We're delighted to confirm that we will be safely welcoming 2,000 supporters to our Europa League home match against Rapid Vienna on Thursday, December 3.
It’s been almost nine long months since we had fans in attendance at Emirates Stadium and our matches have simply not been the same without you.
While we appreciate that reduced capacity matches will be far from being ‘back to normal’, we can’t wait to welcome our fans back home for what will be a historic moment for the club.
This follows the UK Government announcement that Emirates Stadium is located in a Tier 2 area under the latest COVID-19 guidelines.
Rapid Vienna ticket sales process
We will not be running a ticketing ballot for the match against Rapid Vienna.
For this match only, we will be running a “first come, first served” priority sale to Gold and Premium Members who made their Initial Payment and registered for the ballot in September.
This priority sale will open at 9am GMT on Saturday, November 28.
If you are eligible to purchase tickets, you will be sent an email with all details. If you are an eligible disabled Gold or Premium member or if you normally sit in the Family Enclosure, please contact the service centre on +44 (0)20 7619 5000 at 9am GMT on Saturday, November 28.
Rapid Vienna ticket pricing
Only certain areas of the stadium will be open while we operate at such a significantly reduced capacity.
Tickets will be capped at four per booking and you must have a membership number for each ticket you purchase.
Tickets will be available to purchase as follows:
Lower tier: £15.00
Lower tier disabled: £7.40
OAP / Cannon Club - £6.35
Junior Gunner - £4.15
Club Level: £45.00
Club Level disabled: £22.50
Gold members will only be able to purchase tickets in the lower tier, while Premium members will only be able to purchase tickets in Club Level. Ticket prices are based on the equivalent season ticket match-by-match pricing for the relevant category of game.
Please note, if you are a Premium member, you must ensure your group is made up of one household or support bubble as you will be seated together at a table on Club Level when inside. Food and drink will be table service only in line with current UK Government guidance.
Seat allocation and social distancing
Supporters who successfully purchase tickets will be allocated seats in the relevant area.
Uefa regulations stipulate that all seats must be socially distanced, even for fans who attend with other members of their household or support bubble. Due to the size of the seats, this means there will be up to two seats between occupied seats in the lower tier, and one seat between occupied seats on Club Level.
Why are we running a Priority Sale for the Rapid Vienna match and not a ballot?
We will not be running a ballot for this match for various reasons. The different restrictions and guidelines for Uefa matches, coupled with the short timeframe to provide and receive information from our fans, would have ultimately created too many complications and a risk of confusion and disappointment for supporters.
The UK Government confirmed that fans would be allowed to return to stadia, subject to the venue’s COVID Tier Status, on Monday, November 23. London’s COVID Tier 2 Status was only confirmed on Thursday, November 26. This was too short a turnaround time to provide and receive information from fans if we were running a ballot process. Our priority is to run a high quality and safe event, while welcoming fans back to Emirates Stadium at the earliest opportunity. On this basis, we will run a Priority Sale for the Rapid Vienna game as a one-off.
Arsenal v Burnley (and beyond)
We will resume our plans to hold a ticketing ballot for our Premier League match at Emirates Stadium against Burnley on December 13.
More information on the balloting process for this fixture, and for future 20/21 fixtures, will follow early next week.
Your safety
All supporters attending the Rapid Vienna fixture and future games at Emirates Stadium will be required to complete an online health questionnaire and a track-and-trace form prior to the match. For the Rapid Vienna game, all necessary documentation will be emailed to you once you successfully purchase a ticket and your e-ticket will only be activated when these have been completed. This is in conjunction with UK Government and Premier League guidelines.
Furthermore, all fans must agree and adhere to the following Code of Conduct and comply with all relevant ticketing terms and conditions, links to which are set out below. It is essential that you take your time to read these documents carefully.
These are clearly exceptional circumstances and the health, safety and security of everyone is our top priority. When fans return to Emirates Stadium, our safety procedures will be in place to protect us all. This includes the introduction of new hygiene measures and intensive cleansing routines, many of which were robustly tested at our recent screenings of the Manchester City and Manchester United matches.
Supporters aged 14 and above must bring photo ID as you may be required to prove you are the named ticket holder to gain entry to the stadium.
Thank you for your support
This has been a challenging time for everyone and we want to thank you for your support, patience and understanding. We can’t wait to welcome you back, even though it will be a small number of fans initially.
This is an important step forward, but we are continuing to work with the Premier League and the UK Government to increase our attendances, which would also enable us to accommodate more fans in Emirates Stadium and open ticket access to more membership groups. Until this can be done, we appreciate the disappointment that many of you will feel if you miss out on attending games.
If you have any further questions, please check out our FAQs here.
We look forward to seeing you at Emirates Stadium soon.
From everyone at Arsenal.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
