The Ashburton Experience

As anybody who has ever moved house will know, this can be the most traumatic of experiences. A great deal of effort has been put into your abode and then, for whatever reason, you move upmarket, and the experience is not always without its drawbacks.

So it is also with Arsenal's move to Ashburton Grove. For a couple of years we watched with growing excitement as this magnificent structure started to climb towards the North London sky. Yet during the closing weeks of last season it seemed the vast majority of the support was clinging desperately to the Highbury experience. We went to watch 'the last North London derby at Highbury', 'the last Champions League game at Highbury', and ultimately we all shed tears like newborns as Wigan came to close the curtain not just on a season, but on ninety-three years of Arsenal history.

The Ashburton experience started for a few with a Members Day during which the sun shone down on a glorious green pitch and a scarlet wall of extra large and comfortable seats. There was no real Arsenal branding to be seen, but we satisfied ourselves that the final touches were still to be added. The catering was rediculously expensive, but we knew the caterers has paid a small fortune for the franchise so that was not really a surprise. All things considered the verdict was positive.

Then came the reality of the Bergkamp testimonial, the first Premiership match and Champions League qualifier. Now you could reasonably have anticipated some of the teething troubles with the booking systems. In a few short weeks the box office faced the huge demand for Wigan and Champions League Final tickets, they had to move from the Highbury offices to Drayton Park, and then establish systems that would cope with sixty thousand allocations per game instead of less than forty thousand.

More worryingly you would have thought that clear systems for the flow of spectators would have been in place. The model for the new development clearly showed a dependence on public transport to bring the majority of spectators both into and out of The Grove. The required improvements to local stations hadn't happened though, and the final whistle of Bergy's testimonial brought the inevitable, as crowds queued, in fact completely jammed the route, from Arsenal station to the north bridge. Subsequent matches have brought precious little improvement as the local constabulary struggle to refine their 'crowd flow' models to the stations. As I discovered at the Zagreb game if I am to make my final train home after a night match I have to leave before the final whistle, much to the anger of some of the fans around me.

Which brings me to another issue, and one that Arsenal have no immediate solution for. Any home move will bring with it new neighbours. There is already an uneasy existence at many clubs, not just Arsenal, between the established supporters and a newer breed of fan. At Highbury groups had historically managed to group themselves together. The Clock End stood, the East Lower moaned, and the North Upper clapped politely! Now at Ashburton they have turned up to find they are intermingled. Imagine the season-ticket holders turning up to the Villa game and finding their new neighbours to be the last person on earth they would watch a game with!

And the story turns a sort of half circle. Still there is no sign of Arsenal 'branding' inside the stadium. What was at first glance a magnificent bowl is still a series of red tiers separated by grey concrete. Strangely the service at the premium priced catering outlets is not quick enough to satisfy the numbers who desire half-time refreshments, and still there is no solution in sight to moving sixty thousand people home in a timely fashion at the final whistle.

None of these things is insurmountable, and I'm sure that the club will act quickly to resolve the issues that it has direct control over. Ashburton Grove will become as symbolic, as iconic, to the current generation as Highbury was to older Gunners, but for now don't blame those who are pining for their old neighbours, and their smaller, cosier home.