Welcome, everyone, to the re-launch of AFCB for 2010/2011!

After an extended break from all things Arsenal I’m back, refreshed and raring to go for what should be another year of watching Arsenal and telling you what I think about it all.

You may or may not know that over the course of the off-season I crammed in quite a lot of travel and made a significant change to my personal life and career.

I made a permanent move from my home town in Brisbane, Australia to my new home in Berlin, Germany to get closer to European football and take my football writing more seriously.

On the way I managed to attend the World Cup in South Africa and completed the excellent FN2010 web-documentary for Football Nomad, before settling in Berlin to begin the re-launch of AFCB for the new season.

And I’m very happy to say it’s all done.

I’ve outlined all the details of the changes and improvements made to AFCB for 2010/2011 below: have a read, let me and the other readers know what you think and let’s get excited for what should be a marvelous season!

New design

You might have already the major change with the blog – the new minimalist and user-friendly design – and although it’s the most obvious difference from last season, there have been other big changes too.

New writers

Over my “break” I’ve actually been working quite hard to recruit a team of writers to take AFCB to the next level.

My usual daily news and opinion post will now be supported by a number of other regular columns that include tactical analyses, player profiles, a women’s perspective on Arsenal and various other entertaining features – with the intention of providing better quality content for the readers of the blog.

You can read all about the members of AFCB’s new writing team here.

New comments policy

Other significant changes have been a tightening-up of the comments policy and a tweak in the way the email subscription works.

In the past AFCB has been quite lenient on comment-screening but have now adopted a policy to get tougher on readers who do not comply with the rules with the intention of providing a safe, enjoyable and rewarding reading experience for everybody who visits the blog.

You can read the new comments policy here.

Following AFCB

Previously readers who have subscribed to AFCB have received updates when a new article is posted on the blog to notify subscribers of the update.

Due to the fact that multiple articles will now be posted daily on the blog, this will no longer happen.

Instead, email subscribers will now receive a weekly newsletter containing links to all the best content posted on the blog over the course of the week, including match reports and feature articles.

You can subscribe to AFCB’s Weekly Newsletter by clicking here.

For those who still want to keep in touch with AFCB regularly you can now be notified of new posts via our Facebook page (which has 2000+ members), feed reader (RSS) and our brand-new Twitter page.

Season preview articles

Last but not least, accompanying the re-launch of AFCB are two great season preview articles:

• AFCB’s Arsenal 2010/2011 Season Preview
• AFCB Writers’ 2010/2011 Pre-Season Arsenal Predictions

Be sure to check them out and as always, leave a comment and let us know what you think because AFCB lives and dies by the brilliant, positive community that reads the blog.

On behalf of myself and the rest of the AFCB writing team – enjoy the season!

Have your say on the AFCB re-launch by leaving a comment.

I’m baaaack! And it’s about time, too.

For those who are unaware, I took some time off over the World Cup to begin the very exciting Football Nomad adventure.

It was a brilliant month of traveling and filming around Europe and South Africa and I’m delighted to say that I’m currently as close as I’ve ever been to the Arsenal Football Club, staying with some friends in East London.

The football culture I witnessed all over Europe and South Africa during the World Cup was fanastic and you can view all of the videos over on Football Nomad.

Those who did stay in touch with AFCB during the World Cup will know that Mike Urbanski stepped in to cover all things Arsenal.

While most of the Arsenal boys struggled to make an impact on the tournament – aside from Captain Cesc – the same could not be said of Mike, who did a fantastic job.

I am delighted to say that it will not be the last you will be hearing from Mike, who will join myself and a host of new writers who will regularly contribute during the 2010/11 season.

The focus of the restructure to AFCB will be on improving the quality and diversity of Arsenal coverage and the community on the blog. In short, to make things even better for you, the readers.

Some of the improved ideas we are hoping to bring to AFCB this season are detailed tactical analyses of games, regular transfer speculation updates, a female perspective on all things Arsenal and some satirical writing about the media’s attitude towards the club.

There will be others too – these are just a taste.

Over the next few weeks I will be working with the new AFCB team to get things prepared for the new season – with an official launch set for August 13 complete with season preview and a very special surprise.

Until then there will be no updates on the blog and with a new design on the cards, visually things may get funny from time to time, so I apologise in advance for that.

Anyway, that’s basically it. Hold on tight until the 13th of next month where I hope you will enjoy the re-launch of AFCB.

Thoughts?

Have your say on the re-launch of the Arsenal FC Blog by leaving a comment.

First things first, I have to warn you that this will be quite a lengthy post!

I also have to warn you that there will be no comments about Cesc Fabregas’ potential move to Barcelona, the arrival of Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux nor the exit of Fran Merida to Atletico Madrid. There will be no season review, no analysis of the squad nor mention of any of the potential transfer targets that could/should be brought to Arsenal before next season.

You see, World Cup fever has rolled into town and Arsenal has been reduced from a daily obsession to a fleeting afterthought.

Football Nomad to launch on June 4

The major reason why this has happened is Football Nomad, the football culture and travel website that I have been working on launching for the past twelve months. The blog will be launching with FN:2010, a football documentary combining film and social media to capture the colour and excitement of the 2010 World Cup.

Starting in the UK on June 11 and culminating with the World Cup final a month later my brother Patrick and I will film, photograph and blog our way around Europe and South Africa to provide you with an intimate and engaging experience of the 2010 World Cup.

The blog will be updated with photos and written posts daily, with an edited video providing the real highlights every three or four days. It’s going to be an amazing adventure and if you’re someone who enjoys reading me the Arsenal FC Blog, you’re going to love the first-hand experience we will be providing with Football Nomad.

The project is completely independent, meaning that we have funded it ourselves, so it would be absolutely amazing to see as many Arsenal FC Blog readers support Football Nomad as possible. To do so just check out the website, subscribe to updates via email or join 600+ followers in the Facebook group.

There are World Cup jerseys up for grabs for anyone who subscribes before the launch on June 4, so please get involved!

Arsenal FC Blog’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup

Although I will be away for the next five weeks for Football Nomad, I have come up with a quite brilliant way to keep things ticking along on Arsenal FC Blog during the World Cup. Get someone else to do it!

Mike Urbanski, known to many in the Arsenal blogosphere as ‘TheSKAGooner’, will be taking the Arsenal FC Blog reigns for the duration of the tournament.

He’ll be keeping readers up-to-date with the performances of all the Arsenal players as well as any potential transfer targets at the World Cup as well as anything else of interest during the tournament and any vital Arsenal news happening away from South Africa. Mike will be posting on every single gameday during the World Cup and the coverage should be excellent.

So excellent, in fact, that you’ll probably never want me back again!

Other great blogs to check out during the 2010 World Cup

Besides Arsenal FC Blog and Football Nomad, there are a host of other top quality blogs and websites that I would recommend to anyone keen on enhancing their World Cup experience. They are:

• Guardian Football – In the field of online newspaper coverage, there will be no better place to be than here during the World Cup. Always insightful, entertaining and able to take the game about as serious as it should be taken, it is essential reading (and listening – thanks to the daily World Cup podcast show).
• World Cup Buzz - A new blog created off the back of the success of EPL Talk, World Cup Buzz has had excellent pre-tournament coverage and promises to remain among the best when things finally kick off. There’s a great podcast by Chris Farley that I have been listening to daily and all sorts of interesting articles on everything to do with the World Cup.
• Zonal Marking - Football tactics nerds rejoice: this is the blog for you. Unbelievably insightful.
• Kickette – This one’s mostly for the women, but I also personally find it very entertaining. Focused on what’s happening off the pitch as much as what’s happening on it, Kickette always delivers laughs and a very subtle understanding of the pop-culture that now dominates the sport.
• Studs Up - Chris Toy is a good friend of mine and he also writes the best online football comic going around. He’ll be sharpening his pencils and powering up his Photoshop to ensure the World Cup gets the Studs Up treatment every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the tournament.

Plans for next season on Arsenal FC Blog

The final thing to touch on briefly is my future plan for the Arsenal FC Blog for next season and beyond.

For those that are unaware, upon completion of the FN:2010 documentary I will living in Berlin, Germany for a year. The reason for this move is to develop both the Arsenal FC Blog and Football Nomad ideas further with the intention to create a full-time living out of my online projects. At the moment things are going well, I have created the opportunity for myself to move to Europe to be closer to football and I hope to capitalise on that opportunity over the next 12 months.

Without giving too much away about how things change on the Arsenal FC Blog, the emphasis will be on re-establishing the blog as a place where intelligent readers who enjoy following the Arsenal can come and share their opinions. At the moment the Arsenal blogosphere is saturated with blogs that seem to care more about criticising the manager and players at every opportunity than actually trying to get as much enjoyment out of watching and following Arsenal as possible.

My goal will be to provide more writers, more personality and more fun to the Arsenal FC Blog, whilst still retaining the levels of quality and insightful writing that I have always strived to provide since starting the website over three years ago.

The move to Germany will give me more time to create what I have always wanted to create with this blog and I sincerely hope you enjoy what I have in store for you all for next season.

So what will happen before next season?

As I previously mentioned, Mike will be taking the reigns during the World Cup for the duration of the tournament. Once the tournament is over I will be taking a complete break from the blog to organise the re-launch for the 2010/11 season. That re-launch is scheduled to happen one week before the first Arsenal game of next season.

I realise this means that there will be a good six weeks or so of life without the Arsenal FC Blog but I can assure you it will be worth it.

A final message

To everyone that has continued to support the blog over the years, thank-you. Your feedback and participation has inspired me to pursue the area of writing and online projects as a career and I am exceptionally excited to see where things will take me over the next 12 months and beyond.

Before I go I just want to wish everyone a great World Cup. There are readers on the blog from all over the world and for a month or so we will all become opponents rather than teammates. The tournament is the first I have been involved with since starting the blog back in 2007 and it is set to be an amazing spectacle of football and culture.

Stay tuned to Mike’s coverage of the tournament on the blog as well as my web-documentary coverage on Football Nomad and above all – enjoy yourselves! The World Cup only comes around once every four years and we should all make the most of it!

Kind Regards,
Andrew Weber
Arsenal FC Blog Editor & Head Writer

The Arsenal FC Blog has been nominated as one of the Best Club Blogs of 2009/10 as part of the EPL Talk awards.

You can vote for the blog here!

This is the second nomination the Arsenal FC Blog has received this season after also being nominated in the Soccerlens awards, so we must be doing something right around here.

Thanks in advance!

Have your say on the Arsenal FC Blog’s nomination by leaving a comment.

I have some very good news to share with you today: the Arsenal FC Blog has a new writer!

Aidan Bennison, a long-time reader of this blog and head writer of Gunner Central, has agreed to join AFCB as a regular contributor.

Aidan is in his first year of Media studies at university in Australia and is well on his way to becoming a sports journalist. He has previously represented the Australian Paralympic Football team at last year’s International Championships in Holland and has a soft spot for Aaron Ramsey.

The best part of Aidan’s previous blog was his insightful player ratings posts that featured shortly after each Arsenal game. He will be bringing those posts with him to AFCB as well as providing some assistance with match previews.

I hope you can welcome Aidan to the team (two people make a team, right!?) and enjoy his contributions to AFCB, starting tomorrow with his player ratings from the Hull game.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Aidan joining the Arsenal FC Blog by leaving a comment.

Last week I ran a competition to win not one but two Arsenal jerseys thanks to the kind folks at SoccerPro.

I asked readers to let me know who their favourite Arsenal player is and explain why they like them so much in less than 25 words and I’m happy to announce that the winners were Mike Urbanski and Ian Jennings.

Mike’s choice was Robin van Persie and reasoned “He bleeds Red & White. No one can question his effort – ever. He re-signed for The Badge when more money was waiting for him elsewhere.”

Meanwhile Ian picked another striker, Nicklas Bendtner and followed it up with “Gung ho and determined. Doesn’t moan even though played out of position. Head never drops and always a chance with him in the box.”

Congratulations to those two for winning (I’ll be in touch with you shortly) and thanks to everyone else who sent in entries (there were over 90!) as well as SoccerPro for giving me the shirts to give away.

Have your say on the Arsenal shirt competition by leaving a comment.

A little while ago I announced that the Arsenal FC Blog had been nominated for the 2009 Soccerlens Awards as one of the Best Team Sites.

I asked you all to be kind enough to vote for the blog and while I’m sorry to say that it didn’t win the award (that honour went to The Republik of Mancunia with This is Anfield the runner-up) I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who voted. I was truly honoured to get so much support and I think it is testament to the fantastic community on this blog that it was nominated in the first place.

To show you just how much I appreciate your support I’m giving away not one but two FREE Arsenal shirts!

The Arsenal jerseys are compliments of the good people at SoccerPro and all you have to do to be eligible is by emailing me who your favourite Arsenal player is and why (in 25 words or less).

Please send your responses to admin[at]arsenalfcblog[dot]com (replace ‘at’ and ‘dot’ with ‘@’ and ‘.’) and the two best will receive either a free Arsenal jersey. Too easy!

Thanks again for your support and good luck!

Have your say by leaving a comment.

Following Arsenal from Australia is a unique experience.

It means a midnight kick-off for the weekend game and a 4.30am starts for midweek one. It means sneaking away from your friends birthday party to watch them at the pub. It means going to the work bleary-eyed and hungover after seeing them throw away another shot at the title.

It also means sharing brilliant nights out with other die-hard Gooners who know exactly how much you have sacrificed for the cause. 

Over the next three games against United, Chelsea and Liverpool, Panda Bear and I will be bringing you a fan’s perspective of following the Arsenal from our home in Brisbane, Australia.

We will have a good mate of ours (a Manchester City fan, bless him!) filming these escapades as we watch all three games from the Pig ‘N’ Whistle Riverside pub. So if you’re an Arsenal fan living or staying in Brisbane then be sure to get down to The Pig tonight, next Sunday and the following Thursday to share in what should be a really good project.

I can’t tell you just yet how it will pan out. What sort of footage we will end up with I just don’t know. But I can assure you that it will be good fun.

I’ll be editing the footage into a short web documentary which will go online as soon as possible after the Liverpool game. I’ve never done any filming or editing before and this is basically a practice before my big Football Nomad trip, so I’ll be just as interested as you as to how it turns out.

Stay tuned!

Have your say on “Three – An Arsenal Web Documentary” by leaving a comment.

Recently I asked you all to nominate the Arsenal FC Blog in the 2009 Soccerlens Awards and I am delighted to share that the blog has received a nomination in the ‘Best Team Site’ category.

I want to say thank-you to absolutely everybody that voted for the Arsenal FC Blog. I sincerely appreciate the support you’ve given to this community as well as all of the kind words that were left in comments and emails thanking me for my work on the blog.

But now it’s been nominated I’m asking you to vote again!

It’s much easier than the initial voting system: simply go to the ‘Best Team Site’ page, select ‘Arsenal FC Blog’ in the online poll and click ‘Vote!’

It will literally take 5 seconds and I would be so grateful if you could help me out again.

Oh and just for the record I’m up against The Republik of Mancunia (United blog), This is Anfield (Liverpool blog), Barca Loco (Barcelona blog) and another Gunners blog, Arsenal Mania.

Thanks again for your support and I promise I’ll share some bubbly if I win.

Vote for the Arsenal FC Blog in the 2009 Soccerlens Awards by clicking here.

Just a very quick final reminder/plea from the Arsenal FC Blog to help secure a nomination in the 2009 Soccerlens awards.

Nominations for the award close today at midnight (GMT) so if you could help support the blog by voting before then I would really appreciate it.

Click here to vote for the Arsenal FC Blog.