Arsenal fans' group
writes to Gazidis
detailing 'deep concern'


over state of club
The Black Scarf Movement issues the
Gunners' chief executive with a
damning open letter after perceived
transfer failures saw the north
Londoners beaten by Aston Villa on
Saturday
By George Ankers
Aug 18, 2013 12:39:00 PM
A group of
disgruntled Arsenal
fans have written
an open letter to
chief executive Ivan
Gazidis, expressing
their "deep
concern" with the
state of the club.
The Gunners' 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa
on the opening day of the Premier
League season prompted the move,
with a failure to act in the transfer
market chief among the worries held
by the Black Scarf Movement .
The open letter in full:
Dear Ivan,
We write to you as Arsenal's largest
and fastest-rowing supporters' group,
to convey our deep concern at the
current state of our team going into
the new season.
In early June, around season ticket
renewal time, you were widely quoted
following your Q&A event where you


spoke about the club's new financial
firepower and ambition moving
forward. Many fans saw this as the
club finally about to break free from
the shackles of moving stadium; new
commercial deals were coming into
place, we had a vast amount of cash
available in the bank, profit from the
Queensland Road property project
was secured, the vast increase in TV
revenue was about to land on our
doorstep, and after treading water
since moving from Highbury it seemed
as if we were finally going to push on.
What has happened since then is
nothing short of a disgrace.
There have been noises coming out of
the club over the summer that the
market was slow, that other clubs

weren't doing much, and that things
take time if you're after top-quality
players. We feel all of these were poor
excuses, designed to deflect focus
away from our shortcomings.
The only positive of the summer has
been the release of many players who
were generally considered 'dead wood'
– and naturally this frees up more
cash for investment in the team. But
with the departure of these players,
virtually no movement has come in
the opposite direction and we're now
left with a squad severely lacking in
depth and experience. Indeed, the
squad registered for the Champions
League in the last week had to be
padded out with kids.
As a group we have been concerned
for some time that the Board running
our club has lost sight of the raison
d'etre - i.e. we are Arsenal Football
Club; not a business purely focused
on posting profits year after year.
You will have seen the results of our
end-of-season survey, which came out
in favour of Arsene Wenger but with
70 per cent stating that he has too
much control over transfer
negotiations and setting of wage
levels at the club. The same survey
revealed that 87% of fans feel the
current board of Arsenal is out of
touch with the feeling among fans
and that 73% feel less valued by the
club since we moved stadium.
It is our view as a group that the
board of Arsenal is too relaxed about
the competitiveness of our team, and
that as long as a top-four place is
secured, it is a case of 'job done'.
This should never be the case but,
despite hearing you say you're not
happy every time we end a season
with nothing to really cheer about,
nothing changes.
So in June following your statement of
intent, fans were rightly hopeful but
what has happened since then? Yet
again we've spent the summer
dithering while others around us have
strengthened, and once more we start
the season playing catch-up. With
five competitive matches due before
the transfer window closes, there is
every chance that our season could
be dealt a hammer blow before we've
had a chance to take stock, and this
weekend's defeat at home to Aston
Villa should act as a huge wake-up
call.
We are now in a situation where we're
faced with a carbon copy of 2011,
where it took an 8-2 humiliation at
Manchester United to force a 'trolley
dash' on the final day of the transfer
window. Of course by then it was too
late. For Arsenal to be in that
situation once is unacceptable; for it
to happen twice in three years will be
unforgivable.
It is imperative that the board of
Arsenal does its job and manages the
Manager – an employee of the club
you are supposed to be running.
What are Arsene Wenger's targets /
KPIs set by the Board every year? Is
the he not even answerable to the
board, with free rein to do as he
pleases as long as he helps the
business achieve a profit? Is he
having to do all the running himself
when it comes to transfers or if
support is there, is he taking it?
Clarity is required here because
something clearly isn't right at the
club when it comes to the acquisition
of new players.
You put all the focus on the Arsene
Wenger yourself at that Q&A session
in June, but to fans there is little
evidence of questions being asked of
him; this despite approaching the
end of the transfer window with no
sign of needed, established quality
coming in. Does the board feel that
it's been a good summer? Because
we've now lost our opening game of
the season, our squad is already
blitzed by injury, once more today
there were fans coming to blows in
the stands. As a board member, does
this even bother you?
Of course if we used the funds we do
have available, brought in top-quality
players and competed for prizes, in
would come better commercial deals,
you wouldn't have as much trouble
trying to get corporate punters back
into the stadium, and naturally the
more successful we are it becomes
easier to attract better players. Or is
the board too short-sighted to realise
this?
A competitive team isn't one which
scrapes the position of fourth-best
team in the league on the final day of
the season and gets dumped out of
domestic cup competitions by lower-
league opposition; you need to
realise that most fans are aware of
this fact. They're not duped by
finishing in a position which may
result in us playing in the Champions
League. So what, if the cash from that
competition is simply banked and
never sees the light of day?
It should be noted that as long term
fans of The Arsenal we've seen plenty
of lean times and poor teams over the
years. Silverware isn't the be-all and
end-all; we follow this club out of
pure love and will always do so.
However, loyal matchgoing fans
continue to walk away from the
Emirates Stadium, unwilling to part
with their hard-earned cash when
they feel let down and lied to by our
board. We pay the highest ticket
prices in football after being sold a
dream, but it's always a case of 'jam
tomorrow' and many have seen
through the spin.
Enough is enough.
If the board is actually intent on
making Arsenal a successful force in
football once again, changes have to
be made. Arsene Wenger should have
experienced, qualified support to help
bring in top-quality players, and he
needs to be managed effectively if the
right business isn't being done.
Or if the board is simply intent on
milking the Arsenal brand for all its
worth to the detriment of the team
(but to the benefit of our bank
account), season-ticket prices at
Emirates Stadium should be reduced
accordingly. Our loyal fans should no
longer have to bear the burden after
doing so for many years.
Make no mistake, if there is not
significant improvement in our
playing squad over the next couple of
weeks, the rapidly growing anger in
the stands will become

difficult to
overturn. There hasn't been a
poisonous atmosphere like this at
Arsenal for over 30 years and the
board has simply stood by, while
things have gone from bad to worse. I
am sure you appreciate, this can no
longer happen.
We look forward to your resp
onse in


due course.
Yours faithfully,
Where Has Our Arsenal Gone (the
Black Scarf Movement