The news that up to 60 Arsenal employees are set to lose their job after a cost cutting review will leave many supporters feeling uneasy.
The proposed redundancies will leave coaching and performance staff within the men’s and women’s teams unaffected. The burden will fall elsewhere within the organisation, among people whose contribution generates fewer headlines but helps sustain the club’s daily operations.
The objection is about how Arsenal value those people and whether their treatment matches the sense of belonging the club promotes.
It comes just after Mikel Arteta signed a fat new contract, whilst Declan Rice is close to agreeing a deal that will see him and Bukayo Saka as the highest paid players at the club.
Arteta deserves recognition for his achievements. Supporters want important players retained and the squad strengthened. But welcoming those decisions does not require accepting that less prominent employees should become expendable whenever the organisation decides to reshape itself.
The ownership’s immense wealth makes that harder to accept. The Kroenkes have recently agreed to expand their sporting empire by acquiring a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels baseball team at an exorbitant price tag. Their ambitions continue to grow, while employees at Arsenal are left wondering whether they still have a place.
That contrast matters because it reveals a hierarchy of priorities. Expansion, prestige, and sporting success command enthusiasm. Protecting the livelihoods of those who help make the organisation function appears to command less urgency.
A football club is entitled to review its operations. Roles change, responsibilities develop, and restructuring can sometimes be necessary. But employees deserve more than an announcement that their positions may disappear while the club publicly celebrates its progress.
They deserve to know that their contribution matters, that alternatives have been seriously explored, and that loyalty carries some weight when difficult decisions arise.
The news is doubly difficult to swallow as it comes in the same week as the death of Ken Friar was announced, somebody who served the club in various capacities for almost 80 years and was the embodiment of the values that Arsenal like to claim they espouse.
Arsenal place considerable emphasis on togetherness. The connection between players, supporters, staff, and the wider community forms part of the club’s identity. That connection cannot depend entirely on whether somebody is famous or well-known.
The people working away from the cameras also help create the experience that supporters recognise as Arsenal. Their work may be less visible, but they belong to the same institution and should share in the security that success ought to bring.
Arteta and most of his players could afford to give up some of their salary and they would hardly miss it, whilst the Kroenkes could defer buying another private jet for a month or so. But for the 60 whose jobs are about to go, and the families that depend on them, the income they are about to lose matters a lot more.
Supporters can celebrate trophies and still question how their club behaves. Loyalty does not require silence when decisions appear inconsistent with the values Arsenal claim to represent.
