He said he's covered the team for 8 years, the entire Arteta run. Pretty common in the US. One of the main writers that covers the KC Chiefs grew up as a NY Giants fan. He wants the Chiefs to do well because that is good for his career but he can do so from a more object view.
He’s worked as an Arsenal writer for 8 years. It’s not a mystery why he’s got a lot of insight. edit: see @CarlosKaiser has this covered.
Yup. But there are scores of pundits/journos who’ve covered a team for way longer than that and have way less insight than Sam Dean Seems to have. IMHO
I think this happens with journalists frequently, ie., they get assigned to a certain club not necessarily who they support. For instance, I seem to recall Charles Watts saying he was assigned to the Reading beat for a while early on in his journalist career even though he's a lifelong Gooner.
Update on Safe-Standing at the Grove, this is from an AWFC news piece, but presumably it applies to all matches?... Stadium changes Licensed Standing To confirm, this summer we are installing licensed safe standing in the Clock End between Blocks 20-29, covering seats 739-911. The front row will not be included. This currently will impact around 2,000 seasonal supporters as well as match by match purchasers within those blocks. We also understand this overlaps with our Bring The Family block. We will consult with supporters over the summer and would explore retaining an enforced seated approach in those blocks rather than licensed standing. The installation begins in the Clock End aligning with the Premier League regulations to include away supporter in licensed standing. However, we understand the North Bank is home to Bring The Noise area, and can confirm we will bring in licensed standing in this area for the 2027/28 season.
Members of staff at Arsenal have been left disappointed after being charged £859 for travel to the Champions League final. Big contrast with PSG, who are paying for all of their employees to go (and yes, the two clubs operate very differently financially)https://t.co/HMIPURnXTs— Sam Dean (@SamJDean) May 13, 2026 unfortunate
Only guess is the bad PR will change their position But this is some classic American billionaire shyte
An example (to somewhat misquote Oscar Wilde) of knowing the cost of everything but the value of nothing.
Got the purple answer first (only valid today, May 30) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/connections-sports-edition/
Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle #614 Play the puzzle: https://www.theathletic.com/connections/share
The Mayor signed Sébastien Frey for Arsenal in Football Manager, a true sicko like the rest of us. Interview filmed about an hour before the UCL final.
Want to order team swag and figured I'd sign up for a red membership as well for me and a kiddo (and hopefully get some shot at tickets through the ticket exchange), but the website seems to broken. Anyone else in the same boat?
Not sure what’s going on with the site at the moment, but definitely get a membership when you can. Since they went to the lottery model we’ve had decent success getting tix that way, and for midweek matches you can pretty much always find some via the exchange if you lose out on the lottery.
I'll second, Tonerl. Do it. Coincidentally, I renewed mine and my son's memberships yesterday and the site was working fine for that. So keep trying.
When the 2026-27 schedule comes out, I was going to look at planning my first trip outside of North America to include an Arsenal match. Will be looking at April for a lower profile match to maximize chances of getting a seat. If I just need one ticket, is a red membership and the exchange the best way to go?
It's good, worth a watch. I was able to watch it last week because of a connection which I can't reveal. There's a lot of inside info about Saka that I certainly didn't know (and I suspect hasn't really been revealed this publicly before) and that's really nice to know about a guy who's always seemed like such a good guy. But it's kind of the Bukayo+Thierry show. Henry plays the confident elder guru. We've all seen that in him. And he reveals some stuff too, which maybe he didn't before. And there were a few bits that made me smile... Like when TH was talking about the people that came out on the Champs after WC'98 and Bukayo said "whoa, a million people?!" (of course he hadn't yet experienced the 1+ million who poured love on the streets of Islington). And when his dad said that he just liked to kick the ball really hard. He kept breaking the windows facing the garden, and also the TV inside the house. Dad said they ultimately realized it was his calling and his special power so they encouraged him! (not to stop)
That's excellent! On all fronts. But I must say that April/May can be some of the harder tickets to get, assuming we're gunning for the title again! In recent years I've been going in Jan/Feb/Mar which seems to be less in-demand tickets. The other thing I've been doing more of lately is to take in more than just one match if possible. But for me my trips are 70% about Arsenal and 30% about London/UK. YMMV. So I've often been able to add a league cup match, or a ladies match (who's play has been arguably more fun to watch lately than their male counterparts) p.s. I can't really speak to getting tix via Red m'ship, but I suspect next season (as title holders) that might get tougher. My main ticket source has become a STH college friend who's been like a goldmine for me. But I've had to be quite flexible schedule wise.
I was hoping to see the Arsenal vs. Betis in Dublin, but alas, my family has conflicting priorities the first week in August. Still, that seems like a fun trip that you could buy tickets direct from Aviva Stadium, without having to worry about membership.