Mike Francis
In the previous articles, I’ve already looked at the results of questions which related to last season, the playing staff and manager, and more general issues like ticket pricing and merchandise (links to these articles can be found at the end of this piece). Now it’s time to turn our attention upstairs to the directors box.
When The Gooner Survey was first run at the conclusion of the 1988/89 season the questions posed were almost exclusively about what happened on the pitch with a few about things like inflatables and membership cards thrown in for good measure. However, as more and more money has filtered into the game we’ve had to concern ourselves with ownership matters and business models, so for the last few years we’ve included questions relating to these areas, some of which members of the Arsenal Supporters Trust may recognise from the Trust’s own annual survey.
We started by asking for your thoughts on the self-sustainability business model which the club operates, where they only spend the revenues they raise, and whether this was the most appropriate course of action given the wealth of our major share holders, Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, the latter of whom was earlier this year revealed as the wealthiest man in Britain.
For the first time, a small majority (53%) now feel that we should seek investment from them and compete with the clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City (and others throughout Europe) which appear to be funded by wealthy owners. This represents an increase of 3% compared to last year and as a result the number who support the self-sustaining model has fallen from 42% last year to 37% this time round. However in the AST survey, there was still a very strong backing for self-sustainability with 61% backing it as the model for the Club to follow.
At the time of writing I think I’m right in saying that we have the largest cash reserves of any club in the world, so I’m not sure how much good it would do if Stan and Alisher dipped into their bulging wallets to add to the cash pile! Perhaps the self-sustaining route is still viable given the increased revenues which the club are now generating from pre-season tours as well as new television and sponsorship deals. However, unless the money is spent wisely to help the performance on the pitch, it will be seen by many as failing model.
Kroenke
The next question concerned Stan Kroenke who has now been our majority shareholder for two years and we queried how satisfied you were with the way he has managed the club to date. Last year, 9% were “happy” with his ownership, but this year that number had fallen to just 3.5% who were either very satisfied or quite satisfied.
Whilst the survey was running, I took to Twitter to express surprise at the number of people who had said they were very satisfied and one of them, Jon Moody, came forward and pointed out that his reasons were contained in his article in defence of Gazidis in the last issue. His view was that Gazidis has the control and Stan lets him get on with it, which in Jon’s view is the right approach. Clearly not everyone agrees, but Jon certainly put a strong case for the defence.
Just under one in five people who answered this question were “fence-sitters”, which leaves a sizeable majority who are either quite (38%) or very (40%) dissatisfied. This result suggests Gooner readers are a harder bunch to please than AST members because in the AST survey, the percentage of dissatisfied voters was 15% lower.
Usmanov
Given the levels of dissatisfaction with Stan, it’s no surprise that Alisher Usmanov is now more popular than at any time since he first arrived on the scene six years ago. There is strong support (83%) for Usmanov’s investment vehicle Red and White Holdings, who own very close to 30% of the shares in Arsenal, to have representation on the Arsenal Board, but Ivan Gazidis batted away questions on this topic at the end of season Q&A and it seems quite clear that there is no likelihood of Usmanov or any of his people being invited into the Club’s inner sanctum any time soon.
An alternative approach might be if Red & White Holdings launched a formal takeover bid for the club, which incidentally they are not obligated to do if and when they reach a 30% stakeholding contrary to some misplaced speculation. There are no signs that Kroenke would accept an offer for his shares, but 42% of you would support a takeover, whilst only 18% would oppose. Of course, without knowing what their plans would be, it’s hard to decide which camp you would be in, but it’s clear there are some who feel that it couldn’t be any worse than the current regime.
Gazidis and the Board
What about the man tasked by Kroenke with over-seeing the smooth running of the club, Ivan Gazidis? He’s one smooth operator and has a politician’s ability to answer questions in such a long-winded manner that by the time he’s finished you can’t remember what the question was, let alone work out whether or not he actually answered it! Gooner Editor Kevin actually reprimanded him for this prior to the end of season Q&A session and he did seem to take the hint.
We simply asked how satisfied you were with his performance as Chief Executive and only 16% of you said you were, which is comparable to the 17% who said that he was doing a good job when we asked 12 months ago. Just over one in three sat on the fence and said they were neither satisfied or dissatisfied, which left 49% who were dissatisfied, including 22% who were very dissatisfied.
He has been at the helm as we have secured increased sponsorship deals and grown the revenues generated which is what he believes is his primary goal, so he certainly deserves some credit for that. However, whilst he is happy to leave the football side of things to Arsene Wenger, there is a view that Gazidis does not hold him accountable enough and given that it’s commonly accepted that Ivan was interviewed by Wenger prior to be offered the role, it’s easy to see why there are question marks about who is whose boss!
Gazidis is by far the youngest member of the Arsenal Board at 48 and it’s been suggested for some time that new appointments are needed. An overwhelming 86% of you share this viewpoint and many of those commented that we need a football man back in the Boardroom, something which has been missing since David Dein’s acrimonious departure. Just 2% did not feel any new appointments were required, with the remainder either “not sure” or did not have a view.
With Peter Hill-Wood stepping down from his role as Chairman at the start of the summer, it seemed liked a perfect opportunity to introduce someone who could bring new skills to the table but instead it was decided to promote from within and Sir Chips Keswick will be the man who leads the AGM meeting this year.
Tim Payton of the Arsenal Supporters Trust wrote an interesting article for Le Grove recently which is well worth a read and suggests a couple of names from the business world who are both Arsenal fans and would undoubtedly enhance the Board.
Fanshare
I’m a proud member of Arsenal Fanshare and currently own 12 Fanshares which represent 0.12% of one share or about 0.000192873% of the club. I know it’s not much, but I love the fact that I am a part owner of my club. As we’ve seen with events at Portsmouth, fan ownership can be vital, so it’s encouraging to learn that Fanshare now has around 2000 members who collectively own 90 shares in the club which are worth approximately £1.4m.
The problem Fanshare has is that very few shares get offered for sale thesedays and Alisher Usmanov’s Red & White Holdings have snaffled most of those that have been, which has taken them to a 29.99% holding, as of 26th July which was when the last figures were published on the Arsenal website.
Therefore, we asked whether you felt it was important that Stan Kroenke actively supported the Fanshare scheme and almost half of you (48%) said that they felt it was “very important” with a further 31% saying it was “quite important”. That’s a pretty clear message, but one which has so far fallen on deaf ears.
The Arsenal Supporters Trust had asked Kroenke to show his backing for supporter ownership by issuing the scheme with 125 more shares (in recognition of the Club’s recent 125th anniversary) or even to sell a small percentage of his current holding to the scheme (something they have also asked Red & White Holdings to consider), but they are yet to receive a positive response.
