Arsenal fans voted against the reappointment of Chair Chips Keswick and non-Exec Dir Josh Kroenke, and called for majority shareholder Stan Kroenke to attend Thursday's annual general meeting to explain his vision for the club over its "governance failings," according to Jack de Menezes of the London INDEPENDENT. A letter was sent by the Arsenal Supporters' Trust last Thursday to Kroenke calling for him to meet the fans after "failing to do so since he completed a partial takeover of the club" in '11, "despite promising to do so regularly." Supporters have grown "increasingly angry with Kroenke's ownership of the club," which has coincided with a "fall from being regular Premier League title challengers" to a side that finished outside of the top four for the first time in 20 years last season and now faces "serious questions about the direction it is heading in" (
INDEPENDENT, 10/25). In London, Gary Jacob reported the trust hopes that there will be a "strong show of hands to send a message to the club" at the meeting at Emirates Stadium, but "in reality it will be merely a symbolic gesture" because fans own just 3% of the shares in Arsenal. The AST said, "The reason for this course of action is to demonstrate dissatisfaction at the current ownership and governance arrangements at Arsenal. In particular we feel that the present directors are not acting with sufficient independence, nor representing the interests of the small shareholders, or the future custodianship of the club" (
LONDON TIMES, 10/25).
TRANSFER FIXER: Also in London, Ed Malyon reported Arsenal is "continuing to search for a replacement" for Chief Transfer Negotiator Dick Law, and has spoken to "multiple candidates" including former footballer Marc Overmars and Barcelona Dir Raul Sanllehi. The "highly-regarded" Law has "long performed many of the administrative functions expected of a sporting director, and is well-connected" with agents and senior club execs across Europe. But after a "frustrating summer," Law stepped down from his role and is understood to be "planning to return" to the U.S. Overmars, currently the sporting director at Dutch side Ajax and a former player under Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger, is one candidate and is "interested in the role." However, newspaper reports in Catalonia on Wednesday claimed former Nike exec Sanllehi "will take over from Law" (INDEPENDENT, 10/25).
