Arsenal F.C. supporters

Arsenal Football Club in North London is one of the most widely supported clubs in English football. Arsenal FC supporters are often nicknamed Gooners - a derivation from "The Gunners", a nickname for the team itself.

Demographics

Arsenal have a large and generally loyal fanbase, with virtually all home matches selling out; in 2007–08 Arsenal had the second-highest average League attendance for an English club (60,070, which was 99.5% of available capacity), [cite web | url=http://www.tonykempster.co.uk/prematt.htm?comp=1 | title=Attendances 2007/08 | author=Kempster, Tony | accessdate=2008-08-11 ] and as of 2006, the fourth-highest all-time average attendance. [cite web

url=http://www.nufc.com/html/attendance-all-time.html
title=All Time League Attendance Records
work=Nufc.com
accessdate=2008-08-11

Please note that some pre-war attendance figures used by this source were estimates and may not be entirely accurate.] The club's location, adjoining both wealthy areas such as Canonbury and Barnsbury, mixed areas such as Islington, Holloway and Highbury, and the adjacent London Borough of Camden, and largely working class areas such as Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington has meant that Arsenal's supporters have come from across the usual class divides. In addition, Arsenal have the highest proportion (7.7%) of non-white attending supporters of any club in English football, according to a 2002 report. [cite news
title=Soccer violence declining say fans
work=BBC News
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/1844962.stm
date=2002-02-27
accessdate=2008-08-11

]

In recent times, a supporter's attachment to a football club has become less dependent on geography, and Arsenal now have many fans not just from London but all over England and the world. While there have always been small pockets of supporters abroad, Arsenal's support base has widened considerably with the advent of satellite television, and there are now significant supporters' clubs worldwide. A 2005 report by Granada Ventures, which at the time owned a 9.9% stake in the club, estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million, the third largest in the world. [cite web
title=Arsenal FC - the Premiership’s fastest growing football brand
publisher=Granada Ventures
url=http://www.granadaventures.co.uk/newsdocs/doc28.doc
date=2005-08-05
accessdate=2008-08-11

]

upporters clubs and fanzines

Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Official Arsenal Football Supporters Club, which is affiliated with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association, which maintains an independent line. There is also the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, which promotes greater participation in ownership of the club by fans. The club's supporters also publish fanzines such as "The Gooner", "Highbury High", "Gunflash" and the less cerebral "Up The Arse!". There are also many online fanzines and weblogs bar any from the official website, operating outside of the club's actual management.

ongs

In addition to the usual English football chants, Arsenal's supporters sing "One-Nil to the Arsenal" (to the tune of "Go West") and "Boring, Boring Arsenal", which used to be a common taunt from opposition fans but is now sung ironically by Arsenal supporters when the team is playing well. [cite news |

url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,353528,00.html
title=Boring, Boring Arsenal
work=Time
date=2002-09-22
author=Noble, Kate
accessdate=2008-08-11 ] Gooners are unique,Fact|date=August 2008 in that they have their own club band, called the Arsenal Away Boyz, who rewrite already popular songs to the praise of players, the manager or even other fans. In 2007, they released their first album, "Redness".

Another Arsenal band being The Riders Of The Night, a Punk / Alternative / Trip Hop band who have a great following amongst the Arsenal supporters, Their latest CD entitled B'jesus said paddy is on sale now. Check them out at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=97107195 [http://www.arsenal-world.co.uk/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=349365]

Rivalries

Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur, with matches between the two being referred to as North London derbies. Matches against other London sides, such as Chelsea and West Ham United are also derbies, but the rivalry is not as intense as that between Arsenal and Tottenham. In addition, Arsenal and Manchester United have had a strong on-pitch rivalry since the late 1980s, which has intensified in recent years when both clubs have been competing for the Premier League title. [cite web

url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=109924.html
title=The Classic: Arsenal-Manchester Utd
work=FIFA.com
date=2007-01-17 ]
In order of the strength of rivalry, Arsenal supporters most dislike Manchester United, followed by Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea F.C., although both Chelsea and Spurs fans see Arsenal as their main rival. [http://www.footballfanscensus.com/issueresults/Club_Rivalries_Uncovered_Results.pdf]

Police and community relations

Arsenal supporters enjoy good relations with police forces around the country and especially the Metropolitan Police.Specify|date=August 2008 The club and authorities work closely together to police Gooners, with both using their available powers where necessary. [https://www.islington.gov.uk/Council/CouncilNews/PressOffice/2008/08/3456.asp] In addition, Arsenal Football Club has the highest percentage of re-imbursing police costs for match days out of all English football clubs, helping maintain relations.Fact|date=August 2008

However, Arsenal fans have had confrontations with the police, the most recent being over homophobic chants and materials directed at ex-Arsenal left-back
Ashley Cole. [http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3218.html] Gooners have also been accused of anti-semitism, due to local rivals Tottenham Hotspur fans using the moniker "Yid Army".Fact|date=August 2008

List of Famous Gooners

Below is a list of people who have identified themselves as Gooners:

* Reggie Yates
*Queen Elizabeth II [http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-450089/The-Queen-self-confessed-Arsenal-fan.html]
*Prince Harry [http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-450089/The-Queen-self-confessed-Arsenal-fan.html]
*Phil Tufnell
*Nick Hornby
*Melvyn Bragg
*John Lydon
*Lewis Hamilton
*Clive Anderson
*Ian Poulter
*Kevin Costner
*Steve Earle
*Piers Morgan [http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/arsene-wenger-success--i-make-it-i-wont-buy-it-906388.html]
*Dido
*Rachel Stevens
*Sharleen Spiteri
*Joan Collins
*Alan Davies
*Tamzin Outhwaite
*Jesse Wallace
*Gerard Horan
*Nicholas Farrell
*Gwyneth Strong
*David Soul
*Gillian Anderson
*Kathy Burke
*Saffron Burrows
*Jamie Bell
*Douglas Adams
*Sarah Michelle Gellar [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001264/bio]
*Freddie Prinze Jr.
*Alan Parker
*Michael Moore [http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/oct/04/michaelmoore.features]
*Spike Lee [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1517184,00.html]
*David Frost
*Rory McGrath
*Paulo Coelho
*Dermot Murnaghan
*Lisa Rogers
*Matthew Wright
*Dermot O'Leary
*Davina McCall
*Ronnie O'Sullivan
*Henry Cooper
*Frankie Dettori
*Damon Hill
*Kelly Holmes
*Mark Ramprakash
*Ronnie Biggs
*Edward Heath
*Chris Patten
*Alicia Markova
*Robert Winston [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010628/ai_n14399455]
*George Carey [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/1267035.stm]
*Jonathan Sacks [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20070424/ai_n19032430]
*Matt Lucas
*Kate Lawler
*Roger Daltrey who also wrote and performed a song for the last game at Highbury in May 2006 called Highbury Highs
*Paul Kaye and also regular Arsenal Magazine Contributor
*Ainsley Harriot
*Nicole Appleton
*Barbara Windsor
*Ruby Wax
*Harry Redknapp

External links

* [http://www.arsenalsupportersclub.co.uk/ Arsenal Supporters Club]
* [http://www.aisa.org/ Arsenal Independent Supporters Association]
* [http://www.arsenaltrust.org/ Arsenal Supporters' Trust]

Notes and references