Thousands of Arsenal fans have gathered outside the Emirates demanding that Stan Kroenke leaves the club as the backlash from the botched European Super League plan continues.
There has been widespread fury among Arsenal supporters after the club’s American owners signed up for the ESL and ahead of their Premier League clash with Everton, they called for Kroenke Sport Enterprises (KSE) to sell up.
Despite Arsenal withdrawing from the ESL inside 48 hours after the ESL plans were formally announced, large number of supporters arrived outside the club’s stadium with banners to demand change in ownership.
Disgruntled fans arrived in their droves and were chanting ‘we want Kroenke out’ and ‘we f***ing hate Kroenke’ as they lit up flares.
One banner read: ‘You stole the crest, we stayed. You took our home, we moved. Wherever you went, we followed. Whatever price you demanded, we paid. All for you to go & sell our soul. #SayNoToSuperLeague. #KroenkeOut.’
Another said: ‘Merit not money. Say no to the Super League.’
One particularly humorous effort, in a tribute to Come Dine With Me contestant Peter Marsh, read: ‘Dear lord what a sad little life Kroenke. You ruined our club completely so you could have the money and I hope now you can spend it on lessons in grace and decorum. Take your money and get our of our club.’
Earlier this week, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta defended the fans’ right to protest.
‘The fans have to express, that is their right and they have to do it freely.
‘For me, what it shows is the power and the capacity when they show that determination and passion to achieve what they want.
‘If we can use this with our fans to support the team, I think that will be incredibly powerful and it will make us much, much stronger.
‘So it’s time to leave them to express themselves and now, somehow, we have to engage them again, get them closer to us and believing in what we do. If we do that, we’ll be in a much better place.
Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan, had attempted to appease fans earlier this week by attending a fans’ forum.
He said, as quoted by REDactionAFC: ‘We will rebuild, we believe we are fit to go forward with Arsenal football club. We were put in a difficult situation by sources outside the club.
‘I want to get back to London, I want to do this. I am aware we never had trust, we need to build a bridge, we will.
‘We have big plans to invest, we have plans, we want to be great again, but a long-term model does not support long-term high investment. We have no intention of selling.’
Attempting to explain the rationale behind Arsenal’s decision to join the European Super League, Kroenke added: ‘We asked ourselves, what is worse the European Super League, or a European Super League without Arsenal?
‘We also asked ourselves what do the fans want? The global fan wants Arsenal vs Barcelona as often as possible. English fans want to see more big matches, but you still want your cold nights in Stoke. We got it wrong.’
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