Tesco for a tenner, quite frankly you can whistle. I traipse off to locate a TV screen to await the team news. Almunia is fit and playing. “Thank the good lord for that.” Now there is a phrase I never ever expected to have to use. Have things got that bad with the keeping situation?
The game I thought was a tad disappointing from our point of view. It was a good 3 points in th end, although I thought we were average. We did not play that well in my opinion. We were not clinical and lacked sharpness when it mattered. We gifted Sunderland golden chances which we all know a Drogba or a Rooney would have put away.
Eboue was awesome, Ramsey looked more than suited at this level and Cesc looked like he needs 2 weeks holiday.
Stoke will provide a tough test next week. Get 3 points up there and……………. well, who knows?????
3 points is 3 points, but let’s not kid ourselves. We will need to improve on that. Hopefully, by the time next weekend comes around we will have one or two back.
Keep the faith…….
It’s interesting to read Emiratis’ game summary because from a boradcast perspective there was only one team on the pitch. Not that we looked at our best but that was enough to dominate them from begining to end.
Agree that Cesc needs a break.
3.50 a pint, there’s `Holic’s excuse for his flask…
Anyway 12 finals left (including the CL). Go go Gunners says the lady!
We’ve now kept a cleansheet in 6 of our last 11 matches in the Premier League. More of the same could be useful in the next few.
Good post ‘Holic, hey nothing new here!
Look at you club level and all that, some of us are moving up the world and good on ya!
I’ll take a win like this anytime, we didn’t look on form at all, Cesc needs some time off before he will get himself injured, we all know it will be extremley hard to win
[continued]
all those remaining games. This is the first one so step one is accomplished, step two revenge on Stoke will be sweet. Very good for NB52 to score this will only boost his confidence! Walcott looked like he wanted to help and made some decenmt runs. Eboue was fantastic…for me this guy has improved 1100% and remember what he got from his fans few months ago.
Clean sheet is another positive, Gallas obviosly needed a break as well, he played practically every game this season with TV. Silvestre did well but he made some bad mistakes too I wouldn’t trust him in the for the life of me. Almunia on the other hand looked sharp I hope his form is coming back to him!
The whole team performed well on the day and even thou they still looked well jaded a good winning streak will get us firing on all cylinders.
Come on Arsenal…
Good blog,as ever.
Mind taking a minute to have a look at my own budding arsenal blog?
http://www.didntseeit.wordpress.com
Cheers
Oh and I actually don’t know how to turn moderation of comments off… Any help on that would be appreciated 🙂
BTM @ 34.
Dunfermline mate.
I’m in exile from the other side of the Forth 😉
I used to stand in the Clock End in the late 70s early 80s. Bit of a gypsy me.
Steve T @ 43 – cheer up, we WILL improve 🙂
My faith lives on that ‘Holic will not be bought by the temptations of Club, but it was entertaining reading about the excursion, and perhaps we need an ambassador from plebeian class anyway. After such commendable blogging service Arsenal ought to reward the man with a pass to all areas of the Emirates.
By god, great post ‘holic. Right summed up the club level in a single go. Cheers
Snail, if you are there. Any objection to me pinching your clip of the second goal to add to a little something I am putting together?
Chamakh playing vs olympiakos tomorrow in champions league. interested to see him in action again.
Surely YOUR own clip of the second goal was perfect, ‘holic?
Are you trying to compare videos ? 😀
A strong coffee for me this morning, please.
I think some rambling old drunk next to us must have borrowed my camera, Ollie. He made a right mess of it too 😉
Well having given a few extra days to think about it, I have to say for the most part we looked good against Sunderland and aside from a few worrying moments we were really good value for the win.
But….and you know there is a but, It was Everton who caught my eye, they were certainly no more physical than we were against Utd but they looked far sharper and more incisive than we were against them.
We have to improve our game massively to get through this sequence of games with anything approaching a chance of winning the league, I still think it is beyond us as Chelski slipping up three times seems just too unlikely to count upon now, But I think we could actually pinch 2nd off of Utd and that in itself would be a massive step in the right direction for the confidence of the team.
Speaking of Confidence, I still do not think Nicky Bendtner is our goal getting machine a’la Henry or Addy….but the man has such an awesome amount of belief and confidence in himself he does make me smile and hope he can be.
Cesc is desperately in need of a long break……but can we afford not to play him as even when he is a little off colour he is still usually one of our better more reliable players.
Wenger HAS to be given plaudits when things go well, but he also had to expect the brickbats thrown at him for the way we have capitulated this season, I’m not advocating Wengers removal at all YET, But he knows and we know this team is till short of out and out quality throughout, Please let it be that he does make some prudent acquisitions at the end of the season.
Haha, ‘holic. 😉
Or it may be that Orange thief. 😛
Hi ‘holic, not at all – public domain mate, and all that.
A mate, a season ticket holder, down the pub for an away game recently, recounted his visit to the last home game, which he attended as a guest of a box owner. I thought I was doing well enough with a seat in east-upper, but I now realise that I am merely one of the peasantry, operating above his station in life for a short while, soon probably to return to the downtrodden masses whence I came.