The Kroenke dynasty has ruled Arsenal for their gains over the years, but no misdeed goes for long as the Gunners with the support of all football fans around the globe have joined the #KroenkeOut movement. Leading the movement is Spotify owner Daniel Ek, a long-time fan of the Gunners, who expressed his love for the club and made the sliest indication to buy the American ownership out.
Looking at their club suffer for years, Daniel Ek has managed to bring Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, and Patrick Vieira together in a bid to help him take over the reign at the Emirates. And Arsenal fans around the globe rejoice as former manager and club legend Arsene Wenger could play part in getting rid of Stan Kroenke and bring joy to the Gunners with his legendary players for one last time, as he has done over the years.
Stan Kroenke is under massive pressure to sell Arsenal, with fans protesting in thousands at the home matches – imagine what would have been if supporters are allowed inside the stadium.
If you’d have asked me a month back ‘will the fans be heard’, I’d have been skeptical considering how these American owners have treated supporters for personal financial gains. Although we’ve seen what fans can do, and being a Gooner myself – I’m optimistic this time around. We should be heard.
With the union of Arsene Wenger, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, and most importantly the fans – fans could win their Arsenal back.
Supporting Daniel Ek and their expeditious conversation with him, Arsenal Supporters Trust have extended their hand in support of #DkIn.
AST published on their official website, with regards to the aforementioned talks:
“Over time this has meant seeking dialogue with shareholders, Board members, executives and others who hold or seek an equity stake in the club as well as holding positions of key influence. It is why we met with KSE when they started buying into the club in 2007 and had dialogue with Red & White Holdings when they were building a 30 percent stake in Arsenal.
Much of our work is focused on securing a greater role for Arsenal supporters in the club’s ownership structure, governance and key decisions, in an effort to make Arsenal the very best it can possibly be.
The AST designed and ran the innovative Arsenal Fanshare Scheme that enabled around 2,000 fans to share in the ownership of Arsenal. When Arsenal had supporters such as Danny Fiszman on the Board this scheme was made a priority by the club for support and promotion. Sadly, this scheme was not supported by Stan Kroenke and had to close after aggressive share purchasing killed the “custodian concept” and cut off the supply of available shares.
We have continually sought a dialogue with Stan Kroenke but he has refused to engage, despite commitments to do so made in official takeover documents in 2011. His appearances at the club’s Annual General Meetings in subsequent years to 2018 were not in any way interactive.
The AST welcomed a recent approach from Daniel Ek and his consortium partners Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Vieira, and that they said meeting us was a priority for them. A constructive meeting was held and we were encouraged to hear their commitment to making the role of fans central to their proposals. This is very welcome and we look forward to further dialogue.
We will engage with anyone who has a serious proposal as it is important any current or future owner is aware of the importance of working with fans. We also continue to seek a constructive and meaningful dialogue with Stan and Josh Kroenke.
Our message to all of them is simple:
Football needs to change. Arsenal needs to change
Change at Arsenal must include the opportunity for supporters to own an equity stake in their club. Fans are the true custodians and should have the opportunity to be part-owners. It is also a genuine opportunity to build an international fan-funded model.
Fans should also have a greater say in how their club is run. This means direct engagement and involvement with the Board and executives. It means accountability through events such as an Annual General Meeting, the publication of key information, transparency and honesty.
It also means fans having some form of voting rights, or “golden share”, that covers key custodian subjects such as the club entering new competitions and playing all home games in Islington.”
If Arsene Wenger joins in with Daniel Ek, trying to win our club back. It’d say much about how KSE has run Arsenal over the years. Well, I am all in for the better of Arsenal, Arsenal Fans, and Football as a whole. #KroenkeOut
