Arsenal For Rent? Never For Sale!
Sep 18th, 2007 by 'holic
Surprise surprise. There has been just too much good news for Arsenal lately, so Red and White Holdings loom large to snatch back the limelight.
There is an air of inevitability about their growing shareholding. ‘What’s the problem with that?’ a friend innocently asked this morning. ‘I thought you were only opposed to a leveraged buy-out.’
He’s only partially right. I’m sure we all wanted any takeover bid to be financed by real money, not debt, but this is not real money, is it? We have lambasted Chelsea since they took advantage of the ill-gotten gains of one oligarch. There is no pleasure in seeing the same thing happen in N5.
‘Welcome to the real world,’ he continues. ‘What can you do?’ He has a point. There is precious little supporters can do to prevent big money buying the club that holds such an important place in our lives.
I can do something if and when the inevitable happens. I can restrict myself to away games and watch home games from the comfort of a bar. I can refuse to pump real money into Russian pockets. No more merchandise for me, oh no.
‘Do you really think he will care about that?’ my friend asks. On the face of it you would think not, but I sense there is a groundswell of ill-feeling towards the Red and White bid and that a number of fans would take such steps if the worse came to the worse.
Empty seats at the Grove would send a powerful message. ‘It won’t happen though, will it? There are too many waiting to take your place.’ I’m not so sure that argument holds water. Who would have thought that the waiting list for Manchester United season-tickets would have evaporated within three years of the Glazers’ arrival?
Don’t get me wrong. Arsenal will always be my club, and we will be around a lot longer than the Deins and Usmanovs of this world. I may not go home for a while if they are successful, but I will return. They could only become the temporary custodians of our heritage, never the owners.
4 Responses to “Arsenal For Rent? Never For Sale!”
It would be great if supporters could be significant share holders. If Kroenke wants to sell, it would be really nice if he could sell to supporters rather than Usmanov. Kroenke’s shares are worth maybe $60 million pounds. I could bring about 100 pounds to the table. We just need 600,000 like-minded souls and someone to coordinate the whole thing.
Goonerholic’s friend said, “I thought you were only opposed to a leveraged buy-out.”
I am mostly opposed to a leveraged buy-out. I’d rather there be no buyout, but if, IF Usmanov doesn’t have to borrow to buy the club, that would take quite a bit of the sting out it for me.
Sorry 433, I’m opposed to a leveraged buy out for all the reasons previously stated. But I’m even more opposed to Usmanov for completely different reasons. Like ‘holic I would find it really hard to spend my money on the club to enrich someone like him.
Passenal and ‘Holic,
Your impassioned protestations prompted me to take the painful step of reading up on Usmanov. I found a reprint of the original Craig Murray piece, that I’m guessing both of you have read, at alisherusmanov.blogspot.com.
Are the stories about Abramovich that bad?
Arsene will surely keep himself apprised on the Usmanov situation. Will he quit the club if Usmanov gains control?
The whole situation is inflammatory.
Was David Dein aware of the Murray allegations?
I can’t see the other Arsenal board members selling to Usmanov at any price.
I think the ‘holic strategy is a good one, and in fact is about the only remaining power we have as fans – or ‘customers – we cant make policy so we are left to vote with our cash. Maybe an additional option is through campaigns etc so that unwanted buyers can be sent the message that we mean business too.
Can you picture it – Arsenal FC, gone from being a proud Institution, to become the business toy of a quite literally filthy rich gangster! It’s a fall from grace alright. If it ever came to pass, the only comfort we would have, as ‘holic said is they would “only be temporary custodians”.