The meeting lasted only 45 minutes, as opposed to the usual hour. The formalities over, Keith Edelman gave a presentation of the finances, outlining the debt facilities currently in place (which changed in the summer). The total debts of £455 million were split as follows - £260m new stadium, £125m Highbury Square, £30m working capital, and a £40m "player trading facility".

He confirmed all the executive boxes are sold - on an average three year term. We can assume from this that as early sales were for a minimum of five years, some of the later ones can only have been one year deals.

The £260m bond for the new stadium loan was five times oversubscribed, indicating the City felt Arsenal are a safe bet and do not foresee a Leeds United scenario at the Club. He quoted the annual debt service as saving £10m – although this figure was quoted as £14m at the EGM in July. The Highbury Square proceeds should repay the £125m development loan plus £50m of the new stadium debt. He said there are 704 units to be built at the old Highbury stadium, although as there was a figure of 711 in the annual report, seven seem to have suddenly become off plan in more ways than one). Of the 704, 649 are to be sold at "market rates" and 55 are to be "shared equity". This is a favourable split as 25% "affordable housing" is in the planning consents but Arsenal must have used other housing units in the overall development programme to reach this quota.

Interestingly he said that 86% of all units released for sale had been sold. Previously this was 70 unsold units. But if 70 unsold units is 14% then this indicates that 500 units have been released, which is a much larger figure than I would have thought. If so where are all the cash deposits? Cannot see them in the accounts.

One shareholder asked if there were any plans to pay an exceptional dividend. Rather predictably, the answer was no, but if it’s money shareholders want, the vast majority could sell at significant profit, so few would complain at the lack of dividends.

Peter Hill-Wood said the board have no control over what ITV do with its 9.99% of the shares which are for sale at the “right price.” The Chairman also said that the Board were not seeking buyers and were not well disposed to new foreign money coming in. Having said that, the ‘board’ position can be different from that of individuals and it would be reassuring to hear a statement from both David Dein (14.6%)and the enigmatic Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith (15%) with regard to their own intentions. Danny Fiszman (25%) has been quoted as saying he is not a seller.

Peter Hill-Wood stated that the board could see no justification at this particular time for doing a share split (making the possibility of buying a share way out of the reach of many fans).

He also addressed the issue of the ‘undisclosed fee’ policy in the details Arsenal announced about their transfers in and out of the Club, stating that there was usually a confidentiality agreement in place. He went on to mention that the Club had fully co-operated with Lord Stevens’ ongoing enquiry into the ‘bungs’ phenomenon and stated that the Club had nothing to hide, resisting the opportunity to make a gag about a previous Arsenal manager.

Danny Fiszman, 25% shareholder, was not there... his first absence since I cannot remember when. This could be related to his new Swiss tax status and the number of days in the country he is allowed.

For those interested in finding out more about the mechanics of the Club’s ownership, and those smaller shareholders who wish to formally come together to be represented to the board under one umbrella, the Arsenal Supporters Trust exists to inform and represent all fans to the board, regarding the issues of ownership and club finance. For more details, visit www.arsenaltrust.org. Many non-shareholding members of the Trust were able to attend the AGM with the proxy cards of AST shareholding members who could not attend, so for £24 a year membership fee, this is one of several possible benefits.