Custodianship at Arsenal

It is not by accident that Arsenal Football Club is admired widely for its sense of tradition and its values, and enjoys a reputation throughout football for 'doing the right thing'.

Arsenal has benefited greatly over many decades from maintaining stability in its ownership structure, and from having supporters who own shares and are actively involved in this ownership structure.

Custodianship involves looking after the long-term interests of the club and ensuring that an 'Arsenal' legacy is passed forward for future generations to enjoy.

It is to develop and renew the strength of this Custodianship that Arsenal Fanshare has been established.

Developed by the Arsenal Supporters' Trust and supported by Arsenal Football Club, Arsenal Fanshare gives a new generation of supporters the opportunity to advance their involvement with the club from simple support to actual ownership.

By doing this, Arsenal Fanshare provides you with a tangible way to enjoy a share of the responsibility for the all-important custodianship of the club.

How we know Custodianship matters to you.

In a recent membership survey undertaken by the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, 90% of respondents judged 'custodianship and protecting the long-term future of the club' to be a value for which the club should strive.

In the same survey, 84% of respondents chose as their first or second choice an ownership structure that included supporter involvement.

Custodianship and the future.

Custodianship is absolutely not about looking backwards, or about dragging baggage from the past into the future.

Throughout its history, Arsenal has always looked to the future, and has been at the forefront of important developments in football.

Innovations have ranged from the introduction of floodlit football and the renaming of 'Gillespie Road' tube station to 'Arsenal,' through to the building of the landmark Emirates stadium and transformation of the game in England with the pioneering appointment of the first successful overseas manager in Arsene Wenger.

Custodianship, admired across the football community, ensures that the club strives always to better itself and attain success, while acting in a manner which is consistent with the Arsenal culture, fits a long-term sustainable vision, and which can be achieved while living within the club's means.

Arsenal Fanshare continues this innovation and sends a positive message to the wider football community about the importance of involving supporters in a club's future.

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust has published a book called Custodianship. The book recognised and paid tribute to the role played by various families and shareholders in the club's ownership structure over more than eighty years. Some of the images from that book are produced below.

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