i feel this needs a discussion.. our home support has been consistently poor in last 2-3 years.. which may be reflected in our bad form at home, while our team has managed good away results during this period..

our home support was very poor against Chelsea and Dortmund.. our supporters cheer only when the team is leading or playing that beautiful football.. it is practical to think that it cant happen everytime.. but they give up when we go a goal down, leave by 70-80 mins.. even 0-0 at halftime is met by boos and discontent.. while we have watched many of our rivals and some small clubs, who are in bad form and cant even dream to win anything, getting explosive home support at their homes which alone drives
their players..  and this season the fans dont have much excuse.. top of PL, top of CL and still the support is terrible.. a home game is supposed to hold a definite advantage, but we are not seeing any..

really appreciable that they are paying so high to watch Arsenal play.. but there is no use if they dont reflect that passion in home games..

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http://www.blackscarfafc.co.uk/1/post/2013/10/atmosphere-no-chance.html

^ about black scarf members trying to create an atmosphere and was backfired by stewards and stadium officials..

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from Arshavins interview...
"Was feeling within squad that we felt less like a team on home soil. It was like no advantage to playing at home.. Good seats, expensive tickets and they wanted to see a show - not to support team."
"atmosphere at the Emirates were mostly weird. It felt like the crowd was there to see at the theatre."

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/253031.html

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i have never watched Arsenal matches at Highbury..and i think our fans werent much different in Highbury too.. there is a saying like 'Highbury is like a library'.. probably must have to do with our home support then too..
and about the nature of our average fan.. i see most of our fans as people with too much class but less passion.. they come to watch some beautiful football than to cheer for the team.. and there is no question of being hostile to the visitors or even thinking about competing with the away fans, unless it is NLD.. although have to admit that England as in general is less hostile to visiting teams.. while other countries like Bernabu, Nou camp, Iduna Park, Alliance Arena, Turkey, Greece, etc are very hostile to visiting teams...

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What about our away fans outsinging every single ground they go at in the Premier League? It's the same among our rivals, Man Utd booed their team off the pitch against Stoke, Tottenham do it regularly (listen at AVB's latest rant), Stamford Bridge last season was even worse, not even going to talk Etihad lol.

We have the best home support among our rivals (Liverpool fans aside who are usually amazing in Anfield). So yeah compared to our rivals it's pretty good.

urbaNRoots wrote:What about our away fans outsinging every single ground they go at in the Premier League? It's the same among our rivals, Man Utd booed their team off the pitch against Stoke, Tottenham do it regularly (listen at AVB's latest rant), Stamford Bridge last season was even worse, not even going to talk Etihad lol.

We have the best home support among our rivals (Liverpool fans aside who are usually amazing in Anfield). So yeah compared to our rivals it's pretty good.

clearly mentioned that this discussion is directed towards the home support and the atmosphere at Emirates.. our away fans are consistently amazing...
i am not sure about the examples cited here.. just see the Palace match.. West Brom wasnt bad either.. we should atleast match them..
there may have been incidents at other clubs too.. but taking a longer period, our home fans have been poor without doubt.. and there is no excuse for such poor home support when we are enjoying the best start in the season for quite a while..

I mentioned our away fans because it shows that other clubs get outsinged in their stadium just like us do sometimes.

My point is not that our home support is amazing because it's not, my point is that it's on par with the home support of our rivals and that it's a general thing in stadiums of big clubs in England and not only our problem like you make it out to be.

Away fans amazing.

Home fans mostly not real home fans, rich people who can't be asked to sing. Sad but true.

The amount of factors that contribute to this make it near impossible that pinpoint the exact reasons why. All we know is that it is a problem, and not just with us. Just about every stadium in the Premier League has issues with inconsistent home support.

The first issue here is the level of expectation fans have when they enter the ground. At every top club, fans turn up fully anticipating the home side to comfortably beat the visiting side, regardless of form or troubles the home team might be experiencing at the time. I'm no psychologist so I can't exactly pinpoint why fans have this attitude, but I'd guess that paying £50+ for a ticket might have something to do with it, and the fact that media such as Sky turn football into a drama or a story. These days you're not paying for a football match anymore, but entertainment, and people want value for money. If they don't get it, they'll let you know about it.

If you go to a concert and the band on stage is absolutely rubbish, they get boo'd off. Football is like that nowadays.

You get groups of fans who want to come together and generate an atmosphere, but this isn't encouraged by the club or by other clubs around the country, perhaps because they're under pressure to maintain a certain standard of safety and comfort for the fans after the Hillsborough disaster and the Taylor Report, which deemed many stadiums unsafe. Other grounds around Europe allow fans to stand, they allow them to congregate together - some even have entire stands for them, like Dortmund's "wall" - and make noise and hold up murals and whatnot.

There's also a reciprocal bond between the fans and the team. While the team may feed off the fans' encouragement, the fans also feed off the performance of the team. You're asking fans to always give encouragement no matter what but that's hard to do when your team is passing the ball backwards and sideways for ten minutes not creating a single chance. I recall many Barcelona games under Guardiola where the Camp Nou was completely silent as they passed the ball about in deep areas. Villas-Boas recently criticised the Spurs fans for being the same way, but having watched how Spurs are playing this season it's understandable that Spurs fans wouldn't feel too hyped.

It links back to the whole entertainment thing again. Football clubs all over act like they're a business and, more often than not, treat fans like consumers and fans are becoming more and more like consumers every year. The only thing stopping them from becoming completely like a normal customer is their loyalty to a club, or brand. With any other product, if you don't like you just switch to another product, but in football if fans aren't liking Arsenal they don't go and support Man Utd or Man City.

So you get this weird thing where a fan isn't happy with the "product" he's paid to get, but will continue to "buy" that "product" anyway.

That's my take on the modern fan, anyway.

Barça fans are not really vocal at all, unless it's a very big game. That's why you probably say they create a great atmosphere, because you remember Arsenal knockouts. On a regular league night, you can shout from the third stand and the players will hear you. I've done that.

I think this happens to every big club. Welcome to the group.

Only people who have never actually been to a game live talk about poor home support. When you're tired, cramped and cold, it's difficult to sing for 90 minutes straight. The games I've been to had immense noise, singing and chanting

Thank you Lex for what needed to be said.

To the OP, you have no clue about the Dortmund game the fans were quality, Milan at home when we won 3-0, but were 4-0 down from the start home fans were immense, Napoli at home, there are plenty more. Watching the games on TV the fans level is reduced. The audio teams reduce the crowd levels so a) the commentary team can be heard and b) to block out the expletive chants from the crowd. Those who have been know what I'm talking about.

I'm not saying the Emirates is the greatest atmosphere but to label the support as poor is absurd. free_cat is bang on the money as well in regards to Barcelona, and another club with "great" atmosphere is Liverpool Anfield suffers from the same problem.

What needs to be done is to adopt the Crystal Palace model, get the hardcore in one section lower tier behind the goal blocks 7-10. Then you'll see atmosphere.

Furthermore though especially in the Arshavin era, Arsenal may have had more natural talent as a team than now but they were lazy. Tell me this you guys would be happy paying £50 just for the ticket to watch teams glide past the likes of Denilson, Nasri and Arshavin with no tackle in. A lot of the fans in the ground aren't as affluent as has been made out so that also adds to the frustration. Easy to criticise when you don't put money in.

Most of the Arsenal fans I know share the same thing if the players work hard then we'll support and applaud unequivocally. As I tend to sit lower tier the atmosphere is great.

Oh and Arshavin 2-1 win against Everton and Barcelona fans were immense just ask Cesc. You got your biggest cheer when you tracked back and slid in against Osman, because you worked hard. Maybe that's why fans struggled to back a collectively lazy team, that's why the fans love Giroud he may not be the most skilful but he gives everything on that pitch.

many nice points there in the discussion...

i have never been to an Arsenal match or any European match being from the opposite end of the world.. tbh, even if i am living in England i dont think i will have enough money to buy a season ticket unless i have a very good job there.. so may be restricted to occasional home matches here and there.. but one thing i think i will do is be vocal and try to lift the team when it is down than switching off.. i know it is very hard for regulars to do it consistently for every match and through years..
my point is that this season after a fantastic start, fans should give more to the players and manager.. and there have been occasions when the Emirates have been amazing.. Barca match, NLDs, etc..
but Milan match was the most special and acurae example.. we got trampled 0-4 at San Siro.. and nearly pulled back an astonishing comeback.. the fans were at business right from the first minute.. that certainly showed in the players game.. we put an amazing fight even without our full strength squad and lost only because we didnt have good bench strength when the starters ran out of steam.. Milan was literally shivering that day.. i crave for more of such days..

it is ordinary for the fans to get complacent in PL games playing lower clubs and expect easy wins.. but rival games and tough CL games against sides like Dortmund are expected to be competed at a high level with Milan game like home atmosphere.. that is what creates that vital home advantage in CL fixtures.. we have been lacking it..

and watching in TV you can analyse only the vocal support from what you hear and comparing between the home support of different clubs.. i am sure we will be in the last 5 spots among the 20 PL clubs..
and there is no reason why only the away fans voice to be broadcasted loudly and home fans voice to be nullified..
and words from Arshavin who has played in the first team for quite long at Arsenal cannot be dismissed easily.. no need to bash him questioning his lazy attitude and workrate.. he is not talking about the support he receives, but about the home support and atmosphere in general..

http://talksport.com/magazine/big-picture/2011-08-25/loudest-fans-premier-league-revealed-where-does-your-club-rank?p=10

It's a proven fact that Northern Clubs make more noise then Southern clubs it's been tested by decibel meters several times and that's the argument that Northern fans are more passionate then Southern fans, Hence the massive success of Utd & Pool.

The best atmosphere i've ever seen at the Emirates was when we beat Barcelona 2-1

Atmosphere was brilliant tonight

^What RG said. Almost got me singing along in my house

RealGunner wrote:Atmosphere was brilliant tonight

Nah I heard some sections of the crowd stop singing for about two minutes before half time. Terrible support

lol @Lex..
the atmosphere was great tonight.. hope it remains the same..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2485471/Next-generation-danger-priced-game-Gary-Neville-column.html

Excellent article from Gary Neville on this matter...

that is another vaild reason pointed out .. the avg age of our home fan is 42.. !!
so it may also have to do with high prices forcing out youngsters who have less economic reserves..

^^^great point.

Though the atmosphere was rocking last Saturday against Liverpool. Hope it remains like this. It certainly helps having thousands of your fans singing and chanting their heart outs for 90 mins than just some silent boring old shit.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/08/arsenal-arsene-wenger-ferguson-manchester-united

At Old Trafford, he continued, it was not just the manager who could influence decisions. "The pressure comes from the crowd as well. They go for every ball and put the referee under pressure. That happens more in the north than in the south. You know when you go to Sunderland the crowd plays every ball. When you go to Everton the crowd plays every ball. Then in London the crowd is a bit more relaxed."

Wenger trying to put it in the smoothest way..