Date: December 2008

ArsenalAmerica elections for 2009

Dec 30, 2008 by

It is with regret that I announce that our President Steve Rossen is going to have to step down next month due to other commitments that will soon be occupying all of his time. So we’ll have to fill his shoes and elect a new President per our constitution which calls for elections every season.

We like to have our elections mid-season, so that the new person can see what is going on with the current operations and plan whatever changes they want to implement. Believe it or not, there is actually quite a bit of work involved as we are the ‘Official Supporters Club’ recognized by Arsenal FC as the US (and sometimes Canadian) supporters club.

If you are interested in one of these positions, please email me at andrew@arsenalamerica.com and we’ll chat a bit before the formal nomination/election process.

President – This is not just a title, and before I explain any further I should note that the President will be expected to commit at least one hour a week toward ArsenalAmerica issues, such as writing and editing the website, replying to requests from the club, and even mediating some personality conflicts that come up with any organization. On the plus side you will be invited to present our ‘Player of the Year’ trophy to the Arsenal player we select during your next trip to London, and you occasionally are asked to speak on BBC 5 as an ‘American’ talking about Arsenal.

Deputy Treasurer. At present, I am serving as the treasurer for the remainder of the treasurer for the 08-09 season (long story). I fully intend to step down at the end of the season, and would like someone to work with me through the rest of this season to learn the ropes and hit the ground running next season. Responsibilities will include creating a end of the year income/expense report for Arsenal FC, and monitoring the ticketing purchases and payments through our Paypal account. You will need to have a basic knowledge of Excel or some other spreadsheet program.

Secretary – This person handles the formal paperwork requests from Arsenal, such as delivering a list of all of our members, our Constitution, and will handle the ArsenalAmerica membership ‘cards’ (which we didn’t do this year but will again soon). This can actually be a bit of paperwork when required, having to pull together a list of 100s of members and convert them into a format desired by Arsenal, printing (or emailing) membership cards, etc. Someone with a bit of computer skills (Word, Excel, etc) who will be our primary contact with Arsenal FC.

Columnists – We are also soliciting several ‘columnists’ for our website. Someone who will produce at least 1 (one) original article each week for the site regarding Arsenal, being a fan or Arsenal, or something Arsenal-y related. Pays nothing but gives you some exposure for your thoughts, and of course you can crosspost to your own blogs as well.

While at times you might go a week or three without lifting a finger for ArsenalAmerica, there are also times when you’ll be spending several hours pulling things together. We always have lots of ideas of new things we’d like to do, but we never seem to have the bodies available to carry out some of these things.

So let me know of your interest and we’ll get this election underway.

(p.s. for those who don’t know, as one of the founders of ArsenalAmerica I sit as a ‘board of director’ like position, stepping in from time to time to ensure consistent operations in times of transition and other things (i.e. why I’m treasurer now). All of the past-Presidents continue to remain involved in ArsenalAmerica offering advice and counsel on the club’s operations)

Tickets for 2009-10

Dec 28, 2008 by

As many of you know, we have available a bunch of tickets for almost every game at the Emirates and sometimes even some away matches. This comes from a collection of season tickets and occasional spares that are thrown our way by other supporters clubs or arranged by Arsenal for visiting Americans.

However, the management of this system is incredibly labor intensive. Our ticket masters in London do an absolutely tremendous amount of work just to get tickets for those Americans who are coming over. It requires a lot of time, and more important, a large pool of cash so we can buy tickets in bulk (sometimes we buy as many as two dozen for a match). Our attempts to build a system that is far more automated and streamlined have failed due to a lack of time and computer skills (and trust us, we’ve tried, nearly every year we try).

For those that do not know, Red Ticket members with the Arsenal are eligible to buy tickets through the ‘ticket exchange’ system run by Arsenal. Season ticket holders who are away, sick, or just can’t make a game will ‘exchange’ their tickets through the club’s automatic system, enabling the occasional Red Member to see a game. In fact, Red Members have been able to buy tickets to EVERY game this year (yes, including the ‘big ones’).

Red Membership is £30. It’s a bit more than we charge for our membership scheme that enables you to have access to our tickets, but it also gives you a slew of Arsenal stuff in the mail every now and then and access to some features on the Arsenal site that you might not get to as a casual visitor. It also gets you on Arsenal’s ticket exchange system, which is a pretty easy and reliable way to get tickets too.

As you budget your finances for the Spring, and think about attending a match next year in London, please seriously consider a Red Membership as an additional way to secure match tickets.

We’re not trying to drive you away–far from it. We’ll still be here next year, at some level or another, but you have to understand our ticketing ability is entirely the result of volunteers who have many other demands on their time (and money). We just want to help you get in to see a game without having to deal with the touts, and any way you can secure tickets without going to them is a plus in our book.

Arsenal vs Portsmouth

Dec 28, 2008 by

Ex-supremo captain Tony Adams brings his 11th place Pompey team to 5th place Arsenal. Considering that the Arsenal squad is stretched thin because of injuries, it will be interesting to see how the squad copes with the Sunday game kicking off less than 48 hours after the conclusion of the Villa game. Atleast, Adebayor will be rested.

Also, this is the final league game of 2008, a year that has certainly seen extremes as far as Arsenal were concerned. Early on in the year, Arsenal seemed to be on the verge of getting their hands back on the league title and the future looked bright. After a nasty tackle, a handful of draws and defeats later plus following the exit of a few key players and a mixed first half of the new season, Arsenal find their future a bit uncertain.

Hopefully the team can end the year on a high note and then maybe the start of 2009 might bring in some happiness after all. So for the final time this year, over to you guys to hash things out….