THE EMIRATES STADIUM – What’s in a name?
230 comments October 6th, 2004
Yesterday, I was vehement in my criticism of the stadium’s new name.
My comments provoked a lot of interesting reaction, a lot of which seemed to suggest that I was being too quick to place judgement on a deal that will eventually earn the club around £100m.
I think that’s a fair point. Arsenal have a hugely expensive stadium to pay for, and this sum will certainly go some way towards balancing our books.
It could also be argued that this money might even be invested in the squad, improving the on-pitch product for all our fans.
Certainly there are worse alternatives to Emirates.
Hewlett Packard, for example.
However, my anger stems from a genuine sadness at the loss of so much history.
I’m incredibly proud of Highbury. It means so much to me and so many others. For whatever reason, I can’t imagine ever feeling the same attachment to “The Emirates Stadium”. It doesn’t feel like it’s ours.
That’s all I’m prepared to say, and that’s the root of any frustration I may have expressed.
Believe me, I am dying to be proved wrong.
In some very good news, Arsene Wenger is close to penning a new contract with us. He celebrated by visiting the site of the new stadium.
Some pictures are just so fantastically surreal that they don’t require a caption.
