News and Events

AGM Reports

December 17, 2024

Retiring Chair, Liam Crowter’s report
As I present this report, it is with a sense of gratitude and reflection that I announce my
decision to step down as Chair of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association (AISA). It
has been an immense privilege to serve in this role and work alongside such a dedicated
team of committee members and volunteers.
Despite challenges in the wider supporter landscape, AISA has maintained a strong and
committed membership base. There are a number of ongoing or upcoming initiatives which
have been started by the committee over the past year:
● AISA’s partnership with Arsenal in the Community to support the Foodbank initiative
has been a highlight, reinforcing our commitment to social responsibility.
● We initiated plans to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Herbert Chapman
becoming Arsenal Manager, reflecting AISA’s dedication to preserving and
celebrating our club’s heritage. Thanks to Tony Attwood and the Arsenal History
Society for his ongoing and past work on preserving and highlighting the club’s
history.
● AISA has committed to addressing hate crimes in football, positioning this as a key
campaign moving into 2025.
● Our representatives have continued to be active in the Arsenal Advisory Board
(AAB), Football Supporters Association (FSA), and other key forums. We’ve ensured
that issues like ticket pricing, supporter safety, and diversity remain central to our
dialogue with the Club.
● AISA’s financial position remains strong, with reserves enabling us to expand our
initiatives and plan ambitious events.
○ Some planned events, such as a planned event with players from the
Women’s team, encountered scheduling difficulties. Moving forward the
committee has set up subcommittees to organise more rapidly on event
organisation and media communication moving forward
○ Although renewal rates were encouraging, increasing overall membership
numbers remains a priority, supported in part by converting associate
members to full members.
As I step down, I am confident in the ability of the incoming Chair and committee to continue
AISA’s important work. Key priorities for the coming year should include:
● Expanding our outreach to younger supporters and underrepresented groups, as well
as geographically, looking outside of our core supporter base in North London.
● Strengthening partnerships with Arsenal Women’s Football Club and other
community initiatives.
● Increasing our presence on social media to enhance engagement and visibility.
As I hand over the reins, I leave with a deep sense of pride in what we have achieved
together. AISA’s commitment to representing Arsenal supporters’ voices is unwavering, and I
am excited to see what the future holds under new leadership.
Liam Crowter

MEETING OUTCOMES

Everyone currently on the committee was reelected. Kate Lucas was added as our social media lead. Drew Gray was selected as the new chair again.

There followed a long and fascinating open discussion on how AISA operates and communicates – becoming a real social evening and it was far more productive than many straitjacketed AGMs. We will publish minutes here in due course, but perhaps we should consider infilling socials like this between celebrity events.

Meantime, our thanks to the Gunners pub for hosting the event and supplying us with a plentiful supply of drinks on the house. We should meet there more often!

YOUR MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE

December 10, 2024

BUKAYO…… BUKAYO….. BUKAYO…..

You will have noticed the new way of introducing the teams inside the stadium and naming Arsenal goal scorers. First name, pause for crowd to roar back the surname. Repeat twice.

It’s taking a while for people to catch on. Reactions from some suggest it hasn’t caught on at all! It was tried for the first time at the women’s match vs Aston Villa, with very mixed responses, many of them hostile. And they had four goals to get used to it! But the club is going to give it a long trial period. It quotes reactions to Angel (‘North London Forever) and how it took time to grow on people but is now embedded into the pre-match ritual.

It’s all part of the club’s intention to improve the atmosphere inside te ground, hopefully helping motivate the players and improve supporters’ matchday experience. Did you see how against Man U the flares and the lighting effects were more ambitious? That’s just a start!

(Picture – Arthur Sycamore)

The plan is to be increasingly innovative. It was one of the outcomes of supporters’ groups like ours being asked what we would like to happen to help to raise the roof. There is now a team inside the club that is looking at finding new, exciting and effective ways of turning the stadium bowl into a cauldron for the opposition. ‘Welcome to North London’ it says on the outside of the stadium. Inside, be afraid of what our team can do to yours!

All this was revealed at a recent meeting of a supporters’ group where the club shared its plans for the matchday experience.

There was some discussion about the re-match ‘music’. The word is in inverted commas here as many of the people present at the meeting do not like the rap, ‘shouty’ stuff that is currently used. AISA had, some weeks back, reported that the volume was not only making conversation impossible as you arrived at your seat, but it was also ear-splittingly loud. The club has since responded and turned it down but gradually building as kick-off approaches, leading up to the crescendo as the players arrive on the pitch.

The question remained, what arrival music is preferable? The outcome was not to pick individual songs or styles but for the club to investigate themes – perhaps selections made by the players. Perhaps this could be extended to supporters’ groups choices….

Should the screens have the lyrics of songs, to help us sing along? There was a feeling it’d be a bit cheesy (follow the bouncing ball, anybody?!) But they’re still looking for ideas. Got any?

The club reported that it had upgraded the systems for the visually impaired, with improved audio description (as opposed to a commentary). They also feel the beer wall and general service of alcohol is an improvement. Those present were not entirely convinced, the mobile units remaining a favourite way of getting a tipple top-up! The club and the caterers continue to look for improvements, but the sudden rush at half-time does demand pre-pouring if service is not to be even slower. The club is proud of the free water dispensers it has installed. Have you noticed them?

Hopes of more ‘greet the players’ sessions came with a caution. With many hundreds of supporters’ groups across the world, the club invites a group to every match, and the player greet comes as a part of it. So we were advised to be realistic about how often we can offer this to our members.

If you wonder what’s going on with the signs around the side of the stadium’s exterior (seen below the ‘Welcome to North London image above), well, not a lot. Materials are being tested but the biggest constraint at the moment is the budget for this piece of work. Mind, if you arrive at the stadium only for matches, chances are you’ve not really noticed them. Have you? Let us know.

One constant bone of contention. also not resolved, is regarding wifi and mobile signals. The club is intending to improve the signal so there is better phone connectivity with the outside world….but wifi is not a priority, not least because of the complexity of reaching across such a large area and high demand.

The next meeting is in 2025. But if you have any match-day issues, please let us know. Contact us below or mailto:[email protected]g.

ANYTHING BUGGING YOU ON MATCHDAYS?

November 28, 2024

AISA is part of a group discussing the ‘matchday exerience’, and we ‘re meeting the club this coming Monday. In the past few weeks, we’ve raised the volume of the pre-match music – well, strictly we lowered it! We told the club how many of you had complained it was too loud in some parts of the stadium (in fact, it was at a level that could cause deafness if endured for several minutes) and they’ve taken note. It’s been much improved since then.

We also asked them to increase the size of the text on the screens, which they have done.

But is there anything that’s troubling you? Please let us know as soon as possible, so we can bring it up at our meeting. Please reply below or email us at [email protected]. We’ll ket yoiu know what the club has to say.