Arsenal are expecting a major turnout for their trophy parade this weekend, but the high attendance has forced some alterations to their usual parade plan.
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust report that Arsenal and the police are expecting a minimum of 500,000 people for Sunday’s trophy parade, with the Gunners set to celebrate their Premier League win on May 31st at 14:00 BST.
Whilst it’s obviously fantastic to have such high demand to celebrate Arsenal’s trophy (or two), this means a huge number of people to police.
The AST report that there were an estimated 100,000 at the stadium last Tuesday, 50,000 at Aston Villa’s recent parade, and 6,000 at Manchester City’s. So 500,000 attendees would be an unprecedented number of people.
As a result, Arsenal have planned a 9km parade route lasting 1.5-2 hours, with no plan for a trophy lift at the end.
The club have had to make that concession because it wouldn’t be feasible to crowd in half a million people around the Armoury – as the club have done for previous cup successes. On that note, the Armoury itself will be closed on the day.
Arsenal have also apologised to the fans who won’t be able to make it back from Budapest in time, pointing out that it wouldn’t be possible to hold such a large event on a working day.
Though the lack of a trophy lift in front of the fans will be a disappointment, it’s a necessary concession to allow everyone who wants to attend to be there safely.
The supporters will have to settle for having seen Sunday’s Premier League trophy lift on the pitch, and perhaps another in Budapest this weekend.
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