This is one of the weirdest bits of Arsenal news this week. It has been revealed that the Gunners have decided to risk getting jet-lag this weekend by taking a plane from Luton Airport to Norfolk ahead of this Premier League fixture, and it may affect our players co-ordination in the match. No, but seriously…..
The flight is set to last all of 14 minutes according to the red-top the Sun, who are coming over all indignant over it. I should think it would take a lot longer trying to squash their hand luggage into the overhead compartments, never mind going through visa control to get out of London!
A spokesperson, Ella Gilbert, for some group that no-ones ever heard of, Plane Stupid, has been quoted as saying: “Having lived in Norwich and Finsbury Park, I can tell you this is a distance that you can do in two hours by train, without fuelling climate change. This is ridiculous.
“I’m a life-long Gooner so I’m used to being occasionally embarrassed by my team, but I prefer them to wait until after kick-off before humiliating their supporters.”
“Don’t fly to Norwich, the Canaries aren’t worth it.”
Did you see what she did there? Canaries (Norwich) compared to canaries (birds)?
Okay so a train journey may only take a couple of hours, but when you think how many flights Arsenal take every month, I think that this one will do a lot less damage to the environment than most of their journeys. Maybe after the Sunderland game next weekend maybe they could leave straight away to get the EuroTunnel train across to Europe and spend three days getting to Athens?
I personally can totally understand why Wenger could have an aversion to catching trains back from matches, especially after the scenes that happened at Stoke Station not long ago, but to risk jetlag from a 14 minute journey is pushing the boat out (Geddit!)
And to be honest, you know if Arsenal took the coach they would be delayed behind a few tractors on those one-lane roads in Norfolk, so it is a lot safer to fly. Anyway, Wenger has quite clearly given the reasons for flying. He said: “We will fly to Norwich on Saturday night after having dinner at the training ground.
“When we made the decision there was some road work planned. Sometimes the access to Norwich is difficult. So we decided to fly. We do not fly a lot any more. We take a train or coach. This is an exception.”
I am all for doing your bit to save the environment, but if you really want to do something about it then try and get the amount of Champions League fixtures reduced, or better still, ban the Europa League altogether! How many millions of air miles would that save the world….
I’m used to being embarrassed by some Arsenal supporters after a game, but to complain about the way they get to the match is just too much. Get a grip!