After Arsenal lost at Manchester City in their Premier League title showdown last month, their self-styled ‘ultras’ group announced they would stage a march to the Emirates Stadium for their next home match against Newcastle, inviting fans to ‘turn N5 red, and carry the same energy from the march into the stands throughout the entire 90 minutes’.
You might think the rallying cry would resonate among supporters seeking to push the Gunners over the line to a first league title since 2004. Instead, the post from the Ashburton Army on X was met with a barrage of anger.
The comments alleged that members of the group had ‘scammed’ fellow fans for tickets. It came days after an allegation that a supposed member of the ‘AA’ had left a group of Arsenal fans ticketless outside the Etihad Stadium. At least 10 people were said to have been impacted, with one claiming to have paid £640 to secure a ticket for the clash with City.
It was not the first time allegations about ticket scams had been made. In late 2024, one Arsenal fan said he and his friends had been left ‘thousands of pounds in debt’ by someone he considered to be his ‘best mate’ after they had failed to deliver on tickets they had paid him for. A member of the AA responded by confirming that the individual responsible had been removed from the group.
Similar claims have recently been made about another AA member. When contacted by Daily Mail Sport for their response to the claims, they responded: ‘In the politest way possible, don’t take the f***ing p***. You don’t understand the s*** this stuff has caused me so I ask you don’t go and mention my name or me in that article.
‘My life has literally been ruined by these allegations and this will just set me back further. I’m not commenting on the tweets or the ticketing I’m simply saying leave me out of it.’
The Ashburton Army helped to create a febrile atmosphere ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg victory over Atletico Madrid last week
The group, founded in 2019, was aimed at improving the atmosphere at the Emirates
Views have been mixed on the Ashburton Army’s success, with some criticising their execution while others believe they have made a tangible difference at Arsenal
Daily Mail Sport attempted repeatedly to contact the Ashburton Army to discuss those claims, as well as their own progression as a group and relationship with Arsenal, but received no response. Arsenal were also asked about their relationship with the AA and declined to comment.
Arsenal have, however, stressed they are taking strong action against ticket touting. The club have banned thousands of suspicious accounts and memberships across this season, with multiple anti-touting operations run each year.
It’s episodes like this which have created a divide around the Ashburton Army, which was established in 2019 to lift a fanbase that had lost its voice in the long league title drought. After initially working with the club, their relationship has cooled in recent years.
They are highly visible at Arsenal home games, both in the ground and on TV, bunched together in a few rows of the Clock End all dressed in black, waving flags and scarves and with one of their number spending 90 minutes beating a drum.
Named after the Ashburton Grove site on which the Emirates was built, they are one of only a handful of fan groups like this in English football and views have been mixed on their success. For some it is a case of right aims but wrong execution, while others believe the group have made a tangible difference at Arsenal.
The Ashburton Army was conceived in a group chat of like-minded Arsenal season-ticket holders as a way of countering the toxicity of the ‘Wenger Out’ era, which most notably played out among rowing fans on the AFTV YouTube channel, bringing what the AA called an ‘undeniable toxicity’ to the club.
One of the Ashburton Army’s founders, who gave his name only as Jack (anonymity is highly prized among members and he was only 16 at the group’s inception), has previously said they were drawn to the culture of ‘ultras’ groups around Europe, highlighting the use of flares, drumming and commitment to chanting. Inspiration was also taken from Celtic and Rangers, and Crystal Palace’s Holmesdale Fanatics.
Those wishing to be part of the Ashburton Army have been required to show ‘pure dedication’, including helping to produce banners, write chants and join the pre-match gatherings at the Eaglet pub on Seven Sisters Road.
The group have been known for staging marches in advance of some of Arsenal’s biggest games
The Ashburton Army produced a display paying tribute to Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe in 2022
The group had collaborated with Arsenal on a display for their north London derby in the same year
They launched in 2019 at a friendly in Boreham Wood, but gained more prominence following the pandemic. They approached the club over a youth-driven, fan-led movement, while expressing the desire to remain independent. Arsenal saw the potential.
They offered support by first allowing the Ashburton Army to be grouped together in the Clock End, and then in 2022 allowed them to move to the front of the stand to provide greater visibility and better acoustics to enhance the atmosphere.
Arsenal’s openness to the requests was based on their desire to create a better connection with their fans for the 2021-22 campaign, after a season of Covid-enforced empty stadiums and enraging their supporters with their involvement in the European Super League.
The AA were given a ticket allocation of 100 and the move proved to be success, with the group credited with helping to inject the Emirates with a positive atmosphere that brought improved results on the pitch. Arsenal jumped from eighth to fifth in the Premier League, and began their transformation into the team that now challenges for the title each season.
Manager Mikel Arteta was among those publicly supportive of the initiatives put forward by the group, such as a fan-funded tifo honouring academy products Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe prior to a 3-1 win over Manchester United in April 2022.
‘I am really pleased to hear all of those things because that initiative means they are really engaged with the team,’ Arteta said. ‘They want to show them they are with the team, and they feel like they are really participating in the success of the team. Even when a player made a mistake, they got right behind them. They are playing the game with us and that completely changes our ability and our potential.’
Later that year, Arsenal granted the Ashburton Army entry to the Emirates so they could set up a display ahead of the north London derby.
‘We worked endlessly over the last couple of months communicating with the club and suppliers for flags, banner materials and we stepped it up from our previous ones,’ Jack reflected post-match, after their ‘We came, we saw, we conquered. North London is Red since 1913’ display was shown prior to the Gunners’ 3-1 victory.
The Ashburton Army typically blur the faces of those involved when posting on social media
The group have sought to create a more hostile atmosphere for visiting teams at the Emirates
The Ashburton Army’s allocation was cut in half as their relationship with the club deteriorated
‘The club love us and want to help us grow even further, the longer it goes on and the more respect we get, it could go into 200 or 300 (tickets),’ Jack said that year.
It didn’t last. Rather than increasing, the Ashburton Army’s allocation was cut in half as the relationship deteriorated.
The Ashburton Army staged a walkout for the first 30 minutes of a Premier League match against Chelsea in 2023. The group claimed they had been treated like ‘high-risk criminals’ and were being subjected to ‘police surveillance’, complaining about requirements for an ID check and having a picture taken by police to receive tickets. They also hit out at the club for a lack of communication.
Weeks later, The Guardian reported that Arsenal had been liaising with police over anti-Semitic messages in the Ashburton Army’s WhatsApp group, dating back to 2019. The posts were said to have referenced the Holocaust and conspiracy theories on Israel and Palestine. One former member was targeted in particular and despite encouraging the primary target to issue a formal complaint, Arsenal eventually only issued a warning to the AA about future conduct.
The Ashburton Army responded by stating they condemned ‘any form of racism and anti-Semitic talk’ and would ‘continue to educate members’. It was claimed the group had strengthened their approach to vetting members in response.
In 2024, Daily Mail Sport revealed that three 18-year-old members of the Ashburton Army had received a three-year football banning order for tragedy chanting relating to the Hillsborough disaster, during Arsenal’s FA Cup tie with Liverpool in January of that year. The trio pleaded guilty to the public order offences in court. While no further incidents have emerged since, the ticket-scamming claims are the latest blow.
There are also concerns over their tactics in improving the atmosphere around the Emirates. One Arsenal supporters group contacted by Daily Mail Sport explained that the AA’s pre-match marches, including the use of flares, have been found to be intimidating by some fans. This was in part due to the lingering perceptions of violent ultra groups in Europe.
From their inception, the Ashburton Army had sought to stress they were focused on delivering the positive aspects of ‘ultra culture’, and making sure they steered clear of the perceptions of hooliganism often associated with similar groups in Europe.
Arsenal have worked alongside their recognised fan groups to deliver tifos for their most high-profile matches
‘You want teams to come to the Emirates and it to be intimidating. You want to show them this is a tough place to come and win at’
‘The ultra style, it brings the more aggressive side,’ Jack said in 2022. ‘You want teams to come to the Emirates and it to be intimidating. You want to show them this is a tough place to come and win at.’
But with the group blurring their faces in pictures on social media, wearing balaclavas during marches and maintaining anonymity, they have become an easy target for rival fans.
Criticism has ranged from their V for Vendetta-inspired logo to their all-black uniforms that are traditionally associated with the brutal hooligans of the continent, as well as an ill-fated attempt to set fireworks off at a London hotel they thought Manchester City were staying in during the 2024 title race.
Only later did they discover that Pep Guardiola’s side were still in Manchester and travelling down to face Tottenham on the day of the match.
‘Bunch of entitled, over-hyped ultra cosplayers,’ read one of the more disparaging comments about the Ashburton Army. ‘Stop blurring your faces on social media boys. You’re not Serbian ultras looking for a fight, you’re just a bunch of middle-class kids from the suburbs.’
However, in a survey carried out by an Arsenal fan group just over a year ago, the vast majority of responses were positive about the impact of the Ashburton Army, citing their efforts to improve the matchday experience by starting chants and generating noise – though their drumming split opinion.
While behavioural issues were acknowledged in the past, there were calls for an increased allocation for the AA, with the view that they are a ‘force for good’ contrasting sharply with fans’ views of AFTV.
The biggest complaint raised was that the Ashburton Army’s allocation had been cut, with confusion over Arsenal’s attitude towards the group. Responses found the reduction had lessened the group’s impact, with some raising the view that this was a backwards step and the Emirates atmosphere had been affected.
With the group blurring their faces in pictures on social media, wearing balaclavas during marches and maintaining anonymity, they have become an easy target
In some ways, the Ashburton Army have been left behind by the club
In some ways, the Ashburton Army have been left behind by the club. A working group, largely comprised of the Arsenal Independent Supporters Association, the Arsenal Supporters Trust, Gay Gooners and REDaction, have worked on tifos and displays ahead of some of the club’s biggest matches this season.
This has seen designs proposed and discussed with Arsenal, who have then commissioned production of the tifos, with the working group then involved with finalising them at Hale End and rigging them at the Emirates.
REDaction – who are working to improve the levels of fan engagement in the stadium at home games – confirmed supporters and the club collaborated on a ‘spectacular’ tifo ahead of the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. They also encouraged fans to greet the team bus prior to the tie – something backed by the Ashburton Army.
And so the Ashburton Army find themselves at a tricky point, desperate to make their voice heard inside and out of the stadium, but finding themselves down the club’s own preferred pecking order. For now they will have to make do with beating their own drum.
