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Arsenal fans protest against club owner Stan Kroenke in front of the club's stadium
Photo: Kirsty O'Connor / AP
English football fans are demanding drastic changes in the boardrooms of their clubs after the - meanwhile failed - plans for a Super League.
The fact that all six English founding members have distanced themselves from the project and apologized to their supporters is not enough for them.
Before Arsenal FC's game against Everton on Friday evening, thousands of fans gathered in front of the stadium and demanded that Arsenal's majority owner E. Stanley Kroenke should sell his shares. The founder of the audio streaming service Spotify, Daniel Ek, immediately signaled interest in buying the London club via Twitter. He was a fan of Arsenal even as a child and would "throw his hat in the ring" if Kroenke wanted to sell.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust called for the resignation of the entire board and the establishment of a new body to include fan representatives.
In addition, according to the announcement of the fan group, the British government should step in and ensure that fans receive so-called golden shares, through which they are given special say in their clubs.
If the management of the Spurs did not tackle the required changes, the fans would have to consider how they could motivate new buyers with "practical measures".
The board would also run the risk that the club could no longer be run.
Because the fans had shown in the past week what power they have.
The machinations of the current board of directors would have been shameful for Tottenham.
But now it is also the time to show that clubs cannot be run without the consent of the fans, the statement said.
Twelve European top clubs had announced the establishment of a billion-dollar Super League on Monday night.
This would be in direct competition with the Champions League of the European Football Union Uefa.
No club from the Bundesliga had joined the Super League.
The billion-dollar project was to be financed by a major US bank.
Only around 48 hours later, however, all six English clubs involved canceled their participation in the project after violent storms of protest and resistance from associations and politics.
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