by James Montague
Bloomsbury, £16.99
Reviewed by Paul Rees
From WSC 368, October 2017
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Stories
A change in the Arsenal boardroom does not necessarily dictate a change in the club’s direction. Jon Spurling tells all
Last month, Stan Kroenke added Arsenal FC to his extensive portfolio of sports clubs. As usual, “Silent Stan” avoided saying anything of consequence to the media about the development, while in marked contrast to the noise surrounding the “Russian Revolution” at Chelsea in 2003, or John W Henry’s takeover at Liverpool earlier this year, the announcement that Kroenke had become majority shareholder at Arsenal warranted comparatively little media hype. Then again, Kroenke has been steadily increasing his percentage of shares at the club since 2007, while, in media terms, an American taking over a Premier League football club is relatively old hat. It is also the case that Kroenke, much like Villa owner Randy Lerner, has remained resolutely “hands-off” with his sporting investments, preferring to allow his executive and coaching teams to get on with their jobs.
Debt is a fact of life for football clubs, but how damaging will it become?
“We obviously can’t compete with the money Manchester City have so there’s no point trying. We’ve got to succeed some other way.” So said a Premier League chairman in late September. But this wasn’t a pragmatic view from someone at a club that would be happy with a mid-table finish. It was Arsenal’s Peter Hill-Wood, whose comments were reported on the day that his team went top after a win at Bolton. The Arsenal board are bucking the current trend by actively discouraging interest from outside investors, in their case Alisher Usmanov from Uzbekistan, who owns a 24 per cent stake in the club.
The Making of a Modern Superclub
by Alex Fynn & Kevin Whitcher
Vision Sports, £16.99
Reviewed by Cameron Carter
From WSC 260 October 2008
At last – a football book that reflects the spirit of the age. Arsènal – The Making of a Modern Superclub is a forensic account of the boardroom rumblings that have produced a world brand that sells property in London, beer in India and credit cards in Hong Kong. And 90 minutes of football in England on a Saturday.
The menace of meddling chairmen
“The only crisis we have here is when we’ve run out of champagne in the boardroom,” said John Cobbold when Ipswich chairman. The Cobbolds, whose family brewery was one of the town’s main employers, are often held up to exemplify the attitude of the patrician dynasties who used to own many teams. They may have looked upon their clubs as heirlooms – one of the last of the breed, Peter Hill-Wood at Arsenal, has been magnificently disdainful of the rumoured interest in the club from US billionaire Stan Kroenke – but they also knew better than to interfere with the manager’s role.