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For the past few seasons, it has been a running joke amongst football fans that the atmosphere generated by the Arsenal fans at Highbury is so quiet that the ground is almost like a library. In many big games and at crucial stages, players such as Freddie Ljungberg have resorted to throwing their arms in the air in an effort to get the crowd on their feet, but with only limited success. However with The Emirates Stadium only 15 months away, the club seem to think they have a solution to this and one which they think will improve the team’s results.
A couple of weeks ago, Arsenal reserves played Portsmouth at Barnet FC behind closed doors, in a game which appeared to be arranged at the last minute. This led to speculation from Arsenal fans that maybe the club had a superstar on trial, one which may be able to inject some energy into Arsenal’s stuttering season. However upon seeing the team line ups it became clear that this was not the case, as Arsenal’s line up contained the regular bunch of reserve players. So why did the club go to all this trouble to keep the fans out? Well we can exclusively reveal the reason – the club were experimenting with piping in recorded crowd noise.
Recently we were approached by one of Portsmouth’s reserve players, who wishes to remain anonymous, and he confirmed the nature of the experiment. At strategic places around the stadium, loud speakers were placed and the recordings were pumped in. Then at various stages of the game the noise was changed accordingly, for example when Arsenal were on the offensive the noise of a frenzied crowd was played, whereas when Arsenal were under the cosh themselves chants of “COME ON ARSENAL!” were heard. Furthermore when a Pompey player made a somewhat cumbersome challenge the “fans” burst into “OFF! OFF! OFF!” Whether “WHO ATE ALL THE PIES” or “SHE FELL OVER” were played is at stage undetermined.
The Portsmouth player who approached us was completely overwhelmed by the experiment though.
“It was incredible. Visibly there were no fans but it sounded like Fratton Park at its loudest! Whoever was controlling it sure knew what they were doing, it was like every crowd noise was designed to put us off and get behind them. They even had traditional fan songs playing! If this is implemented in Premiership games it could be an amazing 12th man for them.”
Upon further investigation, it would appear that Arsenal will start to embed the necessary speakers into the stadium as soon as possible and the plan application could even be made to the Premier League as soon as Friday the 1st of April. Before going ahead with this radical plan the club must seek FA approval, but with David Dein’s influence it is expected this is a formality. However, despite the apparent success of the experiment the fans who will actually be in the stadium are divided. We asked a few fans who were buying tickets from the box office today about it and this is what they had to say:
“I think this is ridiculous. We already have an unfair reputation of being the quietest support in the league but what are we to say now when we have that thrown at us. Our own board is basically saying the same thing!”
Jim from Clerkenwell
“If this helps the team I am all for it. The most important thing is the results on the pitch and if the fans have to suffer a bit then I for one do not care.”
Arnold from Hendon
“Typical Arsenal, great on the pitch, no idea off the pitch, I do wonder if they care about the fans’ feelings at all …”
Rishi from Holloway
“Being from Scandinavia my wife and I do not get to many games, so really the atmosphere does not matter to us. As long as the team are winning we are happy.”
Palri Olof from Norway
Strangely there was also a Chelsea fan on Avenell Road this morning, though he was just passing through. However, he was more than happy to give this somewhat bullish comment:
“Says it all about your club really, plastic fans for a plastic stadium. It’s well known amongst Chelsea fans that you are a small time club who would dream of having a fanbase and history like ours! I may have only been a Blue for 15 months but we have more achievement and real history here than you have EVER had! With Henry leaving for Barca, us winning the Treble this season and Beckham signing for Spurs you will be a distant third in the Best Side in London stakes next season. And you can quote me on that!”
Peter K from Surrey
Well, at least he does not have a chip on his shoulder …
When asked to comment on this story the club would not comment, but if we hear anything more about this breaking development we will keep you updated as and when.
