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How Arsenal are looking to improve their atmosphere

Arsenal players celebrate a goal with supportersGetty Images

Alex Howell

Arsenal reporter

Arsenal are enjoying an excellent start to the season - four points clear at the top of the Premier League after nine games - as they fight to lift the title after three successive second-place finishes.

But concerns remain about the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium.

Chants by some opposition supporters, which refer to the Emirates as a "library", have highlighted what can be perceived as a lack of noise at the ground.

It is not an issue only affecting Arsenal, with a number of supporters from traditional 'big six' clubs regularly posting on social media about how the lack of atmosphere at home matches can be disappointing.

For Arsenal, there are reasons why there may be a perceived drop in atmosphere at the Emirates, including a rise in expectations from fans.

However, Arsenal have not won the Premier League since 2004 and last lifted a trophy in 2020 when they won the FA Cup.

In the past couple of seasons manager Mikel Arteta has made a point of speaking about the importance of the fans in the stadium and wanting to "generate the best atmosphere in the world at the Emirates".

Arteta regularly now delivers messages to supporters in his pre-match news conferences.

He has asked them to arrive early, and before the Crystal Palace match on Sunday he said he wanted supporters to "play the game with us" and "be in your seat with a certain behaviour, with a certain body language".

So what are Arsenal doing to increase the noise?

Tunnel cover removed

Viktor Gyokeres walks down the tunnel at Emirates StadiumGetty Images

One of the visible changes that came this season was that Arsenal removed the cover from the players' tunnel.

This was done so Arsenal players and, crucially, the opposition can hear the noise before kick-off.

It has also meant that supporters in that area can connect with players, and there have been numerous pictures of players high-fiving and interacting with fans as they go in and out of the tunnel.

"We need to ignite the atmosphere so they can play every single ball with us because it makes such a difference," Arteta said when asked about the change.

"We want to play and win things. That's a non-negotiable.

"You need to have a stadium that is able to create those moments, for sure."

Goal announcement change

Arsenal fan and broadcaster Roman Kemp recently told a story about how he met Arteta on a plane and that he got some interesting insight into his input into stadium changes.

Speaking on the Call Yourself a Fan podcast, Kemp said Arteta asked him about the announcements of players' names after a goal is scored.

When a goal goes in at the Emirates, the stadium announcer shouts the scorer's first name before leaving a pause for the supporters in the ground to chant back the scorer's second name, and this is repeated three times.

Kemp said Arteta asked him if it made a difference before saying that it was his idea to implement the change.

Kemp said it was an "intense" chat but showed how many marginal gains Arteta is thinking about when trying to get the best out of his team.

Light shows before big games

Light shows can be a controversial topic with some supporters, but it is something that Arsenal have introduced at the Emirates.

It is not for every match, but they can be seen at the big matches.

Before the Champions League match with Atletico Madrid, stewards holding QR codes on boards walked around the supporters so they could scan it on their phone.

This allowed them to take part in the light show and was another example of building connections with supporters.

Screens not showing the second half

As has been highlighted, Arteta is keen that fans take an active part in the game that is going on.

One supporter at half-time of the Atletico match posted a picture on X to show a message on the concourse that the club would no longer be showing the second half of matches on screens.

All of these plans are part of a collaboration from different departments across the club to drive the fan experience.

These are not the final changes to be made to the matchday experience, and the club are working to increase the atmosphere across the stadium by working with fan groups.

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