Who is the Arsenal owner? A Detailed Timeline of the Arsenal Ownership History

Arsenal is one of the elite clubs in the English Premier League, with a huge popularity amongst fans across the world. The club, which is fondly called “the Gunners”, reportedly boasts an estimated global fanbase of around 36 million. Since its inception in 1886, the North London club has lifted numerous Premier League titles and other domestic trophies, signifying the importance of the club in English football.

Throughout the history of Arsenal, credits for its European and domestic successes have been handed over to the big players and managers. However, it will be unfair to the Arsenal owner if no praises are offered to the club management in this regard. The Gunners have been guided by some of the influential owners, who have steered the club through thick and thin in the last 100 years. 

Despite the great economic recession that the UK faced during and after World War II, Arsenal stood firm and progressed smoothly, thanks to the strong owners of the club at that time. On that note, we have compiled a detailed list of the Arsenal owners, outlining the history of the long lineage of owners of the club. Additionally, we have discussed how the current Arsenal football club owner has fared in recent times.

Club History

The Gunners have a fruitful history of winning trophies, which took the first step forward back in 1890 when Arsenal won their first ever silverware by winning the Kent Junior Cup as the Royal Arsenal. The North London club announced their arrival in senior English football following their first FA Cup title glory in 1930. Since then, there has been no stopping to the title flow. 

Arsenal has won 13 Premier League titles to date, with the first one coming in 1931. They have also clinched the most prestigious English knockout tournament, FA Cup a record 14 times along with 17 Community Shields and two EFL Cups. In addition to that, the Gunners lifted the 1988 Football League Centenary Trophy and cemented their place as one of the best English clubs ever. 

However, Arsenal has not been successful in Europe despite repeated efforts over the years. They have always returned from the biggest continental club tournament, UEFA Champions League empty-handed. Their most prized European triumph is the winning of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994. This feat explains how terrible the club has fared against the global clubs at the biggest stages of club football. 

These continuous domestic successes have earned the club immense popularity globally, with an estimated valuation of €1.17 billion, making them the third most valuable football club in the world and one of the most followed sports teams. However, Arsenal, as a club, has seen a notorious downfall in different decades. The club owners have had a great part to play in this descending graph of performance on and off the turf. Having said that, let’s discuss the ownership history of Arsenal.

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History of Arsenal Owners

The history of Arsenal ownership has not been something to be proud of. When the club began its journey at the hands of David Danskin in 1886 with the name of Royal Arsenal, it was a proud team that played for the interests of the local people. A group of 16 engineers were the sole donors, who used to spend six spence each to buy the essentials of the team such as football, boots, etc.

Little did Danskin or his partners know their beloved Royal Arsenal would become one of the biggest clubs in Europe or would be run by the owners who would put their personal interests above the team. Throughout the 138-year-long lifespan to date, there are stories of corruption in ownership and there are those on the other hand where great Arsenal owners took the club to new heights. 

However, you could say that Henry Norris was the first owner of the Gunners in 1910, who saved the club during financial struggles and shifted its playground to Highbury in North London, a place popular for its growing soccer sentiment at that time. Norris was the owner of Fulham and his original goal was to merge both clubs to form a super North London side. Since his takeover as the Arsenal owner, there has been a long list of takeovers in ownership. Now, let’s take a look at the names who were at the helm of the Gunners and owned a stake in the club.

It must be noted that Arsenal has mostly been run by the Hill-Wood and Bracewell-Smith families, who have been the majority stakeholders for a longer period of time in the club. It all started when Samuel Hill-Wood, a former cricketer and cotton businessman, became the top man of the club. Arsenal became a wealthy club for the first time in its history, owing to the Hill-Wood family’s financial strength. This was the period when a legend like Herbert Chapman arrived at the club and led them to their first-ever major title. 

Bracewell-Smith’s involvement in Arsenal ownership happened due to his passion for the game, and he was the first stakeholder who wanted to protect the club’s legacy. However, the first investment outside of these two families happened when Peter Hill-Wood began to sell shares to his friend David Dein in a bid to lower his work pressure. With Dein making all the running, he gradually understood the ownership traits and bought almost 41% of the club’s shares by 1991. 

With him running all day-to-day operations at the club, Arsenal went through its most successful period as a club under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger. When it was all friendly affairs, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment arrived on the shores of North London.

Stand-off Between Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov

After David Dein found difficulty in running the club due to financial crunch, he found outside investment in the form of Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri. The Russian Oligarch Usmanov bought 30% share of Arsenal from Dein and set his sights on acquiring more than 60% stake in Arsenal. However, the arrival of the American investor Stan Kroenke thwarted the Russian’s plans. 

Kroenke first bought into Arsenal in 2007 when he took over the 9.9% stake worth £60 million from ITV. And thus, a great battle of power started between Kroenke and Usmanov, just like their respective countries – America and Russia were engaged in real war. After a long fight, the Denver-based company acquired Usmanov’s 30% stake at Arsenal for £550 million in 2018 and became the 90% stakeholder of the North London club.

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What is the Current Ownership Situation of Arsenal?

Stan Kroenke’s full takeover as Arsenal owner in 2018 raised several questions among the fans, with some accusing the American conglomerate of prioritizing the company’s interests over the club’s affairs.

Additionally, the acquisition of the stake in the club seemed like a hostile move to many Gunners, who were also stakeholders in Arsenal. Following the purchase of shares from Daniel Fiszman, the Carr family, and Nina Bracewell-Smith, Stan Kroenke drew criticism from loyal fans of the English club.

The relationship between KSE and Arsenal fans hit rock bottom when Kroenke took full ownership of the club by borrowing around £557 million from Deutsche Bank. The Gunners saw this as a move that could push the club to the brink of financial collapse and issued a statement calling it “a dreadful day for Arsenal.”

When KSE showed interest in joining the controversial European Super League, effectively leaving the Champions League behind, they delivered the final blow to their relationship with the club’s faithful. Fans staged a protest in front of the Emirates Stadium, demanding that Kroenke sell the club to a new owner. Since the American conglomerate took over, Arsenal has struggled in football terms. During the KSE era, they have won only one major trophy, the 2019/20 FA Cup. Despite having a net worth of £15.5 billion, Kroenke’s company has failed to restore the long-lost glory of Emirates Stadium. With growing protests against the owners, it remains to be seen how far this current American regime will go.

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