Just in case any Gooners missed the news, there will be no away fans when Bayern Munich visit Arsenal in April.
That was because a minority of Bayern fans threw fireworks onto the pitch in Rome earlier this month, having been given a suspended one match ban on selling away tickets after a similar offence in Copenhagen.
There will be Germans who live in London who will no doubt test the ground’s security by trying to sneak into the home end, but even so that won’t generate the vocal backing that Germany’s champions would normally receive.
In 2017, Frankfurt was in a similar position forcing Arsenal in the build up to a UEFA CUP tie to ban their ticket exchange options on their website while putting a freeze on anyone signing up to become a member.
Thousands of Frankfurt supporters were not subtle about their intentions, rocking up in North London to cause safety concerns for the police.
Arsenal will be under pressure to avoid a similar repeat.
To win any cup, you need an element of luck you can’t control. For the majority of its existence, I wouldn’t credit the atmosphere at the Emirates for being able to dictate a result. Yet in the last couple of years Mikel Arteta has fixed the relationship between Gooners and Gunners with our stadium louder than ever.
With the prospect of extra time and/or penalties, it’s a shame the 2nd leg wasn’t in the Capital of England. Imagine Harry Kane and friends having to take spot kicks in front of 60,000 red and white shirts.
Arsenal has permission to fill the section of the venue normally allocated for away fans. In other words, the chance of me and you getting a ticket increases. This is welcome news to anyone who hasn’t been successful since the club adopted a controversial ballot system.
I question the data that has been reported claiming the majority of customers who have applied for each game have been successful at least once.
I haven’t!
Which means essentially, I’m paying once a year for me and my friend to have our names put on a hat. That wasn’t what I was promised a decade ago when I set up my Direct Debit.
In 2014, Wigan sent back tickets when they couldn’t sell all of their tickets for their cup semi-Final at Wembley. The FA offered more tickets to Arsenal who in turn made the extra seats exclusive to red members only. Hopefully the same might happen again.
What do you think peeps?
Will the ban impact the result of the 1st leg?
Dan
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