Who is the owner of Arsenal Football Club?

Arsenal are one of the biggest and most followed clubs in the world with fans all around the globe. The club was founded in 1886 by a couple of Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory workers. After the first game the club took up the name Royal Arsenal, paying homage to Royal Oak pub where the club members met and their workplace. 

The name was later changed to Woolwich Arsenal in 1891. Woolwich was dropped from the name after the 1912–13 season when the team moved its home stadium to the Highbury section of London, England. The club played at the Arsenal Stadium (commonly referred to as “Highbury”) until 2006 when it relocated to a new, 60,000-seat stadium. 

The club are nicknamed “The Gunners” also as a homage to the club’s founding members who worked at the  Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory. 

Arsenal have a very rich and illustrious history. The club are famously only one of the few clubs never to be relegated from the top English division. Playing in different eras and have been playing in the top division each season since 1919. 

The Gunners have won a total of 48 major trophies in their history. Winning the league title 13 times, just behind Liverpool’s 19 and Manchester United’s 20 record league triumphs. The club have also won a record 14 FA Cup trophies in their history. The club famously went unbeaten under Arsene Wenger throughout the 2003-04 Premier League season, winning the league and lifting a special gold trophy at the end of the season, earning the nickname “The Invincibles” in the process. 

With the club’s recent return to the UEFA Champions League and return to the top of the league and competing for the league title under manager Mikel Arteta, many football fans must be wondering who owns the club? Well look no further as here we answer your question.

Who owns English Premier League giants Arsenal? 

Arsenal FC and Arsenal WFC are owned by parent company Arsenal Holdings plc. But the company has relatively few shares which are infrequently traded. Over the club’s long history, it was majorly owned by the descendants of the Bracewell-Smith and Hill-Wood families. 

But this changed in 2007 when the majority of the club’s shares were bought by two rival tycoons, Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov. Kroenke initially bought 9.9 per cent of the club’s shares and a 50 per cent stake in Arsenal Broadband, from ITV for a reported £65m in 2007 and 2008. 

Just a year later in 2009, Kroenke increased his investment in the club and owned just under 30 per cent of the club, making him one of the biggest stakeholders in the club at that time. In 2011, he further increased his stake in the club to 62.89 per cent, buying out Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith’s shares in the club. He also took control of the club in 2011.

In 2018, the business man bought out the remaining minority stake, including Alisher Usmanov’s 30 per cent share for a reported £550m. With that, E. Stanley Kroenke became the full and 100% owner of Arsenal Football Club.