Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is set to undergo renovations after co-chairman Josh Kroenke confirmed plans are already underway with a focus on instilling character of the former ground Highbury
Arsenal co-chairman Josh Kroenke has confirmed that talks are underway to renovate the Emirates Stadium and wants to instil the character that the former ground, Highbury, contained. The Gunners have spent 20 years in their current arena and have just lifted their first Premier League trophy since the move.
Fans have, for some time, wanted to see improvements to the stadium made due to a number of reasons. From competition for tickets on a matchday for red and silver members, waiting lists for season tickets into six-digit figures, the faded red seats bleached by the sun’s rays, the concourse infrastructure and taps for half-time pints in addition to the stadium entry process, which can often leave significant queues outside the ground.
However, it appears that this is going to change in the coming years. Speaking to reporters, Josh Kroenke confirmed that club CEO Richard Garlick is leading talks on potential stadium improvements, in addition to his own vision and regret regarding the old ground.
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“Rich Garlick is leading those conversations on our end right now,” Josh confirmed. “We have several new members of the board that are plugged into that, that do those operations for us in the States.
“They’re putting together a plan right now to renovate the Emirates. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. My only regret [about] being in my position at Arsenal right now is that I never got to experience Highbury.
“We’re starting these exercises with some of our advisers, but the Emirates has been an amazing stadium for us. I think we took it to a different level this year.
“I think that’s a credit to Mikel and those players. But there’s some character that I want to make sure we’re preserving and bringing back to the ground as well. I think we can do that in a very elegant manner that’s really to the benefit of Arsenal.
“We do this stuff in the States in our facilities and our teams. We take great pride in it so I think we have a chance to come over and really give the Arsenal supporters an elevated matchday experience from where they are right now.”
Kroenke Sports Entertainment which owns Arsenal headed up by Josh’s father Stan Kroenke, successful built the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, home of the LA Rams. The arena is considered one of the best globally and is one of the grounds hosting World Cup fixtures this summer.
Josh confirmed that learnings from SoFi’s construction for any Emirates Stadium improvements are not yet decided. There is more concern about the influence of supporters and making sure the right stadium fits the right people.
“That’s still to be determined,” he said. “I had different comments from people over the years about the walls of Highbury, the character of what that building was. The Emirates is obviously a totally different animal, but I’ve made that comment to a few people, and they’ve asked me that same question.
“And I say I want to leave it up to our supporters and people that have experienced that to really tell me what that means. So we’re still sifting through that but I do want Arsenal fans to know this is a very modern facility but also have a character.
“Try to figure out a way to bring and preserve some of the character of old English style football as well.”
