Friday, April 23, 2021

‘Get out of our club’ – Angry Arsenal fans protest against owner Stan Kroenke in their thousands outside Emirates Stadium

Thousands of furious Arsenal fans amassed outside the Emirates Stadium to protest against club owner Stan Kroenke on Friday night.

The Gunners supporters began setting up banners three hours before kick-off for their match against Everton.

Arsenal fans made their voices heard

Getty

Arsenal fans made their voices heard

Chanting could be heard from the group early on: “F*** off Stan Kroenke, get out of our club.”

This was followed by continued choruses of: “We want our Arsenal back.”

As the evening went on, numbers continued to increase and by 6:30pm, it was clear that thousands were in attendance.

Arsenal were one of six Premier League clubs that initially agreed to join a breakaway competition designed at rivalling the Champions League.

Supporters are not happy with Arsenal’s owner Stan Kroenke

GETTY

Supporters are not happy with Arsenal’s owner Stan Kroenke

And those controversial European Super League plans were met with widespread condemnation throughout football – resulting in an embarrassing u-turn from each of those clubs just 48 hours later.

There have been fan protests before all Premier League matches so far this week, including Chelsea’s home clash against Brighton as well as Tottenham’s game with Southampton.

Some Arsenal legends have backed the protests.

Ian Wright has already supported the #KroenkeOut initiative on social media while Martin Keown gave his thoughts to talkSPORT this week.

Asked by Jim White on whether he backs the strong opposition to the hierarchy, Gunners legend Keown told talkSPORT: “Oh, 100 per cent.

“I don’t think we should tell the fans what they should and shouldn’t do.

Fans let off flares outside the stadium

AFP

Fans let off flares outside the stadium

“We now find ourselves at a massive crossroad – Arsenal football club, a club that I played for from a boy all the way through to a man, you stand back and you wonder, what’s their ambition?

“They [the owners] came in and progressively bought shares in the football club from 2007 and I haven’t seen any real money of their own go into the football club.

“Now Josh Kroenke is saying that they’re going to invest now, and we really do need investment because for the first time in a really long time European football looks almost impossible, unless they win the Europa League.

“The club now is in a really difficult position. It needs investment – more than ever before – but they’ve put no money in of their own.

“The club is crying out for that investment, the manager certainly is. So we’re at a crossroads.”

The protest was attended in great numbers

Getty

The protest was attended in great numbers

Keown, who made more than 400 appearances for the north London club during a 21-year period, believes the Kroenke’s should sell up – unless they invest heavily in the squad.

He added: “I can see why the fans want change, and in all honesty unless we see money on the table – and we see the colour of that money – then I think they should step aside.

“If they don’t want to spend money now – when the club needs it the most – then they should step aside.

“It’s a wonderful club, but they [the owners] talk about culture but they don’t seem to have picked any of that up.

There were numerous banners on display

AFP

There were numerous banners on display

“They don’t seem to understand the values of the English game, how much we love it, the history and the core values of Arsenal football club.

“Do they just see us as fools? We’re just fools in the group? They go off and do this behind our backs.

“I mean I can only imagine what’s it like working at the club as an employee and you find out overnight they’re trying to take the club anyway.

“As soon as there’s a hint of financial difficulty with the pandemic they run off with the family silver.”

He concluded: “I looked back at the [Arsene] Wenger years to see what was spent and it was quite remarkable.

“Economically he must be the best manager of all time, what he was able to achieve.

“Between the years of 2007 and 2014 the money that was spent… they actually made £20million profit in that time over a 10-year period, and that was the formative years when Kroenke was buying his shares, of course he was.

“Now it’s time to support the football club. It’s supported him for long enough.”



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