This Saturday sees a friendly between English clubs Arsenal and Manchester City - billed in Finland as "Super Match". Now there is nothing to play for in theory, for both clubs it's the last pre-season friendly and the end to a summer of several miles covering the US and Asia.
The clubs played prior to last season as well, in Beijing, which saw City win 2-0. Arsenal even pandered to their prospective sponsors and fans by wearing their shirt sponsor Emirates in Chinese script. This year will be a chance for City fans to see their new signings Navas, Jovetic and Negredo, while Finland-based Gunners supporters can see, er, part Finn and baseball cap designer Carl Jenkinsn.
Now the match has received huge publicity in Finland, but not all for the right reasons. There are huge sums involved in hosting the game, which are of course covered by some outlandish ticket prices. Other than a handful of tickets available at £30, the majority of tickets in the Arsenal end went for £60 - almost as much as a ticket to watch a category A game at the Emirates.
Another issue is about why should it be a match between two English sides? Surely it would be more interesting for Arsenal (for example) to play a Finnish club? Despite the partisan nature, it would at least be more of a novelty to see them take on HJK or Honka for example, or even make it an exhibition by fielding a team of Veikkausliiga players.
I'll admit I'm not helping the issue by flying over from London to watch the match, but then I've got an Arsenal season ticket and I've seen Arsenal play all over Europe - I had always said I'd love to see Arsenal in Finland, but I'd hoped it'd be in the Champions League.
The other point of note is the impact on domestic Finnish football. This weekend sees a full round of matches, and Saturday sees the Veikkausliiga match between JJK and Jaro, billed as "Super Matsi". It promises to be well attended, with various other fan-led activities taking place in Jyväskylä. Friend of the blog Egan Richardson wrote about it for Supporters Direct, read here.
Thursday also saw JJK release a video they made, highlighting the impact of Super Match on Finnish football - would the 36,000 odd attendees go and see any of the league matches at the weekend? Do the English clubs need the money?
I appreciate the fact that if it wasn't Arsenal playing, I'd probably be slating the Super Match, and cursing the teams involved. Having only just been to Finland (in June), to fly back so quick is both expensive and pretty inconvenient - maybe I should save my money and go to the Champions League play-off instead?
I'll be in Helsinki on Saturday (drinking in Kallio before the game), cheering on my team. Hopefully it won't do too much damage to the league and culture I've come to call my own...
Plus I hate Carlsberg.
I'll be in Helsinki on Saturday (drinking in Kallio before the game), cheering on my team. Hopefully it won't do too much damage to the league and culture I've come to call my own...
Plus I hate Carlsberg.
It´s a completelly respectable thing to do, to fly after your own team for a meaningless pre-season friendly.
ReplyDeleteI don´t know if you know the comment that caused most of the dismay. It is this line by Finnish FA chairman Pertti Alaja:
"It´s good to bring some real football culture in Finland"
I am sure you understand why that has left people angry.
bit of a stupid comment by the FA chairman over there, understandable that the natives are now revolting ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't believe this match is intended to be a short term revenue raiser from ticket sales, more about global brand awareness etc. The bank of Arsenal is awash with cash currently (they are even threatening to spend some of it this season !) and man city are not short of liquid assets either. I wouldn't expect there would be much (if any) profit from the gate receipt to share around after all the expenses are paid.
As two of the best footballing teams in the English Premier League (and by 'footballing' I mean teams committed to attacking, open football, not ten men behind the ball at all times) I would hope that City playing Arsenal will be an enjoyable spectacle for all true supporters of the game.
ReplyDeleteI would also hope that Pertti Alaja's comment was meant in the spirit of the match inspiring some of the young Finnish players to commit themselves to that same 'footballing' ideal, rather than any implied criticism of Finnish football.
I just hope you all enjoy the game, as I'm sure we will in London and Manchester...