Black Scarf Movement

"In recent times, many Arsenal supporters have been feeling more and more alienated by the club they love. Whether they've been priced out of going to watch their beloved Arsenal, become fed up with the lies fed to them by the Board, or disappointed that the huge sums of money they pay in ticket prices are not reinvested into the team, it's obvious that we need to get something back."

...

"Well, any Arsenal fan who knows his/her stuff will know that the latest club crest caused a lot of controversy when it was forced upon us. Images of the new crest were paraded around Highbury before our game with Southampton in February 2002, to loud booing as well as chants of "What a load of rubbish" and "What the f**king hell is that?".  However, the Board were still inside munching on their smoked salmon canapes so wouldn't have heard the very vocal response. They did later state that they'd liaised with a supporters group in the design stages, however to this day nobody knows who was on that supposed panel.

The new crest had ditched the club's motto 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' but by far the biggest crime to most fans was turning the cannon round and facing it the other way. To the vast majority of proud Arsenal supporters this was unforgivable... it was like tearing down Big Ben and replacing it with an upside-down version. It was like reversing the colours of the Union Jack. It was something we felt should be untouchable."

...

"We’ve got to this point because the game is cleverly marketed as out-and-out entertainment; a bit like going to the theatre which is now commonly used as a comparison to football. Some of us take strong issue with that perception of the game’s culture, as we see football as a way of life, not a privilege where you have to pick and choose which games you go to."

Read more here:- Where has our Arsenal gone?

Football For Fans - Not For TV

Spanish fans protest television schedule which has games kicking off at 11pm on Monday nights (August 2012).

Bukaneros (Rayo Vallecano) - "No to Monday football"

Riazor Blues (Deportivo La Coruna) - "We hate modern football, we hate television"

 

Frente Atletico (Atletico Madrid) - "Thieves, Bastards and Sons of Bitches"

  

Palace v Cardiff

HF05 tell it like it is:

Affordable Football

Auckland City FC Season Tickets now available.

Prices are unchanged from last season:

Season Tickets - $50

Match Day ticket prices are also unchanged:

Adult - $10

Senior Citizen - $5

Children 15 & Under - free

Makes you quite proud really.  At those prices no-one is excluded from being part of this club of ours and no-one is excluded from experiencing a great day out at the football.

Read more here:- Season Ticket prices confirmed

Season Ticket application forms here:- Auckland City FC tickets

Created by Immigrants - Refugees Welcome

"Auckland City opens its pre-season preparations with its annual friendly showdown with a Refugee XI at the Croatian Cultural Club this Sunday...

City coach Ramon Tribulietx said the match promoted the club’s community profile and helped build stronger relationships with Auckland’s diverse migrant population for whom football is a passion.  "Auckland City is aware of the social situation in our community and we are very happy to give our support in a positive way," he said."

ACFC v Refugee XI - McLeod Road, Henderson, Sunday 30 September, 2pm

Read more here:- City start with All Refugee hit out

Alerta Network:- www.alerta-network.org

Punk is not dead

"FC United are perhaps the UK football scene’s best example of ‘punk football’, although you could argue that non-league football is becoming a burgeoning punk scene in itself. Punk music was formed as a rebellion against the commercialism of music; many football fans are now turning their back on the inflated ticket prices, expensive merchandising and the ‘modern era’ of post 1992 football and spending their hard-earned cash at their local non-league teams, where they can buy a season ticket for the price of two match tickets."

Read more here:- Anarchy in the United: 'Punk Football' and FC United

a grass-roots club dies

"...[i]ncreasingly people want success, and it will appear they'll take it at any cost.  As seen by the ‘experiment’ at Rovers, and the rebranding of Cardiff City, just the promise of success, no matter how flimsy, is enough to make many tuck their morals away in a drawer and tug their forelocks for the new lords of the manor.  I just can’t relate to that.  Of course people will say “well, that’s football”, but every time you say that a grass-roots club dies.

...

You can have success without relentlessly going on about the need for income to compete.  In the past year Worcester, Rossington and the Belles have seen crowds increase significantly, and it has come from striving to engage with the community, of encouraging their population to be part of what they’re doing.  And, as a result, I have found much greater enjoyment these past twelve months with them, and I felt a part of their triumphs much more than I felt part of Rovers’ wins.

The new season is now a month away, and for the first time in years I am finding it really hard to get excited about watching my team again.  I ceased to have any more than a passing interest in football’s top flight years ago, and now Rovers are starting to slip into the same pigeon-hole in which I’ve long placed the Premier League, of being an unrelatable by-product of a sport I still love."

Read more here:- Out of Love - On finding it hard to follow your club