Arsenal plan games in Seoul, Beijing and Hong Kong in July
• Trip would be followed closely by visit to Nigeria
• Stan Kroenke's strategy is to capitalise on club brand
David Hytner - Monday 6 February 2012 23.00 GMT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... sfeed=true

Arsenal intend to conduct a three‑stage Far Eastern tour this summer, in addition to the planned visit to Nigeria. The club are in the latter stages of negotiations to take the squad to Seoul, Beijing and Hong Kong, where they hope to play glamour friendlies and enjoy promotional events. Arsenal have not yet signed off the proposals but Arsène Wenger stands to be asked to take his players to the Far East towards the end of July, return to London for a short period and then travel to the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

The 2012-13 Premier League season is scheduled to start on 18 August, six days after the London Olympics finish. The current football season started one week earlier. If Arsenal finished fourth or fifth in the Premier League, their play-off ties in the Champions League or Europa League would not be until the end of August. There would be greater scope for a logistical headache if they were to enter the Europa League third qualifying round, via a lower league position. The first leg of this tie would be played on 31 July or 1 August. It feels like a punishing schedule for a club that, until last July when they staged an eight-day whistle-stop tour to Malaysia and China, were hardly synonymous with far-flung close-season adventures. Wenger preferred a training camp in a remote Alpine location.

The manager, though, has been forced to fall into line as a significant part of the club's business strategy under the majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has come to rest on the development of the Arsenal brand around the world and the attempt to capitalise upon it in commercial terms. Arsenal have done a good deal of positive work to build their fan base in Asia and Africa, two of the great untapped markets, and the success of last summer's tour has whetted the appetite at boardroom level.

According to the Premier League's research, there are 342 million Premier League fans in Africa and Arsenal are particularly popular in Nigeria because of their association with the country's striker Kanu, who played for them between 1999 and 2004. Asia is also a hotbed of support for the English game and Arsenal believe that going on a high-profile tour in the region can only help to fire their popularity which, in turn, can be exploited in hard financial terms.

Let's hope Park.J.Y can get on the pitch in the Seoul at least!!

Well, they're not going to win over too many Koreans seeing as we have one permanently Park-ed on the bench.

The cynic in me says, this means little. Sure, you raise the global brand of the club, which will mean potentially greater commercial revenues, but then it's not visibly invested in the on-field performance, and that will erode whatever good-will was built. Global fans want to see success. They're far less entrenched than local lads who grew up hearing the roar of the stadium outside their bedroom window.

Case in point, I have a friend who is a football fanatic who, for the longest while was the biggest Chelsea fan you could find. I'm now getting texts from him talking about Manchester City whilst using the word "we". Chelsea tried to buy love, but it has been short-lived.

Whoa, I'll be in Korea in July! I could go and see them play some terrible Korean team and lose 1-0!

Wonder how difficult it is to get friendly tickets.

Arsenal to play Manchester City in Beijing
Wednesday Feb 29, 2012
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... in-beijing



Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that the first-team squad will be travelling to China in July to play Manchester City in the famous Beijing National Stadium. Arsenal and Manchester City will play each other in the inaugural ‘China Cup’, a one-off match in Beijing’s ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium on Friday, July 27, kick-off 8pm local time. The Gunners will be travelling to China for the second consecutive year, following their successful summer Asia tour in July 2011, in which the Club played matches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Hangzhou, China.

Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: “Further to our hugely successful visit to Hangzhou in 2011, everyone at Arsenal is extremely excited to once again be visiting China this year.

“We enjoy huge support in Asia and by playing a match in Beijing, we will once again be bringing the Club close to our loyal fans in China. The players and staff had an amazing time in China last year and we are all looking forward to visiting this great country again in July.

“The match against Manchester City is sure to be an exciting spectacle, with many great players from both sides playing in front of thousands of supporters in the wonderful ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium. It is also fitting that two English clubs are playing each other on the opening day of the London 2012 Olympics, in the stadium which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.”

Ticket details and travel options for supporters wishing to attend the match in Beijing will feature soon on Arsenal.com, together with any developments and news regarding Arsenal’s summer pre-season schedule.

Wow, that stadium should be jam-packed for this game. I think both clubs are in equal need of raising their international profiles....maybe City more so.

Arsenal to play pre-season game in Hong Kong
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... -hong-kong

Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that the first-team squad will be visiting Hong Kong in July as part of the Club’s Asia Tour 2012. Arsenal will play against Hong Kong Champions Kitchee FC at the Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday, July 29, 2012. The game will give the Club’s huge fan base in Hong Kong the opportunity to see Arsène Wenger’s team play live ahead of the 2012/2013 season. The team will be travelling to Hong Kong from China, where they will be playing in Beijing on Friday, July 27.

Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: “It’s great that Arsenal Football Club is visiting Hong Kong again after 17 years. We have many followers in Hong Kong and it’s wonderful that these special fans will have an opportunity to see the first-team live in action. The match will follow on from our visit to Beijing, where we play Manchester City in the Bird’s Nest, and is another indication of Arsenal’s commitment to Asia. We’re all looking forward to visiting Hong Kong and playing Kitchee will provide the team with good preparation ahead of the 2012/13 season.”

Ticket details and travel options for supporters wishing to attend the matches in Hong Kong and Beijing will feature soon on Arsenal.com, together with any further developments and news regarding Arsenal’s summer pre-season schedule.

Arsenal to visit Malaysia on summer tour
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... ummer-tour

Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that the first-team squad will once again be travelling to Malaysia to play a match in Kuala Lumpur in July. The Gunners will be visiting for the second consecutive year, following their successful summer Asia tour in July 2011, during which the Club played matches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Hangzhou, China.

After arriving in Kuala Lumpur, the first-team squad will take part in an open training session in the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, on Monday, July 23, an event which was attended by over 30,000 people last year. On Tuesday, July 24, Arsenal will play a match against a Malaysia XI, once again in the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, kick off 9.45pm local time.

The visit to Malaysia is the first leg of Arsenal’s 2012 Tour. After the match in Kuala Lumpur, the Gunners will be travelling to China to play against Manchester City in Beijing on Friday, July 27. The team will then visit Hong Kong for a match against Kitchee FC on Sunday, July 29.

Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: “Further to the overwhelming success of our visit to Kuala Lumpur in 2011, everyone associated with Arsenal is very excited to once again be visiting Malaysia this year. We are delighted that our many loyal fans in Malaysia and neighbouring regions will again have the chance to see their team in action live. We had a fantastic time in Malaysia last year and we are all looking forward to visiting this great country and meeting its wonderful people again in July.”

Ticket details and travel options for supporters wishing to attend the match in Kuala Lumpur will feature soon on Arsenal.com, together with any developments and news regarding Arsenal’s summer pre-season schedule.

Arsenal set to face Nigerian national team
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... ional-team

Arsenal Football Club is delighted to confirm that the Nigeria national team will be the Club’s opposition for their pre-season friendly match in Abuja on Sunday, August 5. Arsène Wenger’s team will face the Super Eagles in the National Stadium, with a confirmed kick-off time of 4pm local time. Tickets details will be announced on Wednesday, July 4 and will appear on Arsenal.com.

The Club last visited Africa during a tour to South Africa in July 1993, and is returning as a result of the fantastic support which exists for the team, not only in Nigeria, but across the entire continent. The visit to Nigeria will conclude an exciting pre-season tour schedule for Arsenal, who return to both China and Malaysia in July, following the success of last term’s Asia Tour. The Asia leg starts in Kuala Lumpur, where the team will face a Malaysia XI on Tuesday, July 24. The Gunners then travel to China for a match against Manchester City in Beijing on Friday, July 27, followed by a trip to Hong Kong to play Kitchee FC on Sunday, July 29.

All developments and updates regarding Arsenal’s pre-season activities will feature on Arsenal.com.