Arsenal F.C. Supporters
London based Arsenal Football Club have developed a strong following since their founding in 1886. Arsenal's fans are often referred to as Gooners, the name derived from the team's nickname, the "Gunners."
Many fanzines, blogs, podcasts and fans websites have been dedicated to the club and the fans have long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they regularly contest the North London derby.
The club and the fans have regularly featured in portrayals of football in British culture. Gunners come from far and wide, a 2005 report estimated Arsenal's global fanbase at 27 million, the third largest in the world. A new report, from September 2011, shows that Arsenal's estimated fanbase has reached 100 million supporters worldwide; still making them the third largest team regarding supporters.
In 2010, Arsenal supporters became the first fans of a Premier League club able to buy percentages of a stake in Arsenal through a "fanshare" scheme, therefore giving them rights to attend shareholders meetings.
Read more about Arsenal F.C. Supporters: Demographics, Songs, Rivalries, Police and Community Relations
Famous quotes containing the words arsenal and/or supporters:
“We have the men—the skill—the wealth—and above all, the will.... We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opponents than from his fervent supporters. For his supporters will push him to disaster unless his opponents show him where the dangers are. So if he is wise he will often pray to be delivered from his friends, because they will ruin him. But though it hurts, he ought also to pray never to be left without opponents; for they keep him on the path of reason and good sense.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)