The Sun headline is : Keith’s Gunner walk
By PAUL JIGGINS
ARSENAL are about to drop a bombshell in the boardroom by announcing that managing director Keith Edelman is leaving the club.
SunSport can reveal that one of the prime movers who masterminded the Gunners’ successful switch from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium will confirm his shock departure tomorrow.The news will send shockwaves through the North London club’s Marble Halls and is bound to fan the flames of the power struggle simmering in the boardroom.
Edelman said he was bitterly opposed to a foreign owner taking over the Gunners when shareholders Stan Kroenke and Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov were circling the club looking to increase their stakes last summer.Edelman took up his £750,000-a-year post in 2000 and has been instrumental in boosting the Gunners’ revenues. He oversaw the redesign of the club’s crest in a controversial rebranding initiative and negotiated a £130million 10-year sponsorship deal with sportswear giants Nike.
Along with fellow directors Danny Fiszman and Ken Friar, he was instrumental in the club’s move to their £430m new home two years ago.
Edelman also persuaded airline Emirates to cough up £100m to sponsor the 60,000-seater stadium and the club’s kit.He is believed to hold only a nominal amount of shares but his exit could spark fears of a fresh takeover bid at the North London giants.
What do I make of that?
Well, it’s Arsenal’s best result since 2005, when Vieira’s penalty went in against Manchester United.
Keith is a tough number-cruncher brought in by Danny to keep costs down. In July he will have been MD of Arsenal for eight years. He built the stadium, with a lot of help from Danny, Ken Friar and others, and did the re-financing. He’s earned over £5 million from Arsenal and enjoyed a very, very high-profile job. He has other directorships, lives in St Albans, is busy with a £600 million eco-centre there which is four times bigger than the Eden Project in Cornwall.They have outline planning permission from Bedfordshire Council. It’s a big aquatic habitat thing, I gather. He is chairman-designate.
Also, he hasn’t walked. I’d be amazed if he has walked.
Clearly, many things at Arsenal could be better.And under a new MD, they will be.
Who is lined up for the job? Don’t know. In 2006 I recommended Mark Ashton, a really great guy at Watford. I don’t know what Ashton is doing right now or if he is available.
Mark Ashton is a humble, fan-friendly, dynamic visionary who has played football.
Danny lives in Switzerland and I don’t know if he’s heard of Ashton or met him. But I know Danny reads ANR.
Edelman’s notice period will be a year, according to Sky Sports News.
Will Stan Kroenke come on the board right now? I wish ! But that looks unlikely. Usmanov would say : What about me?
Usmanov is about 250 shares short of 25%.
Tons more I’d love to write on this but no time. In fact, I haven’t got time to write the above.
Please follow this story elsewhere. It’s big news and good news. It’s the first of many changes we will soon be seeing.