GET OUT OF OUR CLUB, KROENKE
THOUSANDS of angry Arsenal fans staged a mass protest against owner Stan Kroenke last night demanding he quits the club.
The US billionaire, below, was left under no illusions that his apology for trying to join the doomed Super League project had cut no ice with supporters.
The protests followed similar scenes outside Stamford Bridge from Chelsea fans before the game with Brighton on Tuesday. But in a huge show of strength, Gunners fans went one step further by demanding a change of ownership at the Emirates.
They chanted “Get out of our club” and “We want our Arsenal back” as they made their feelings loud and clear ahead of the defeat by Everton.
And they got a response from Swedish billionaire and Spotify
founder Daniel Ek, a boyhood Gunners fan.
The 38-year-old tweeted: “If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring.”
One protester was injured after falling from the roof of the box office and had to be treated by paramedics, but the scenes were largely peaceful.
Arsenal and the rest of the Big Six signed up for the Super League before withdrawing on Tuesday night as the project collapsed in farce.
The Gunners then apologised in an open letter to supporters, saying that they had “made a mistake”. However, Kroenke’s son, Josh, was
accused of being “out of touch” when he insisted the family had “no intention of selling up” at a stormy fans forum on Thursday. And that sparked last night’s show of force as supporter groups mobilised in large numbers, with flares, placards and banners.
The protestors marched on the stadium ahead of the club’s first game since the controversy broke and at one point even set off fireworks.
Kroenke was appointed to the Arsenal board in 2008 and became the club’s majority shareholder three years later.