The Glorious Twelfth

Mention of August 12th in some sections of society will have fingers twitching and tweed jackets brushed-down and ready. Welcome to the first day of the grouse-shooting season, the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ as participants would have it. A calendar highlight of the year for the aristocracy in decades past, it’s now money more than pedigree that gets you access to ‘play’ this ‘field-sport’ on the moorlands of Britain.

A more familiar – and relevant – new season for most of us is the start of the Premiership which, (aside from a single Friday fixture) kicks off this year on Saturday August 12th. With the usual pre-season round of ‘friendlies’ completed, the first player-injuries recorded, transfers signed-off and the squad of each team pretty much shaped-up, fans around the land are ready to flex their vocal cords. We’ll be fuelled (beer aside) by hope: hope for survival; hope for trophies; hope that things might be better than last season.

And so to Forest. Fingernails have fully regrown since the drama of last season’s run-in. There’s no need for the squad to wear name-badges after the mass signing of players last summer and fans will hope the club can now establish its credentials in the top division. Statistically, an alarming number of promoted sides find themselves back in the Championship within two years so the challenge is on.

The fortress that the City Ground has become will play its part again, powered by the unrelenting support and encouragement of fans. The team has renewed pride in the city of Nottingham as well as in Forest. But we know that the team needs more success away from home, whatever the calibre of the opposition. The opening salvo against Arsenal – buoyed by their Charity Shield success against Manchester City – is a tough start. The Gunners came close to clinching the league trophy in 2022-23 until their campaign was effectively halted by their loss to the Reds in the penultimate fixture in May. No tears shed in Nottingham, of course, as that win ensured Forest’s survival.

Arsenal had a sense of strutting their stuff as top dogs for long periods of last season. Previous to that, the last time the club were Premiership champions, back in 2003-04, they earned the title ‘Invincibles’, completing the season undefeated. In recent years, they’ve been more like ‘the Vulnerables’, falling far short of supporter expectations. Even memories of days of automatic qualification for the Champions league had faded. Now, though, manager Arteta seems to have put fire into the bellies of his players after some lily-livered seasons.

These days, more than ever, clubs show they mean real business when the proverbial open-chequebook is flashed around. It’s become the nature of the game: buy-in, buy big. Arsenal’s team now boasts summer additions Declan Rice (£100 million), Kai Havertz (£65 million) and Jurrien Timber (£35 million). That represents a serious financial statement and one that is way beyond the aspirations of most clubs in terms of spending capacity. The club clearly aims to buy its way back into the elite. And that would be the aristocracy, if you will.

Following the move from the old Highbury ground to the new Emirates stadium, Arsenal – despite serious backing from the company that gave its name to their new home – had less ready cash to spend but times have changed. Corporate culture rules and a quick check on their club website tells its own tale. They have over twenty sponsorship agreements – called ‘partners’ – with the likes of Adidas and, interestingly, ‘Visit Rwanda’! And ownership, as with so many clubs, is opaque. ‘Arsenal Holdings plc’ is the listed owner and that, in turn, is owned by ‘Kroenke Sports and Entertainment’, an American company started in 1999.

Cast back over a century from that date and Arsenal’s story is much like the origins of most football clubs: humble and working class. They were formed by a group of munition workers in the Royal Arsenal Armament Factory in Woolwich. Hence the name and the reason for the cannon (which has appeared, over different eras, pointing west and east!) that appears on the club crest and the nickname of ‘Gunners’.

They were certainly sharp-shooters when this fixture was played last season, running out 5-1 winners against Forest after a flurry of second-half goals. If Arsenal were the hunters with guns fully loaded that day, Forest were the red grouse in flight, an exposed and easy target. The question for Reds’ fans now is, ‘Can we hold our own against the elite when we play away?’ Their dealings in the transfer market have been quieter – inevitably, after last summer’s unprecedented spending – but the squad is more established and settled and Steve Cooper’s had time to reflect on his first experience of the Premiership. Team-spirit, again, will be one of their core strengths and supporters will also be looking to the likes of Brennan Johnson and Morgan Gibbs-White to weave their magic on the pitch again. Bring on the Glorious Twelfth.