For years, Arsenal have been a steady ship that has repeatedly hit financial targets, and have nicely prepared themselves for the upcoming financial fair play rules. Despite other teams around them such as Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea throwing millions of pounds at players, the Gunners have held back, saved their money and have been tactical with their spending. But the one thing Arsenal haven’t done in the last eight years that the three teams listed above have, is lift the Premier League trophy.
Yet year after year, the club are still guided to the Champions League by manager Arsene Wenger. Despite not spending anywhere near the amount that their rivals have, the Frenchman has ensured the club will play in Europe’s top-flight competition every year. Unfortunately for Wenger, you don’t get a trophy for finishing in the top four. In fact Arsenal have watched Chelsea, United, City and Spurs lift a combined 18 major trophies since they themselves touched a piece of silverware.
But still, every year, Wenger has decided that his supposedly title-challenging club will save money, and not spend it. Despite reportedly getting £25million for qualifying for the Champions League, fans rarely see that money go anywhere. According to transferleague, the Gunners have a net total of £33.5million from buying and selling players since they last won a trophy. That money includes the sale of big name players such as; Viera, Henry, Cole, Nasri, Fabregas, Song and Robin van Persie.
Compare that figure over time to Manchester United, who unlike City or Chelsea, haven’t had a sudden burst of financial help that has led to a spending spree, but instead a steady, wealthy background. In the same time period, United’s net total is -£88.4million, and that includes the £80million they received for the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo. United have won the Premier League four times in that spell, and are about to make it five. Now of course they can spend more because they have more than Arsenal, but the key is how they use their money. United have spent lots of money on signing key players. In that time they signed players that have won them titles and paid off their price tag. Plus there are players such as; Van der Sar, Vidic, Evra, Hernandez, Tevez and Rafael, who were all signed for less than seven digits. Making a total of just £32million, Arsenal spent that same amount to bring in the combination of Gervinho, Mertesacker and Giroud.
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So as well as spending big on top, proven players, United have also signed some bargains, something Wenger has been fantastic at doing in the past. The difference between the two is results. United have won trophies, while Arsenal have been far from looking anywhere near as good as their old rivals. The Gunners have only reached three cup finals in that time. Twice losing the League Cup final, most recent of which was their embarrassing defeat to Birmingham City, who were later relegated that season, and a Champions League defeat at the hands of Barcelona, which is nothing to be ashamed of. But Arsenal’s three final appearances are nothing compared to United’s seven, or Chelsea’s eight in the same time. And that is only cup final appearances, and doesn’t include finishing second in the league.
So it’s confirmed, Arsenal’s stingy financial tactics haven’t helped them in the league, and they haven’t sacrificed their title challenge for a great cup run either. Their willingness to sell their best players, coupled with their tight-fisted attitude to buying proven talent, has led to far too many players being signed for big fees that have struggled to exceed their expectations, surrounded by young players who have potential, but lack any experience or leadership around them on the field. And in this 8th season Arsenal will go without a trophy, the club once again face a fight to qualify for the Champions League. So why on earth are fans having to pay so much money to watch their beloved team fall short of their successful expectations.
In a BBC survey earlier this season, comparing the cheapest and most expensive season tickets and match-day tickets fans could buy for each team, the numbers looked bad for the Gunners. Despite only charging £26 for the cheapest match-day ticket, which is £2 below the league average, Arsenal were found to be at times more than twice the league average in the other categories. The most expensive match-day ticket average comes to £57.95, but at Arsenal some fans would have to pay £126 to watch their team, more than double the league average. It gets worse for Arsenal supporters. The average cheapest season ticket costs £467.95, but Arsenal’s cheapest has the price tag of £985 labelled to it, again more than twice the league median. And then to top it off, the league’s most expensive season ticket on average costs a fan £865.42. Arsenal want a staggering £1955. 2.25 times more expensive. It’s not all bad news for Arsenal fans though – they didn’t have the most expensive pie.
But it’s still baffling how Arsenal can charge so much money, when the club have regularly failed to meet the standards they set just 10 years ago. Manchester United were only charging roughly £80 more than the average for both the cheapest and most expensive season tickets, with the most pricey at United costing £950, £1000 less than at the Emirates. So why should fans have to pay £1000 more to watch their team miss out on four Premier League titles, two League Cups and one Champions League that United fans get to see.
It’s not only Arsenal fans that have to pay high prices at the Emirates. Manchester City returned 900 tickets to Arsenal this season, after their fans were charged £62 in order to watch the game at the ground. That price doesn’t include travel costs, as well as food and drink. So why are Arsenal fans happy to pay such high prices to watch their team struggle to finish in the top 4, while their rivals enjoy battling it out for the Premier League title? Despite running a reduced price scheme in the Capital One Cup, where tickets have been as low as £10 for adults and £5 for children, their demands for fans on a regular basis in the Premier League is extremely high for the level of results and success they have had during the time.
Wenger and the board may well be preparing for strict financial rules to come into play in the near future, but surely as a club they shouldn’t be allowed to demand such high fees every week, before finishing the season well short of where they used to, and then to sell their best players in the transfer window? And what happens if Arsenal don’t qualify for the Champions League this season? Will the club then reduce their ticket prices, as fans aren’t seeing the standard of football they used to? Or is the more likely answer that prices would go up further in order to help soften the blow on the £25million the club had budgeted for, but didn’t receive due to finishing outside the top four?
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Arsenal are a club built on success and passion, with a fantastic history of incredible players. But now the London club is well away from such a golden time, and owe the fans some sort of return. The club should be desperate to recreate their elite years, and should be using this money to bring in some star players, and rebuild the club once more. Not charging fans an enormous rate to watch their team scrape into the Champions League for another year, with Europa League football becoming a more and more genuine possibility every season.
Fans should be charged high amounts to see the best, not to reminisce on how it used to be. The club may well be paying off stadium debts or planning ahead, but if they aren’t careful they won’t be able to attract the players necessary to save them from plummeting down the pecking order.
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