Why do Arsenal have the best bloggers?
As a paid-up Spurs fan, it pains me to say it, but in terms of blogging, Arsenal have been Premier League champions for a very long time. Since the dawn of football blogging, in fact.
The quality and depth of Arsenal blogs shames those of all other clubs, including the rest of the so-called ‘big four’. Indeed, if you added up all the decent Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd blogs, I doubt even then they could match the might of the Gunners’ online output.
Consider the evidence:
Arseblog (the undisputed gaffer), Le Grove, East Lower, A Cultured Left Foot, Good Playa, Gunnerblog, The Cannon, ClockEnders, Wrighty7, Goonerholic, The Goon, 3rd Gen, Up For Grabs Now…
That’s a mere highlights reel of Arsenal blogs (and sorry if I missed yours) – there are many, many more out there, some of them excellent, others frankly not worth the platform they’re written on.
So, how did this happen? Why do Arsenal have so many good, dedicated bloggers? Is it because they’re more self-righteous, more educated, more passionate, more contrary, more pompous, more intelligent?
I have no idea – maybe a combination of the above.
I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts on this topic, and especially the thoughts of Arsenal bloggers…
Good question being an Arsenalfan I read most of the blogs you mentioned. I’ve always wondered if United fans and Spursfan had the same number of quality blogs.. but havent really been arsed to google it. strangely enough this blog is one of the blogs Ive encountered a couple of time.. You seem to be way more sensible than the rest of the tots and judging by some .. less articulate comments above that very much the case. As many have commented the british media is very anti arsenal and its near impossible to read any of the crap they print as its Biased unfactual .. well crap. So the blogs have quite a few followers And we really do have some excellent blogs. I spend so much time on these blogs and off course inciting violance on teamtak .. that I really should start my own blog. Maybe i will.
[...] before I go a shout out to Who Ate All The Pies for the mention, the cheque is in the [...]
You forgot mine, you spud wanker. Just kidding… but it is indeed odd. Why is it that Arsenal have such … hold on… being distracted by the birds to the right of the comment box… ok, back. What was the question?
As a writer of another Arsenal blog (sad not to make it on the list *whimper*) I think the answer to your question is quite simple…
Arseblog paved the way many years ago and got Arsenal fans accustomed to how a blog works and how great they can be and many, many people have been inspired and followed suit. Because people were reading his blog it means there is already an audience and those same people are likely to be happy reading more sources as opposed to saying “just one blog for me thanks!”
Arsenal’s blogging community as a whole started with Arseblog many years ago and it will be a little time yet before other clubs’ communities start to be as strong. It will happen, no doubt, but that is the reason why Arsenal are ahead of the pack in this field.
thanks for putting me on your list, it was quite a surprise considering the sheer number of arsenal blogs.
I write thegoonblog.com and I have to admit it was the Arseblogger that inspired me, great blog, hilarious and to be honest he has shaped the blogging world with his deal with oleole.com. Would be great to see other teams blogs popping up more though, good luck with yours.
[...] other news, a shout out to whoateallthepies who list Third-Gen (or ‘3rd Gen’ to those in the know) among the top Arsenal blogs [...]
Jammathon from Third-Gen here (listed as ‘3rd Gen’ in the blog) – cheers for listing my blog in such illustrious company. While the reasons given by the other bloggers as to why Arsenal is so blogged about (London demographic, Arseblogger getting the ball rolling), I think one other reason has been Arsenal’s style of play. I’m not here to wax lyrical about our ‘attacking awesomeness’ sucking fans into blogging, but more the intricacy of their style leaves a lot of room for analysis which many writers, myself included, lap up.
Interesting article, and cheers!
-Jammathon.
Third-Gen.
You forgot anorak – http://www.anorak.co.uk
Agreed with Andy entirely – it is a bit of a case of following an idea already put out there.
Arseblog was around a long time before most other football blogs, and was followed by other quality blogs such as Gunnerblog and Goodplaya. Since then, the rest of us Arsenal fans who felt we had an opinion we wanted to share saw an opportunity and started ours up.
Football is all about debate, otherwise all those pub and terrace conversations wouldn’t happen, so seeing a decent blog always inspires others to write on the same subject.
I’m sure if there were three decent Oldham blogs out there, other Oldham fans would chime in.
We’re all fans, we all like to have our say, I guess.
a gooner diary is the best out there.a really good read
As an Arsenal blogger myself, I can only speculate on others’ reasons. However, like a previous commenter wrote, I think it does have something to do with the supporter base. Arsenal, especially outside of the UK, in the last 10 years have attracted supporters because of their style of play. I’m in New York City and began following the club in 1998 initially because of Dennis Bergkamp. For me, I see Arsenal as playing “thinking-man’s football.” The quality of writing I see on some Arsenal blogs, like A Cultured Left Foot, for example, is better than most stuff I see from college students. I did read somewhere that Arsenal were the most blogged about sports team in the world, and that’s not hard to believe. I think that it is the combination of attracting certain kinds of supporters, those who really love the intricacies of the game, and their inspiring play (or uninspiring failures), which has caused many to want to take up their pen (or keyboard). Either way, it is clear that there is something about Arsenal which inspires supporters to want to talk and write about them. Also, the sheer number and magnitude of the Arsenal blogosphere is such that there is a lot of chaff but the cream of the crop of Arsenal blogs is like a community. Regular readers know each bloggers’ opinions on certain players and their overall temperament as a supporter and dialogues are carried on in comments sections. Als on the part of the readers, without whom there would be no blogs, it’s a bid by supporters spread all over the globe to feel a sense of community as an Arsenal supporter.
What the f**k is “Arseblog”? Sounds like your all gay to me.
Heh at Bakes
Heh at Chambo for heh’ing at Bakes.
Thanks for the mention, Waatp.
At Wikio we publish a monthly list of the top UK and Irish sports blogs in the country. Arseblog is 1st right now and we have noticed an abundance of Arsenal blogs compared to other clubs – please do submit your blogs if you do not see them in the list, no matter which team you follow. The “submit a blog” button is on the right.
http://www.wikio.co.uk/blogs/top/sport
Le Grove is shite btw.
As a gooner I always avoid that blog. That shit is full of negativity.
One reason I feel this so because, the commentators, the referees, other managers and also the governing bodies(FA, UEFA) have been against Arsenal. We are criticized a lot from all these people and also have been treated unfairly by these people. As a result, I feel that the Arsenal fans have tried to get their emotions out to the world. What they feel, what was the right thing, why we are dealt with in such a way, why the people who deal with in such ways are c*nts, etc ,etc. This has made a large number of Arsenal fans to start blogging and produce high quality blogs over time.
It’s our historic pain to offset the media and the FA. For 25 years we’ve not received the credit we merit – and blogs help right that balance.
The literacy of our bloggers is also of paramount importance.
RVP crocked today…I write with a heave heart. Arseblogger is a genius and a really nice bloke. As are East Lower and many of the others.
le grove is the worst. full of arselickers sucking anti foreigner anti irish geoffs balls
I think its because of the general class of arsenal supporters. Seriously, this is no chest beating thing. For a long while, I sat on the fence regarding supporting any of the EPL sides — I had my prefered teams (pool, newcastle (kevin keegan era), arsenal, chelsea (from gullitt era), even spurs was Ok by me) .. Later with increased online presence, I began to notice a clear class amongst arsenal fans, and this eventually compelled me to become a full fledged arsenal fan about 6 years ago.
Arsenal does classy and educated fans .. I think more than most other EPL clubs. I reckon that is what is translating to more
I think its because of the general class of arsenal supporters. Seriously, this is no chest beating thing. For a long while, I sat on the fence regarding supporting any of the EPL sides — I had my prefered teams (pool, newcastle (kevin keegan era), arsenal, chelsea (from gullitt era), even spurs was Ok by me) .. Later with increased online presence, I began to notice a clear class amongst arsenal fans, and this eventually compelled me to become a full fledged arsenal fan about 6 years ago.
Arsenal does classy and educated fans .. I think more than most other EPL clubs. I reckon that is what is translating to more arsenal bloggers, in my humble opinion.