Arsenal is one of the most storied and supported football clubs in the world. With a rich history and a global fan base, it’s no wonder that numerous Arsenal forums have sprouted across the internet. These forums serve as the digital stomping grounds for passionate Gunners fans to discuss everything from match tactics to transfer rumours, and everything in between.
In this article, we’ll delve into the five most popular Arsenal forums that offer a sense of community for die-hard Arsenal fans. First of all, we will start by looking at the two standout options with the largest user bases.
Arsenal Mania
Arsenal Mania is one of the oldest and most popular Arsenal forums on the internet. Established in 2003, it boasts a vast and highly active user base. Thanks to this, at the time of writing well over four million posts had been submitted to the platform. The forum itself is divided into four main sections, Arsenal Talk, (general) Football Talk, Transfer Rumours and Football (video) Games. Unsurprisingly, the Arsenal Talk is by far the busiest and as well as the core forum there are a further five options: the Academy, Arsenal Women, History, Fans and Match Day Archive.
The Match Day Archive is where all the live match-day threads go. These threads enable fans to discuss the game live as it happens and they will regularly attract over 2,000 comments over the course of the fixture. The fact that these are separately archived, as well as the man-of-the-match threads, gives you some indication as to how well-organised the site is.
As well as having committed moderators, the site is generally very user-friendly, making it easy to see the latest posts. There is also a nice personal element to it as each user profile can display their location, favourite player and a photo whenever they make a post. It is also worth adding that Arsenal Mania does not just operate solely as a forum. The forum is part of a larger website that posts match reviews, transfer rumours, news etc. making it something of a one-stop shop.
Reddit’s r/Gunners
With Reddit one of the most popular sites in the world and Arsenal one of the most popular teams, it is no great surprise that the main Arsenal subreddit is extremely popular. Boasting over 340k followers, there is an endless stream of content and comments. Match threads are particularly active, regularly attracting over 5,000 comments for a standard competitive fixture or 10,000 for particularly big games.
With numbers like these, it is clear that r/Gunners is even more active than Arsenal Mania. In part, this is because r/Gunners attracts a more global audience. Arsenal Mania certainly has some overseas users, but a much smaller proportion. When running a subreddit census in 2021, r/Gunners found that the biggest share of its user base came from the USA (30.2%). The more global make-up of the forum does mean you get a different perspective compared to a more traditional Arsenal forum consisting of more local fans, so some supporters like to look at both angles.
While the most well-populated Arsenal forum out there, the Reddit website does take some getting used to for those unfamiliar with it. The matter is not helped by the fact that several third-party apps, that many felt made Reddit easier to view on mobile, shut down in the summer of 2023. It is also not as visually appealing as some alternatives either, as well as feeling a little more anonymous (which you may deem to be a good or bad thing).
Alternatives
In terms of activity, r/gunners and Arsenal Mania attract the highest volume of comments. These are not your only options though if looking to discuss the red part of north London online. Although these alternatives may not quite boast as many members, they do see a reasonably healthy debate across a range of Arsenal-related topics.
Online Arsenal
Hosted on a basic but easy-to-use website, Online Arsenal runs on donations from its members to keep the site alive. It’s been online virtually as long as Arsenal Mania, dating back to 2003, when it began as a hub for Arsenal content, as well as having a forum. Today it operates solely as a forum and it is one that sees a little more non-Arsenal related discussion than most.
Of course, the Gunners are still the main focus but there is proportionally more discussion on other sports, political issues, entertainment etc. This might be ideal for some users who enjoy discussing other topics but less so for those purely wanting Arsenal-related content.
Gooners World
Gooners World may not be enjoying its peak years but it is still hanging in there. In times gone by, it was one of the leading forum options and could at some moments boast over 4,000 online users. Their all-time record came back in 2012 when they had 4093 users online at the same time. Fast forward to today though and it is unusual to see over 100 members together simultaneously. Despite this, the forum is still plodding along with a decent amount of posts. In part, this is thanks to some very active long-standing members who help keep the site ticking along.
Although not the best if you want a quick response to a query or debate, the site is very well organised and functions well on PC. The situation on mobile is a little different however as the forum itself is not the most mobile-optimised.
Online Gooner (Gooner 2 Gooner)
Lastly, we want to mention the Online Gooner’s very own forum, which goes by the name Gooner 2 Gooner. Much like the other two forums mentioned above, it does not see an especially high amount of traffic but it is still relatively active. The only real talk that exists though is around the Gunners. ‘The Cannonballs’ section of the site, which allows for any talk unrelated to football, sees little in the way of posts.
Despite being nearly identical in appearance to Gooners World, it does run a little better on mobile. The only real issues arise when there is a chain of quoted comments, as after a few, they become difficult or impossible to read without heading to desktop mode.
