The Arsenal Supporters Trust annual survey of its members shows that barely more than 10% are satisfied with Stan Kroenke’s ownership of the club, while 63% declare themselves either ‘quite dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with the American businessman.
Almost 92% believe there should be greater transparency when it comes to the £6m in consultancy fees taken by KSE (Kroenke Sports Enterprises), while almost 74% believe the clubs other significant shareholder, Alisher Usmanov, should be given a seat on board.
Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, who will meet fans and shareholders tonight and who spoke yesterday about many aspects of the club, fares better with only 25% expressing dissatisfaction with his performance. Just 5% say they’re very satisfied with 37.5% not caring either way.
There’s significant unhappiness with ticket prices and value for money with well over 50% expressing levels of dissatisfaction, while 73% don’t believe Arsenal do enough to support there being a good atmosphere inside the stadium.
43% would welcome the introduction of a band in the ground to help build atmosphere, a suggestion made by REDaction, while 92% believe the club should invest more resources into ticketing schemes to ensure fewer empty seats.
As for Arsene Wenger, the split as to whether he’s the right man for the job seems fairly even across the board.
To the question, ‘To what extent do you agree or disagree that Arsene Wenger is the right person to manage Arsenal Football Club?’, respondents answered as such:
And with regards to his future, 16% believe he should leave now before the final year of his contract, 36% say next season should be his last, almost 9% want him to sign a new deal and continue beyond 2017, while close to 40% are open to his position being reviewed based on the club’s performance in the 2016/17 season.
There were 943 responses to the survey. You can find a full download of it in PDF format and more information at arsenaltrust.org
Very interesting
Heh fecking cunts
your likes mean nothing to me ..
I AM the judge of what is interesting.
Currently a 40%er
Kroenke isn’t an Arsenal fan and never will be. Talking about the ‘business model’ is never going to endear him to us fans. We need the cash to be available so, given it is in the bank, we are in a good position but now things have to change and they need to spend some fcking money (on someone(s) that score goals) as well as retain the good things we have already. Winning trophies is it. And in the end that is what will take Arsenal to the next level so if Stan is sensible he will drive that and… Read more »
No, Kroenke hasn’t the slightest interest in the club as anything other than a source of what he calls the ‘revenues’, but that doesn’t mean he’s uninterested in success on the pitch. Even Kroenke (presumably) understands enough about football in Europe to have twigged that success on the pitch is how you generate bigger revenues. I agree that there isn’t a single positive thing to be said for his ownership, but his thievery has so far been relatively limited, at least compared to that of his role model, the Glazers. He’s been pocketing only what the club can sustain, 3m… Read more »
What you deduce from the Gazidis interview depends on which site you read it on and which bits that site chose to quote. The one where I read it first omitted – wisely perhaps – this: ‘ I’m comfortable both that if Arsène is going to extend we will know that and if, whenever that is, he is going to come to an end, that he will give us the time that we need to prepare for that transition.’ In other words, it was always the intention to offer Wenger a new contract, something the club denied when there was… Read more »
Here blogs, check Mr Essay out here.
Think he is bucking for a regular spot on your Site.
Why cant we fire dummy/fake cannons at the start of a matchday?!
gunnersaurus as much as i love him has nowt to do with our heritage.
Take a leaf out of palace’s book. the tail end of the season before and the start of last season their atmosphere was amazing.
Isn’t the atmosphere down to the fans? I go to Quins rugby sometimes and they have music blaring out which kills the fans as whatever they cheer will not be louder than the music, so no-one bothers.
Alternatively I’ve been at the Emirates and the Dortmund fans were incredible, noisy, great tunes etc throughout the match. With no help from anyone.
One idea, Arseblog, could you have a part of your site dedicated to Arsenal chants, so that supporters can get familiar with Arsenal chants and even practice before they go to the Emirates stadium?
Great shout. I expect to see “fuck off Mourinho” to top that section.
Cannons is a great shout. Anything like that plus a haka-like war cry would be great.
Real cannons, aimed in the rough direction of Seven Sisters tube station
Maybe we can fire Stan Kroenke out of a cannon? That would be REALLY popular.
We should be playing AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock… We Salute You” immediately before every home game… with giant booming stage cannons, just the way AC/DC do it live. We are the Gunners, after all. Nothing like a few flashbombs and a bit of (red) smoke to get the fans going. It would set the right mood for sure.
You know Americans love some music at sporting events. Stan and Ivan would love it. Somebody should tell them about it.
This is an amazing idea, they fire a dummy cannon from Edinburgh castle in to the city every day at 1pm (enter jokes about how even if it was real you may not notice any damage)
Pointing it at Tottenham would be hilarious, but if you want to be in keeping with the traditions of Arsenal, the cannon should face east – maybe even at the Away fans since there in that general direction 🙂
One thing I would love, is something similar to Camp Randall Stadium. Half time they play ‘Jump’ by House of Pain, and everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone jumps… check it on YouTube, looks impressive.
Would link but I think I’d break forum rules.
Of change the entrance song to AC/DC Thunderstuck – specially on a champions league night 🙂
Anything to improve the atmosphere.
Anything besides those bloody clappers that Leicester use, that is.
Score more goals….that will improve the atmosphere !!
I like the idea of bringing back the old Police marching band with the baton twirling cop at the front. It was always fun to wait for the big throw in front of the North Bank. I remember him dropping it once, much to the amusement of the entire crowd and of course having 10’s of thousands of fans chanting “La la la la la, nick nick, nick nick” was fun. However, I think we need some standing areas to allow like minded fans to group together, that’s down to the FA/EPL/Govt though. When I stood on the North Bank… Read more »
Anything but a band – that always smacks of desperation and is basically f*cking annoying. I loathe the ones at England games repeating the same Great Escape tune over and over and over and over a-f*cking-gain.
Damn right. The only people that want bands are the band members themselves.
Given the AST positioning itself as representing Arsenal’s small shareholders, and its often hostile attitude to the concept of a majority shareholder, even to the extent that 74% seem abe to accept someone with Usmanov’s frigntening background on the board, it’s perhaps more suprising that 11% are satisifed with Kroenke and 26% ambivalent than that less than two thirds are dissatified. As for improving the atmosphere at the ground there’s probably little chance of the club adopting Herbert Chapman’s solutuion 80 years ago which was to expel all those ‘barracking’ the team.
And he will care how much????
Quite funny really. Some fans are willing to blame silent Stan for all our ills yet wenger and gazidis have both put on record that the money is there and he has never denied the club any transfer funds. He doesn’t interfere with team affairs, he let’s the manager run the club how he sees fit yet we blame him and slate the bloke. If you take wenger and gazidis at thier word then the blame lies solely with the manager and his decision not to buy players last season. Simple as that. But it’s easier for some to blame… Read more »
Agree with this somewhat, but there is the fact that with a more ambitious owner, Wenger wouldn’t be there right now.
I totally agree. I’m no fan of Stan but if we are led to believe that Arsène runs the the football side totally and money is and has been available then the only conclusion can be that it’s Arsene that lacks the ambition and it’s his failings not stans that are holding the club back.
Yes Stan is happy as the money is pouring in but if it’s available to spend and isn’t being spent then it can’t be his fault.
I think the way you present matters is too polarised. The starting point in moving forward is money. To me if we do not make a major striker signing this summer, next season will be a write-off. I’m talking a Lewandowski level signing, rather than making do with a Morata, etc. The syrupped one may allow our money to be spent, but there is a big difference between £40/50m for Morata, and £100m (possibly plus) for the sort of player we need. Broadly the club has the money to get a £100m signing. (I can explain, although it is only… Read more »
I agree with almost all of this, but there’s no way we can sign a Lewandowski. You might as well ask for Messi.
Firstly the club has to be prepared to sell. Secondly, the oil funded clubs have to decide not to out-bid us (transfer fee plus salary), and thirdly the player has to be prepared to come to us rather than somewhere like Barca or Real.
Morbius – but this is it. I think we can, subject to other clubs out-bidding us. We need to do it quickly. Make him feel wanted and vital. A lot of footballers (surprisingly) refer to how important that is. It’s not wholly about the money. We would also need to make a world record bid. But I expect that world record to be broken this summer (and more than once), so a world record bid may not look quite so much in a few months time. But, and I cannot claim any inside knowledge, from “publicly available figures”, we appear… Read more »
Think about how many of the top strikers are playing in England right now. I reckon there’s just one.
This isn’t because the likes of Chelsea and Man C are too mean to spend a lot of money on strikers. It’s because there are very few of them and they would rather play where the weather is better, the money at least as good, the intensity of games is less, there’s less physicality, and they are playing in the most successful teams alongside the best players in Europe at the moment.
Morbius – Don’t disagree with you. That’s why I thought it would only work if we threw money at it, and acted quickly.
Most of all it would be nice (to appear) to try.
Club is in crisis at all levels. That’s why things don’t go as planned. Eternity of injuries, sometimes not many but key players (How Cazorla and Wilshere were missed this season?) Crisis on top level as silent stan wear his nickname perfectly and Wenger who is stubborn as will though not bad results for a team who barely can walk with 3 legs. They are at fault as much as strong WO people, we have to say that the club is badly manage human wise, we got the cash, we got some very good players who can make the difference,… Read more »
Aston Villa are a club in crisis, we are not a club in crisis. Stop being a drama queen.
Bring in safe standing
the club can’t unless thee Government change the law,
I think the fuss over Kroenke is mis-placed. OK it woudl be good if he said more. Perhaps he could put more pressure on Wenger, but basically he keeps out of the way and lets Wenger get on with things. What more can you ask? He has taken out a trivial £6m from the club, but unlike other owners has put no debt on the club. He does not take dividends. £6m is not much return on a spend of over £1000m over five or so years. I make that a return on his investment of 0.1%. His beneift will… Read more »
I agree with your first two paragraphs, though not sure the last line stands up – surely no-one can be more of a c*nt than Mourinho, he is the c*nt meister general.
I agree with your first two paragraphs, though not sure the last paragraph stands up – surely no-one can be more of a c*nt than Mourinho, he is the c*nt meister general.
Usmanov is a cunt in real life, not just in football
Oh and the first thing he would do if he got the chance would be to hire Mourinho
He’s also stated that he would want a return on his money in the form of a dividend which would be multiples more than £3m per year.
Agree 100% Morbius. Silent Stan is nothing more than a figurehead. The real power to deliver lies below him.
I agree with this assessment. Firstly, I do not care that Stan invested more than a billion in Arsenal. 6M is still money. Shrugging away this money is the same as saying “Well, it’s ok to be a LITTLE corrupt right?” No, it isn’t. If KSE really did provide a service, why don’t Arsenal tell us what those services are? Better to be open and transparent than hide it and foment discontent. Secondly, just because we had David Dein pulling the strings so successfully in the past we forget the kind of shit clubs like Liverpool and Man Utd go… Read more »
I think lowering the prices of tickets let it be affordable for anyone to go to ANY game (im talking less than £30 for an adult ticket) The people going to the games now clearly dont give two shits, get people into the ground who actualy are happy to sing for 100 plus mins on match days and will do no matter whats going on, be it with wenger or the team. cheaper tickets = proper fans like you get at in Germany plus we make so much fucking money else where why is it still necessary to bleed the… Read more »
I think lowering the prices of tickets let it be affordable for anyone to go to ANY game (im talking less than £30 for an adult ticket) Most of the people going to the games now clearly dont give two shits, get people into the ground who actualy are happy to sing for 100 plus mins on match days and will do no matter whats going on, be it with wenger or the team. cheaper tickets = proper fans like you get at in Germany plus we make so much fucking money else where why is it still necessary to… Read more »
Or cheaper tickets means those who already have them are less inclined to let them go? Leading to a loss of revenue and no guarantee of improved atmosphere.
Arséne should decide when he leaves. After nearly twenty years, a new stadium, 3 Prems, 6 FA cups and a Champions League final, he’s literally won the right.
We are so lucky to have a committed, elegant, decent man who is a true football philosopher in charge of our beloved club, especially when compared to the likes of Maureen and the other enemies of football out there.
#ArseneIn
43% want a band FFS? It’s bad enough having those bloody German drummers over once a season.
To help properly gauge the mood it’d be good to know how many people had the opportunity to complete the survey but didn’t.
If there are 10,000 members of AST for example but less than 1000 gave their opinion that’d suggest a lot of indifference. Likewise, if there are just 943 members and they all made their voice heard it’d be damming.
There are around 1,200 AST members in total, so it’s actually a very good response rate.
It is, but a lot of members have left in recent years as AST keep spouting BS and haven’t represent the majority of supporters for many years.
Ok, thanks for the response.
The number of members in AST doesn’t mean a thing in terms of this survey – the AST is a group with an agenda, and the results of any survey of their members will reflect that agenda. Since AST is on record as wanting both Kroenke and Wenger out, the only surprise here is that Wenger got such a high approval rating out of them.
A more accurate reading of Arsenal supporters’ views would be obtained by surveying everyone who has a paid-up red, silver, gold, or platinum membership card.
Seems like a pretty small sample size to draw any real conclusions.
It is the view of a very small section of Arsenal’s support, but then the purposes of the survey is to assess what AST’s membership want them to campaign on, not to draw conclusions on what the whole fanbase thinks/wants.
Bands should be banned from football grounds! Away fans create a good atmosphere, but at home our fans are all to often either nervous ir negative. If I could afford a season ticket, I’d do more to create an atmosphere myself…Try singing songs and cheering the team on or perhaps booing/jeering the opposition if you are naturally negative! “73% don’t believe Arsenal do enough to support there being a good atmosphere inside the stadium” has got to be one of the most embarrassing things I have ever read…Take some responsibility, this is one of things in the survey we can… Read more »
In my experience the loudest crowds are often prodded into making noise by a designated section of “hard core” fans. For example, the San Antonio Spurs (my local NBA team, ironic name for an Arsenal supporter I know) have a section called the “Baseline Bums” that get the crowd going. The US Men’s national team has the American Outlaws, etc. That might be a better/more organic answer than a band. Then again, the Emirates seem so corporate that such a section might not make the grade with management. I could envision tickets in such a section to be awarded to… Read more »
so let me see. as I remember Stan Ivan and Wenger when leaving Highbury promised 2 things: 1. not only winning League way more frequently we’d be winning CLs and become a giant like Madrid and Bayern Munich.
2. we’d have a much stronger financial power allowing us to be one buying superstars other top top clubs are after.
now am I satisfied or do I feel like a fool you out their trust AND money in wrong hands.
whos put* trust….