How Much Do The Arsenal Board Get Paid?

With the Arsenal AGM due next week, it seems appropriate to update the table of how much the Arsenal directors pay themselves.

Since the departure of P-Diddy Hill-Wood a few years ago we are down to six directors in total, of which just two are executive directors: Ivan Gazidis and Ken Friar. The other four – the Kroenkes, Sir Chips Keswick and Lord Harris – don’t get a salary. Instead the non-executives are awarded ‘director’s fees’ of £25,000 a year each. The sum is fairly arbitrary, and has remained static for 10 years now, after shooting up from £5,000 a year in 2005. Of course they do also get all the hospitality of gourmet meals, drinks, the best seats in the house for every match and other perks – not cheap to anyone else.

Until this year Lord Harris had never taken any fee, but I guess times are tough in the carpet business.

Ken Friar has been at Arsenal since the season after World War 2, but only started getting rich from it after sticking it out for 50 years. Some might have retired, but not Ken. No need to retire when work is so much fun, and at the same time he’s pocketed close to £10m since 2002. How active he is in his role these days at the age of 83, I couldn’t say. However, the 2017 accounts refer to the six board members as the only ‘key management personnel’ employed by Arsenal. I’m not sure if Arsene Wenger has an opinion on that.

Ivan Gazidis, meanwhile, has now taken his earnings from Arsenal to over £18m. Where else could he get that level of remuneration for a similar job in a similar-sized company?

All the directors’ pay is decided by the ‘remuneration committee’, which I believe is made up of Sir Chips and Lord H. Safe hands there, then. The two of them apparently decided to give KSE £3m a year in 2014 and 2015, which doesn’t show here as it wasn’t paid to Stan Kroenke in person, but Kroenke generously waived the right to any such fees in 2016 and 2017.