By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Premier League football club Arsenal have been mocked over charging £50 for a full English breakfast topped with watercress in a corporate hospitality section.
Social media poster Stephen Power, known online as Racing Blogger, shared a picture of his plate at Saturday's narrow home win against Leeds United.
He was dining in a venue in Arsenal's Emirates Stadium called The Heritage, with signs behind for the Woolwich Bar – named after their original south London setting.
Mr Power accompanied the images with the words: 'The Arsenal fry-up in the Heritage! £50 fry-up with all the trimmings'.
The plate comprised a fried egg, two sausages, a mushroom, a tomato, a slice of bread and a cup of beans as well as some watercress that provoked scorn.
Mr Power later followed up by posting: 'I must say it was actually banging, proper quality produce, great taste, very enjoyable grub.'
But he also acknowledged how his post had attracted plenty of negative comments, which he described as 'gold dust as always'.
Critics included one branding it 'a bigger scam than Man City', after the rival club was found guilty of 114 financial irregularity charges by the Premier League.
'Racing Blogger' Stephen Power posted this image of his breakfast at Arsenal
Fans are seen outside Arsenal's Emirates Stadium for Saturday's game against Leeds
Other responses included a poster on X describing the offering as 'pathetic', adding: 'Absolutely nothing on that plate warrants that price.'
Another asked: 'Why is there baby watercress on a fry up? I find that more offensive than the alleged £50.'
Further comments have included 'A post that sums up the ruining of football in this country,' 'How much are the prawn sandwiches?' 'Why is there a garnish?' and 'Did they forget to put the trimmings on?'
Arsenal came from behind to win Saturday's lunchtime game 2-1 against Leeds.
The side managed by Mikel Arteta won the Premier League title last season for the first time since 2004 though lost the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain.
Matchday tickets for The Heritage package at Arsenal start from £999, with the club promising 'award-winning cuisine in our exclusive restaurant before watching the match from premium match seats'.
Alternative options include The Touchline offer, starting at £2,499, with seats behind the Arsenal bench and the ability to walk out of the tunnel for the player warm-ups.
Supporters in corporate hospitality areas of football grounds have been branded 'the prawn sandwich brigade' after comments by ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane in 2000.
He criticised the atmosphere at Old Trafford following a 1-0 win against Dynamo Kyiv, saying: 'Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them the hardcore fans.
'But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch.
'I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell football, never mind understand it.'
Arsenal fans have also long faced accusations of lacking the enthusiasm shown by other clubs' supporters.
TV comedy sketch programme The Fast Show featured a character called Roger Nouveau, a middle-class new arrival who turned up to Arsenal games with a picnic hamper and struggled to understand the game's rules.
Before moving to the Emirates stadium in 2006, Arsenal's former home – following their move from south to north London in 1913 – was nearby Highbury, often dubbed 'The Library' for the crowd's silences.
Arsenal have been contacted for comment.