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18 December 2008

Dear Lady Nina

Arsenal Football Club

I am writing this open letter to you following the news of your departure from the Arsenal Holdings plc board of directors of yesterday Wednesday 17 December 2008.

Next month in January of the New Year 2009 I shall celebrate forty-one years as an Arsenal fan. I attended my first game against Sheffield United in 1968. I have been a dedicated supporter ever since. In 1980 I first became a season ticket holder on the old North Bank terrace, where I had stood since I was a boy.

Twenty years ago in 1988, approaching middle age, I followed the path of many before me. I moved from the terraces to the grandstand, taking a season ticket in the old East Stand Upper Tier. Three summers ago I entered our wonderful new home at the Emirates Stadium for the first time, after bidding a tearful farewell in the previous spring to our historic old ground where I had grown from a child to adulthood.

Just over five years ago I became a shareholder in our great club. My share is one of my most precious possessions. I wouldn’t part with it for the world. It bought me even closer to the club that I have loved for most of my life. Football is more than just a game to me. It is a central part of my social experience. I have met many life-long friends through Arsenal. I have enjoyed attending matches and talking about the game with people from the five continents of the Earth. I am proud to be a founding life member of the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust. I have served on its governing board.

Your family has a proud tradition of service to Arsenal and the game. The large shareholding you now own is key to the future of our great club, which has become a national and international sporting institution in its 122 year history. From humble roots as a team of munitions workers in south-east London it now respected and recognised throughout the world.

Arsenal has never stood still. Its tradition is one of innovation, on and off the field of play. We have always moved with the times, in many cases leading change in a deeply conservative game. We have always been true to our values though.

I believe we now stand at a crossroads in our history. Very possibly you hold the future of our club in your hands. Will we continue to put sporting and cultural values first, or will we become just another business whose principal concern is money and profit? If those entrusted with the custodianship of the club were to choose the latter path, I believe the very essence of that which makes Arsenal what it is would be lost – forever. There would be no going back.

I hope you will reflect long and hard before deciding on your next step. I hope that you will consider consulting widely before deciding whether to retain your large shareholding in the club. Specifically I invite you to consider taking counsel with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust. I am sure its board would welcome the chance of a dialogue with you. They represent the history and values of the club’s diverse and remarkable supporter base, of which I am proud to be but one.

History is watching. You have the chance to play a remarkable and historic role in Arsenal’s future. I, along with countless hundreds of thousands all around the world await your next steps. Your actions will have the most profound effect on something so deeply entwined in all our hearts. Every one of us hopes that you will act with wisdom and deliberation.

Yours sincerely

Steven Powell