Arsenal have made a couple of changes to their use of stadium announcements and music this season, and Mikel Arteta was reportedly involved in the decisions.
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 14: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Everton FC at Emirates Stadium on December 14, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Matchgoing Arsenal fans will have noticed a couple of changes to the way the club do their announcements in recent games, as well as an alteration to their use of the ‘North London Forever’ song.
During the pre-match lineup reads, the announcer now only reads the player’s first name, before waiting for the crowd to shout the last name back.
In the case of players like Gabriel, the announcer will simply shout “number six” and then wait for the crowd to shout “Gabriel” in response.
A similar strategy is used for goal announcements, with the announcer again only giving the player’s first name and waiting for the crowd to shout the last name back.
Arsenal fans show their support and hold up a banner reading "Vamos" prior to the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Brentford FC at Emira...
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
As for ‘North London Forever’, the club continue to use the song pre-game, but rather than completing the whole thing before the referee’s whistle, it now carries on into the game – with the music cutting out when the game starts.
The result is that the supporters chant the final lines of the song alone as the match kicks off.
Football.London report that Arsenal were partly inspired to make that change by Sporting CP, who do the same thing with their pre-match song.
The same source adds that Mikel Arteta was involved in discussions surrounding the changes, and he backed the ideas to try and make the Emirates Stadium a more intimidating venue for opponents to visit.
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: Arsenal fans cheerduring the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on October 08, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
One idea that seems to have been dropped is the announcer reading each player’s name twice during the pre-game lineup.
The club tried it once or twice in recent fixtures, but they scrapped the idea for Saturday’s game against Everton. It did seem to make the lineup drag on a bit, so once is probably enough.
Not all ideas will work out, but it’s refreshing to see the club trying something new.
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