Arsenal ticket storm goes on but Emirates Stadium redevelopment hint offers new hope

Arsenal and its supporters have shared a fractured relationship over the ticketing experience at the club since almost the very day the Emirates Stadium's increase in costs for fans was announced around two decades ago. , or the simple fact that many remain priced out of attending entirely despite previously going to matches on a regular occasion.

Yet the challenges of the modern day are far more prevalent in the decision-making processes of the club than most realise, while the seemingly constant borderline xenophobic attacks on the twistedly labelled "tourist fans" have a supporter base seemingly near breaking point, having only recently been lauded for its regained unity in the stands.

The main point of contention at present is the aforementioned ballot by which non-season ticket holders can access home tickets. Red and silver members, who have already paid their annual membership fee to gain the ability to try and get tickets, currently manually enter these lotteries ahead of each game.

This new system, implemented in the last few years, replaced an older system which could be likened to that of most platforms that sell tickets to concerts for example. Punters enter an online queue at a designated time and date, wait to get into the site and then attend a mad rush to get the tickets they want or simply any they can find.

The club integrated the ballot for several reasons. It has brought about a system which makes it much harder for bot accounts to scoop up tickets which would then be illegally sold on for a marked-up price. As a result,

Yet the experiences of many fans using this system have not been positive in comparison to the older scheme. Christopher Yeboah is a red disabled access member at Arsenal and told football.london about his struggles.

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"Since the introduction of the ballot system, it has become increasingly difficult to secure tickets for matches," he said. "In the 2022/23 season, I managed to attend three games, down from six the previous year.

"This season, despite applying for most games, I have yet to be successful in securing a single ticket. As a partially sighted fan, I attend matches with my now 15-year-old son, who describes the on-field action for me.

"Unfortunately, the repeated disappointment of being unsuccessful in the ballot is making it harder for me to keep applying, particularly when I have to tell my son that we didn't get tickets again."

Certainly difficult to hear, and Christopher will certainly not be the only one. Even fans who have been successful in the ballot have told football.london that they have experienced problems with being notified of their success.

Arsenal fan Jacqui Downes describes this issue in detail and gives an example of a seat going empty inside the stadium even after two were made available late on the exchange.

"The negative experience I have had with the ballot system is that the emails confirming whether or not I have been successful are not consistent; sometimes I get one, other times I don't, so I am relying on checking my bank account to see if the money has come out."

Jacqui adds: "The problem my brother had last year was that he applied for three tickets for the Man City game, but did not receive an email confirming that he had been successful. As a result, my sister-in-law and niece made other arrangements for the day of the match. It was only a few days before the game he realised that the money for 3 tickets had been taken from his bank account, and put the 2 surplus tickets on the exchange, only one was sold, so he ended up with an unused ticket."

The ticket exchange, for those unaware, is a useful system which the club have expanded in recent seasons. Season ticket holders who cannot make games are able to put their seats up on the exchange to be filled and receive money back as a result.

This encourages season ticket holders to make sure their seats are always filled. More recently the club has also organised deterrents for those who have season tickets but still do not attend by creating a threshold whereby if a seat goes unfilled without having been put on the exchange for a set number of games, the season ticket will be revoked.

The exchange has been made exclusive to supporters who are unsuccessful in the ballot, unless of course seats remain available close to kick-off, in which case they are made available to the general public to access. Although again there have been some complaints about how this is notified to supporters.

Ultimately, any system will encounter problems and complaints when demand is at such a level. Thousands more people want to go to the games than currently are able to, and the old system might have benefited fans who before had more success - there are many others who now have access where before they did not.

People who work jobs such as in hospitals or schools who are unable to log on at a specific time and wait in a queue to snap up tickets can now enter the ballot in the hope of getting fortunate. Some argue that the ballot has made it easier for fans outside of the local area and abroad to get hold of tickets and subsequently argue this impacts the atmosphere.

Parking the ridiculousness of these claims when more than two-thirds of the ground is indeed filled by season ticket holders, these supporters from further afield, too, have been affected negatively by the change. Planning trips becomes exponentially more expensive closer to the matches, and the ballot system means that some fans are taking even bigger gambles with trips that either may end up not seeing them get a ticket or alternatively have to pay significantly more expensive travel and accommodation to make the games.

There is room for improvement with the ballot and potential cooldown periods for successful ballot entrants could be integrated to give previously unsuccessful fans a better chance. In addition there is always hope that the Emirates Stadium might see an increase in capacity, and these were given a lift lately when Josh Kroenke made reference to plans for renovation.

"It would be premature to talk about any plans in depth, but the internal conversations are starting to occur about [the stadium]," he told ESPN. "It is not an easy renovation, but we see the possibilities of what’s there."

Arsenal fan Mike Smith, a British-born supporter now based in Australia who has travelled far in recent years to attend matches told football.london his ambitious ideas for any such increase.

"The potential increased capacity offers a couple of opportunities to get creative that is perhaps more difficult now without removing existing seating allocation. So, if for example, we had another 10,000 seats: only offer half of these as new season tickets - these being offered on a fixed term basis e.g. three years.

"Every game has 3000 seats that are put directly on the ticket exchange - this would potentially decrease the number of 'issues' with existing members and put another nail in the tout coffin. 2000 distributed to "internationally aligned" supporter clubs on the proviso that any not taken up are returned to ticket exchange two weeks prior to the game.

"This would facilitate international fan access and as they are members of a recognised Arsenal member group may quell some of the 'tourist fan' nonsense that is bandied around."

'Hear, Hear', to that last point in particular. Despite the ambition, there are many obstacles to a reality which sees the capacity grow - with the stadium built in a certain way to accommodate three tiers specifically, for example - and the broader impact that would bring in conversations with the local council too.