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Arsenal FC
Emirates Stadium
Away Fans
Away fans at the Emirates
Stadium are housed in
the lower tier of the South East corner.
The normal allocation for away fans will be 3,000 tickets, but this can be
increased for cup games. Although fans will have big padded seats and plenty
of leg room, the lower tier of the stadium is quite shallow (unlike the
upper tiers which have plenty of height between rows), meaning that the
view might not be as good as you would expect from a new stadium.
Entrance to the stadium
is by a 'smart
ticket', whereby rather than giving your ticket to a turnstile operator, you
enter it into a ticket reader to gain entry. This always confuses the away
fans, as although more clubs are installing this type of apparatus, it is
still in the minority. On my last visit, after being searched on entry,
the steward took my ticket and inserted it into the ticket reader for me,
which speeded up the process (which made sense as it is not clear on the
ticket as to which way it should be inserted).
The concourse inside is not that spacious, but just about adequate. There is quite a
choice of food on offer. Although pricey it looks pretty good and
includes;
Fish and chips (£5.90), Scottish Cheeseburger (£4), Hot Dog (£3.50), Balti Pie (£4), Minced
Beef & Onion Pie (£4), Roasted vegetables and cauliflower pie (£4) and
probably the best value a slice of pizza for £2.50. Alcohol is available in
the form of Fosters or John Smiths at £3.20 per pint. However the crowd of
fans that had formed into a scrum around the kiosk put me off even trying
to buy anything. It would have been nice if a proper queuing
system had been put in place. There are plenty of flat screen
televisions on the concourse to keep you entertained, plus there is a
Ladbroke betting facility.
I have been to the Emirates a couple of times now. The first was for an
international friendly, where I had tickets for the upper tier of the
stadium. I was very impressed all round with the stadium and had a great
day out. The second visit was as an away supporter seated in the visiting
section. On this visit I was less impressed with the Emirates. The whole
occasion just seemed as it was one big corporate event rather than a
football match. Plus the view was that not that great and afterwards you
almost questioned if the stadium did indeed hold 60,000, as the large gaps
in the corners below the stadium roof, gave the illusion that it is
smaller than what it is. The away fans are also located very close to the
home fans, which led to a fair amount of rather unsavoury banter.
On the positive side the stadium is indeed one of quality. It looks and
feels that it has not been 'built on the cheap' and is a 'cut above' most
other new stadiums built in this country. The atmosphere is okay and the
pitch even in January looked immaculate. On a lighter note look out for
the rather odd looking mascot called 'Gunnersaurus, which is not as you
would expect coloured red and white, but instead a bright green, fluffy looking
dinosaur.
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