Man City Away Banner Confiscation

[DB10GOONER]

I'm not suggesting approaching the club in an aggressive manner at all - firstly I would ask them (nicely) why they view/treat pro wenger banners differently than those that are calling for a change. Then I would suggest to them (again nicely) that maybe prohibiting all manner of banners might be better to avoid any confrontation between various supporter factions.
I agree that they do own the club but we are not "visitors", we are customers We either work with the club to agree a framework going forward, or we allow this hostility to continue to fester
What do you see as an outcome to this meeting Alan ? If the fans are just going along to be told that the club will not allow banners calling for a new manager to be displayed but they will continue to allow pro wenger banners to be used, then what is the point in any supporter attending this meeting ? Whether this is just a pr fob by the club to the fans remains to be seen, and whether any compromise/agreement/change can be implemented also is uncertain, but this is surely the platform for our disgruntled fans to get their views across and to seek a fairer policy for all ?

My point is that our fans that go to this meeting would only achieve pissing off the club by making statements like the one in red, no matter how politely it was put. I just think it would sidetrack the discussion about things like what happened at Citeh where the club had absolutely no right to confiscate banners of any kind. If the banners were offensive (and they weren't) it would have been Citeh's place to remove them.

TBH augie I struggle to see this meeting as anything but a cynical PR exercise by Gazidis... but then I am a cynical fucker. I honestly doubt the club will ever allow anti-Wenger banners into the Conglomerates, but it might be possible to reach an agreement that they do not interfere with our away fans in other clubs' stadiums. Might be possible.

What do I think the outcome will be? Again, being cynical, I think nothing will be achieved really. Will Gazidis allow anti-Wenger banners into the Conglomerates? No. Will he agree to instruct the club stewards to not interfere with Anti-Wenger banners at away grounds? I doubt that too tbh.

Agree with both of you but with the current gentrification of football that is happening, this worries me beyond just the banners and not just for our great club. What's next singing, shouting, not being allowed to stand... oh wait

Part of the enjoyment of going to football is the fact that you can let off steam, show some anti-club/manager/player or whatever banners, sing disparaging chants and it is accepted to a degree but this situation has me seriously worried, and as i say if it can happen here it wont be long until it spreads to every club, and then to international teams and then other sports.

If I were going to this meeting i'd be ensuring someone i relied on was taking copious notes of what is said because i'm not sure any minutes taken by the club will reflect everything said and if the outcome is left hanging i'd get the FSF involved because ultimately you pay for certain experience going to football matches and yes every ones experience is different but the latte drinkers seem to be more and more killing the atmosphere at games and this is yet another step down that road.

I know i sound a bit tinfoil-hat here but it just feels more and more that the game is being taken away from the match going fans to make sure everything is palatable to the sit at home TV audience and as i've said if this is allowed to pass then it wont be long before other clubs start doing the same thing and all stewards will be taking away banners or ejecting you from grounds for getting over excited

It's not tinfoil hat at all, mate. There is a definite move by the big clubs and UEFA/FIFA/FA to move the game away from working class lads and market the game to middle class families and customers that will attend for the big game "experience", but sit quietly politely watching or playing with their iPhone, and then spend money in the club shop and food outlets before quietly going home. These people are easier to placate, easier to deal with and cost less to police/steward. A sterile, PC-conscious and polite sport is also easier to market to advertisers and sponsors.

[Redarmy]

I'm not suggesting approaching the club in an aggressive manner at all - firstly I would ask them (nicely) why they view/treat pro wenger banners differently than those that are calling for a change. Then I would suggest to them (again nicely) that maybe prohibiting all manner of banners might be better to avoid any confrontation between various supporter factions.
I agree that they do own the club but we are not "visitors", we are customers We either work with the club to agree a framework going forward, or we allow this hostility to continue to fester
What do you see as an outcome to this meeting Alan ? If the fans are just going along to be told that the club will not allow banners calling for a new manager to be displayed but they will continue to allow pro wenger banners to be used, then what is the point in any supporter attending this meeting ? Whether this is just a pr fob by the club to the fans remains to be seen, and whether any compromise/agreement/change can be implemented also is uncertain, but this is surely the platform for our disgruntled fans to get their views across and to seek a fairer policy for all ?

My point is that our fans that go to this meeting would only achieve pissing off the club by making statements like the one in red, no matter how politely it was put. I just think it would sidetrack the discussion about things like what happened at Citeh where the club had absolutely no right to confiscate banners of any kind. If the banners were offensive (and they weren't) it would have been Citeh's place to remove them.

TBH augie I struggle to see this meeting as anything but a cynical PR exercise by Gazidis... but then I am a cynical fucker. I honestly doubt the club will ever allow anti-Wenger banners into the Conglomerates, but it might be possible to reach an agreement that they do not interfere with our away fans in other clubs' stadiums. Might be possible.

What do I think the outcome will be? Again, being cynical, I think nothing will be achieved really. Will Gazidis allow anti-Wenger banners into the Conglomerates? No. Will he agree to instruct the club stewards to not interfere with Anti-Wenger banners at away grounds? I doubt that too tbh.

Agree with both of you but with the current gentrification of football that is happening, this worries me beyond just the banners and not just for our great club. What's next singing, shouting, not being allowed to stand... oh wait

Part of the enjoyment of going to football is the fact that you can let off steam, show some anti-club/manager/player or whatever banners, sing disparaging chants and it is accepted to a degree but this situation has me seriously worried, and as i say if it can happen here it wont be long until it spreads to every club, and then to international teams and then other sports.

If I were going to this meeting i'd be ensuring someone i relied on was taking copious notes of what is said because i'm not sure any minutes taken by the club will reflect everything said and if the outcome is left hanging i'd get the FSF involved because ultimately you pay for certain experience going to football matches and yes every ones experience is different but the latte drinkers seem to be more and more killing the atmosphere at games and this is yet another step down that road.

I know i sound a bit tinfoil-hat here but it just feels more and more that the game is being taken away from the match going fans to make sure everything is palatable to the sit at home TV audience and as i've said if this is allowed to pass then it wont be long before other clubs start doing the same thing and all stewards will be taking away banners or ejecting you from grounds for getting over excited

It's not tinfoil hat at all, mate. There is a definite move by the big clubs and UEFA/FIFA/FA to move the game away from working class lads and market the game to middle class families and customers that will attend for the big game "experience", but sit quietly politely watching or playing with their iPhone, and then spend money in the club shop and food outlets before quietly going home. These people are easier to placate, easier to deal with and cost less to police/steward. A sterile, PC-conscious and polite sport is also easier to market to advertisers and sponsors.

Money as always is the bottom line...they spend more.....or so the games leaders think
They are trying to do it with the Scum with their new stadium, gentrify....good luck with that one

[OneBardGooner]

All - Getting a call from the club tomorrow about the proposed meeting. Those that have already been in touch with me via email, I will contact to let them know what is happening. I have exchanged emails with the CEO up to this point. It looks like we may be fobbed off with Mark Brindle, the supporters liaison officer and Mark Gonella, director of communications for the meeting, but it is still important.

When IG told me after the AGM 'Let's have a meeting', I rather naively imagined he meant 'us' as in him and the affected fans. Anyway, he said we could have the stewards concerned there, so the main aim at this point is get agreement on what really happened at the Etihad, to find out what made the CEO inform the AGM that no Arsenal staff were involved in the confiscation of banners at City (if he was misinformed, I want him to be aware he is not getting the truth from his staff), agreement that there will be no repeat at away games, and agreement on what is permitted at home games (where Arsenal do have genuine authority).

If you had a banner confiscated at Manchester City, or witnessed first hand the procedure whereby others had their banners taken, and have not already been in touch, then email me - [email protected]

Good Luck at the meeting and do let us know what happens etc.

[DB10GOONER]

Has anyone an update on this? Did the meeting take place? If so, what was the outcome?

[OneBardGooner]

I spoke with Frank last week and he said 'Fuck All Came Of Any Of It".....- I get the feeling it was a pretend PR job by the club - Gazidis didn't even get involved.

Arsenal FC R.I.P

[DB10GOONER]

I spoke with Frank last week and he said 'Fuck All Came Of Any Of It".....- I get the feeling it was a pretend PR job by the club - Gazidis didn't even get involved.

Arsenal FC R.I.P

Yeah, from the beginning I was looking at it through my cynicism filter and the fucker was glowing red...